Smooth, Cohesive Strategies for Fibersol Across all Platforms

A ColinKurtis case study

In 2009, the Archer Daniels Midland Company came to ColinKurtis with a problem: too many of their marketing efforts for Fibersol, a joint venture between ADM, Matsutani Chemical Industry Co., Ltd., and Matsutani America, Inc., felt disconnected. ADM had a truly revolutionary product. What they didn’t have was an integrated approach to promoting that product.

Fibersol® is a soluble dietary fiber ingredient that can be used in a variety of food and beverage applications and dietary supplements, making it easier than ever to give consumers the fiber they need while delivering the taste and quality they want. Invented by Matsutani Chemical Industry Co., it has been exclusively produced at ADM’s Clinton, Iowa facility since 1999.

WE HAVE A GREAT PRODUCT. NOW WHAT?

Along with their revolutionary product, ADM had the knowledge of how it could impact the market and a vision of what it could do for the Fibersol product division.

What they didn’t have was an integrated approach to promoting that product — a long-term creative marketing platform designed to inform potential customers and incite them to action on behalf of their brand.

COMMUNICATION IS THE KEY

The Fibersol product division opted to have ColinKurtis handle Fibersol’s marketing efforts, since their needs could get lost in the shuffle at ADM’s agency of record, where many other ADM products were in need of promotion.

So, we talked to ADM about Fibersol: about its formulation, its characteristics, its applications, its benefits, and its challenges in the market. We talked to them about ADM’s place in the industry and about the division’s strengths, philosophies, strategies, and shortcomings. And we talked to them about the year ahead, their vision of the future and what they thought possible for Fibersol in that future. And after all that talking, we talked some more.

ALL THE RIGHT MOVES — AND WHAT THEY’LL GET YOU

Through a rigorous process of conversation, evaluation, and ideation, we came up with a strategic plan that included: PR and media strategy, magazine advertisements, online ads, prototype mailings, and email blasts, along with a new website, well-crafted literature, and a larger tradeshow booth design.

Our plan called for Fibersol to find and promote a voice; the Fibersol division committed to the process and the investment, and those commitments paid off big with over 100% growth in sales and over 400% growth in revenue. This decision also positioned ColinKurtis as the go-to creative team for the Fibersol product division, who knows that we will shoot straight with them, make their needs our priorities, and do whatever we can to produce the results they need. And you know what? So do we.