Helping an enterprise sales team expand into new markets & scale
Iron Mountain is number 649 in the Fortune 1000; a massive multinational company that has grown both organically and through acquisitions since the 1950s when it started as an ultra-safe bunker to store critical government and corporate documents in case of a nuclear war. (To see more of Iron Mountain's history, check out the video below). Most people only know Iron Mountain from their ubiquitous white and blue vans that are present in the corporate centers of every city in America; they're the paper-shredder people. People in legal, health care and other highly regulated industries know them to be the place where records are securely kept and destroyed exactly on schedule.
But few people realize that Iron Mountain also protects most of the original recordings, film and images comprising American pop culture.
This includes the original film masters from every major movie studio (and each small studio that was acquired by those studios since the beginning of the film industry... which means original prints of everything from Gone with the Wind to the Godfather). It also includes the original recordings and mixes from every major record label (and all the small labels that they acquired since the earliest phonograph recordings). There are massive photo archives (including original film negatives from iconic images like Marilyn Monroe with her dress blowing up and Albert Enstein with his tongue sticking out). There are government archives that include Thomas Edison's original lightbulb patent... And any number of other archives that Iron Mountain, with its strict non-disclosure policy, will not confirm. It even includes the private vaults from the estates of world-famous actors and musicians both living and deceased... Iron Mountain will never confirm nor deny that they hold these treasures but numerous celebrities have toured their famous vaults on TV.
Iron Mountain tapped Matli Group to find new markets, systematize B2B sales and help its Entertainment division grow.
It was to help Iron Mountain tell this story to creators of film, television, music and advertising that Matli Group was hired to create a division-specific branding, positioning and B2B marketing strategy. Iron Mountain Entertainment Services' story had never been told; and even though they were the most respected archive by professional archivists, creators and executives only thought of them as paper shredders and a storehouse for legal documents.
Below is an overview of the strategic positioning analysis, competitive analysis and ultimately the creative output from these investigations that led to the repositioning of Iron Mountain Entertainment Services as a stand-alone expert in the entertainment space – with the credibility of the highly respected parent company. The culmination of the repositioning was Iron Mountain Entertainment's hosting of Paramount Pictures 100th Anniversary celebration at the Hollywood Bowl, including a VIP reception on the rooftop of Iron Mountain Hollywood.
Using this positioning and creative, Iron Mountain has completely dominated the domestic marketshare of its core business, movie studios and music labels, and eventually acquired it's largest competitor in the space, Bonded... which has expanded the division globally.
In order to scale though, it needed:
1 - A defined B2B Funnel
2 - Sales Messaging that could be taught to new sales teams
3 - Vertical-specific customer journeys, marketing and sales materials.
After analyzing the market opportunities open to Iron Mountain Entertainment Services (IMES), we identified new market verticals that it could expand into to expand into – along with the customer journeys, messaging and key products needed to tackle each. And along with these it needed a way to transfer the knowledge of its highest-performing enterprise sales people to new sales teams – and the supporting marketing and sales materials to help them close deals.
Here's a snapshot of the process that helped this division grow ~10% YoY for over 7 years straight and expand into new markets including professional sports, museums and universities...
Created the tools, processes, messaging & sales materials to scale a domestic enterprise sales team globally
Identified 3 new markets and designed Go-to-Market plans to expand beyond core business
Market domination of core business segment & acquisition of its largest competitor
~10% YoY Growth of Entertainment Services division for 7 years
Case Study Part 1 - Strategy, Rebrand & Launch:
After gathering all available data from Iron Mountain on their market, customers, strategic initiatives and unique offers, we used our proprietary Brand Audit process to define key market segments and core positioning for the Entertainment Services division.
A comprehensive strategic overview of the division's current business – and what new markets it could expand into. This included detailed profiles of influencers, decision-makers and messaging strategy.
Updated for the insular entertainment industry, Iron Mountain needed to feel less corporate, more image-driven – but not violate the company's brand standards.
For each market segment, we captured testimonials from A-list brands to help influence prospects who were in the sales funnel but hadn't converted. (See the video case studies below)
For each market segment we were pursuing, Iron Mountain invested in a branded trade show presence. We developed modular booths that could be built in full, half or quarter sizes and have signage panels easily updated to fit the shows clientele.
With the strategy in roll-out phase, we produced a comprehensive presentation for the division head to walk the employees through the plan.
Within the Iron Mountain corporate portal, the Entertainment Services site was redesigned by us to segment traffic by vertical and incorporate the video testimonials targeting each user group through the messaging outlined in our path to purchase materials.
To launch, Iron Mountain sponsored Paramount's 100th Anniversary at the Hollywood Bowl. We created all branded materials both for the private rooftop VIP party as well as the event itself tying Iron Mountain's archive to the iconic studio's 100 year history in a forum attended by the Hollywood elite.
Case Study Part 2 - Scaling to new Markets
(COPY OBSCURRED FOR CONFIDENTIALITY) After in-depth analysis of IM's opportunities, we developed recommendations, path-to-purchase and profiles for 3 target verticals.
Within each target vertical, we modified CRM marketing automation campaigns, sales collateral, event booths, etc. with targeted messaging.
To expand rapidly, IM needed to quickly onboard new business development teams using known best practices. We created a funnel-stage messaging manual to use in the field.