DeWITT — Cooley Group, Inc., a printing and promotional-products firm, didn’t stop at a new logo when it jumped into a rebranding effort in late 2010 — an effort that focused the firm on its ability to help clients build their own brands. Rochester–based Cooley Group, which operates a Syracuse–area office at 6700 Kirkville Road […]
DeWITT — Cooley Group, Inc., a printing and promotional-products firm, didn’t stop at a new logo when it jumped into a rebranding effort in late 2010 — an effort that focused the firm on its ability to help clients build their own brands.
Rochester–based Cooley Group, which operates a Syracuse–area office at 6700 Kirkville Road in DeWitt, unveiled its new brand in November 2010. The firm redesigned its logo, adopted the tagline “brand new,” and renamed its sales representatives, calling them brand consultants.
Those changes are giving the company a new sense of momentum nearly two years later, according to Cooley Group Executive Vice President Jim Bonaventura, who is based in the firm’s office in DeWitt.
“It’s taken some time to get some traction, but we’re starting to reap the benefits of it,” he says. “What we’ve done is tried to give greater clarity to our customers as to what our areas of expertise are, as well as greater clarity to our co-owners, the brand consultants, so they feel that the customer knows exactly what we’re there to help them with.”
Cooley Group is an employee-owned company under an employee stock-ownership plan. The firm generated about $11 million in revenue in 2011, the first full year after it revealed its new branding. Its Syracuse–area office was responsible for $4.5 million of that revenue.
The companywide and local revenue totals represent annual growth of about 6 percent, Bonaventura says. He believes the firm’s rebranding helped it grow that year but does not have any revenue growth projections for 2012.
Branding changes at Cooley Group came after 18 months of company soul-searching. The company, which Clarence (Scoop) Cooley started in 1945 as Cooley Business Forms, had grown beyond its original focus on business-form distribution.
Changes in technology over the years, from desktop printers to computer programs, forced the company to branch out into different areas like promotional products, according to Bonaventura. It no longer relies on business forms, he says.
“A lot of that business was taken away by technology,” he says. “People print things on white 20-pound paper now instead of invoices. So we got involved in some different product lines, and, as a result, there was a little bit of a disconnect with our end users about exactly who we were and what we were doing.”
The disconnect wasn’t helped by a name change to Cooley Group, Inc. about a dozen years ago, Bonaventura says. However, the recent rebranding emphasized four company business groups — printing, promotional products, specialty printing, and branded apparel — and helped to redefine the firm, he adds.
Bonaventura wasn’t a part of the committee that handled the rebranding process. Another Cooley Group employee from the Syracuse–area office, Karie Ballway, took part in that effort.
“We really looked into, as an organization, what it is we do well for our clients,” says Ballway, who is a brand consultant. “We really want to come in, sit down, learn about a client, and determine if and when there’s a need. If it’s appropriate, then we will make recommendations about what mechanism we would recommend they use to brand their company, whether it’s a printed product, promotional product, or branded apparel.”
Emphasizing a consultative approach led Cooley Group to change the name of the sales-representative position to brand consultant, according to Ballway.
The company’s new tagline, “brand new,” serves a dual purpose, she says. It pointed out that the company had rebranded itself while also summarizing its new focus.
“Cooley was brand new at the initial launch, but we knew that we would follow through with our marketing and branding efforts to help you, as a client, brand new,” Ballway says.
The company’s local clients include DeWitt–based Syracuse Orthopedic Specialists, PC, Skaneateles–based ChaseDesign, LLC, and KBM Management, Inc. of DeWitt.
Despite its own expertise in branding, Cooley Group hired an outside firm, Trainor Associates of New Hartford, to help with its own rebranding. The outside perspective was important in the process, according to Ballway.
Cooley Group employs a total of 35 people in offices in Rochester, DeWitt, Albany, New Hartford, Rock Tavern in the Hudson Valley, and in a recently opened office in Huntington on Long Island. Its office in DeWitt has eight full-time employees and two part-time workers.
The company leases 1,250 square feet of space at 6700 Kirkville Road from Oliva Properties, LLC of DeWitt.
Contact Seltzer at rseltzer@cnybj.com