compass made
Compass Made is a contract manufacturing company specializing in the fabrication of wire harnesses used by transportation companies, cable assemblies, and electromechanical assemblies used by various companies.
the call
This isn’t who we are anymore. Help!
the solve
- Branding
- Marketing
- Communications
- Creative
- Digital
- Social Media
What started as a call for a website quickly turned into an opportunity to rename, rebrand, and refocus a company that was then known as Compass Components.
How did we know? When we pushed a business card across the conference room table and asked if it represented who they were and wanted to be. The management team explained that the company had evolved from an electronics components wholesaler to an integrated contract manufacturing company. The business that was didn’t work for them anymore.
With that in mind, we got to work.
Naming
A walk around Compass’ Fremont plan proved a handful of points — the company makes things, its crew is proud of what they do, and they were busy. It felt more like a company in action rather than selling a part.
While ownership and management were open to a name change, they insisted on keeping Compass alive. So, we played around with a number of words.
Any thinking came back to watching those people on the production floor and the obvious pride on display as they finished a project. We aimed to honor that and made Compass Made our lead recommendation.
Branding
Led by the new corporate name, our branding needed to make a statement. We aimed to give every person working there a sense of pride while wearing the logo or handing out business cards.
A flag. Climbers who reach the top of a mountain plant a flag proudly. When a soccer team wins a big match, its fans wave flags. When we celebrate our heritage, we raise a flag.
Compass Made employees plant a flag of precision, expertise, and reliability every time they finish a job. So, we designed a logomark that looks like a simple flag in motion at first glance. Closer examination, tho, shows the company’s initials.
The rest of the brand look fell quickly into place, including the company’s colors, which were the owner’s favorites.
Tone and voice followed easily, reflecting a helpful, authoritative, informative style. Messaging platforms — how we talk to unique audiences — came together the more we spoke to the company’s key engineering, sales, and management teams.
Digital
Showing, as we know, is more valuable than telling. So, we developed a well of photo and video assets that showed off our people, process, and product to use across the website.
Research informed our decision to write directly to engineers in short, technical blurbs. Our audience needed to know what Compass Made did and how they did it better than any flowery marketing language. So, we got to it and wrote tight pages that covered the company’s expertise and experience.
communications
We developed an editorial calendar and began writing blog posts to support the company’s experience and growth. We covered projects that showcased the company’s decades of technical expertise, management principles (one of their differentiators), and company news.
Social Media
For all its industrial moxie, Compass Made was a family-run business that took great pride in its corporate culture. B2B LinkedIn posts were a must-have to drive business, and so was activity across Facebook and Instagram to show off their people and how they cared for each other and to show potential employees what it was like to work there.
Creative
Salespeople need presentations and collateral material to leave with their potential customers. We built easy-to-edit PowerPoint templates and helped produce pitch-specific presentations as required.
The Compass Made sales team found that showing off their facilities in Fremont and Demming was helpful during calls, so we created several video assets of the plants, the process, and the products.
The team also needed a folder of one-sheets detailing the company’s capabilities and technical expertise. We developed a package for them to email before a meeting and a set of printouts to leave behind.
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