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Agilent Technologies is a leader in life sciences, diagnostics and applied chemical markets. Back in 2000, when we did this project, Agilent had recently spun off from Hewlett-Packard and included the product lines later acquired by Ixia.
Agilent's RouterTester was a multi-port traffic generation, protocol emulation, and performance analysis test system for verifying the performance of metro/edge platforms, core routers, and optical switches.
Like many other companies, Agilent hadn’t given much thought to how the product should be positioned and presented in the marketplace.
Initially, Agilent approached Hale! Marketing to develop a product brochure.
Agilent's existing sales tools for the product were focused on internal distribution, and the development of the product brochure was the key external awareness tool that was going to be used for the product launch. The brochure had multiple purposes: to position, brand, and educate the external audience about the new product.
Although Agilent’s understanding of customers and their needs was excellent, little thought had been given to how the product should be positioned and presented in the marketplace. Through extensive market research, Hale! Marketing developed an integrated communications strategy, a new product category, and foundation messaging to substantially differentiate their offering.
After solidifying the product’s positioning, we developed a powerful, full-color visual system, including a simple product logo, with custom illustrations. The visual was applied consistently to a 6-page product brochure with differentiated messaging mapped throughout, and to supporting multi-media pieces, splash screens, user manual covers, and post-sales collateral.
The visual system was also used as the basis for a custom explanatory poster. This technology poster was a tour de force of graphic explanation. We had the idea, created the concept and outline, then worked with Agilent engineers to interpret router testing technology into a useful, fact-packed poster to pin on office cubicle walls. Visually rich posters are an excellent means of providing reference material in a technical environment while communicating product benefits. Agilent’s RouterTester poster (not the same as the visuals currently in use on the product web site) was also a hit with trade show attendees.
Hale! Marketing's art direction, project management and strategic communications management translated into a successful product launch for Agilent. The product exceeded sales projections during the first quarter after announcement and several collateral pieces generated significant booth traffic at industry trade shows.
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