Even in its earliest history, DCI Marketing was focused on brand-building. Originally known as ColorPrint Products Printing, the company built a name for itself producing window signage for shoe stores. But new opportunities with Cadillac and Harley-Davidson propelled DCI Marketing forward, establishing it as not only an innovative design firm, but one that was also capable of translating brand vision into three-dimensional reality.
In 2014, DCI Marketing was acquired by Marmon Holdings, Inc., a $12 billion member of the Berkshire Hathaway family of companies. As part of Marmon, DCI Marketing has access to the knowledge and resources of other world-class retail service companies and a diverse range of manufacturing businesses.
DCI Marketing Builds Brands
From the beginning, DCI Marketing founder Lloyd Sauer was interested in building brand recognition. “He was extremely focused on the concept of building brands,” says Don Michalek, DCI Marketing VP Operations. “His entire business was built on the individual needs of his customers,” Michalek continues. “If the customer needed something to be wood, metal, plastic, glass, whatever else he could find in his garage, he loved that concept; that idea of innovation and creativity, and an individual focus on a brand or a customer, is really in the roots of this company.”
Sauer’s client-focused approach remains an integral part of DCI to date. “When we’re at our best,” says Michalek, “we’re hyperfocused on the individual needs of our customer.”
Branding in the Digital Marketing Era
Auto manufacturers like General Motors – owner of iconic brands Chevrolet, Cadillac, Buick and GMC – have consistently looked to DCI Marketing for far more than its ability to build displays or kit out a showroom with fixtures, which are still a key part of the business.
“DCI is unique in that we actually serve multiple client bases,” says Bill Scott, DCI Marketing Account Director. “Most of our products are featured in automotive dealership showrooms. So, we need to understand the dealer’s business very well, and we solicit their input wherever possible.”
“At the brand level, our clients are tasked with building programs that help move the needle in terms of consumer engagement and satisfaction, both in the dealership and with the vehicle overall,” he says.
Those programs can take any number of forms, from physical displays and graphics to full-blown interactive digital programs that help customers learn about specific technologies in a rapidly transforming automotive landscape. And DCI Marketing is a single supplier for it all.
“For our digital engagements, we are able to source all the electronics and make sure that when installed into the display, the fit and finish is perfect,”says Pat McGriff, DCI Marketing President. “And because of our marketing services background, we also develop the digital content and deliver it to the dealer network through our proprietary LiveGuide®platform. Our unique capabilities provide us the autonomy to be a one-stop shop for our customers’ digital needs.
Understanding the Consumer Journey
“Our clients are this triangle of the big Fortune 50 brands, the retail locations and the consumer,” says Brandon Vonck, DCI Marketing VP Technology & Finance.
“A lot of companies are showcasing a product,” says Vonck. “We’re the experts at understanding the consumer journey. How we approach innovation is really understanding the client needs, the consumer journey, the path to purchase and the pain points that consumers have.
”When $3 trillion software giant Microsoft launched the Xbox, DCI Marketing was there to help introduce the gaming console to consumers. “We didn’t have a huge global presence, and our organization needed to quickly adapt to help Microsoft bring their first product that wasn’t a PC to market,” says Vonck. “We had to innovate not just the physical displays and products that were being sold, but our entire supply chain, all of the processes within the organization.”
While Intel doesn’t sell products directly to consumers, brand recognition is a key driver to its success as a company. DCI Marketing developed immersive pop-up displays in several showcase locations around the country, delivering over 1.7 million impressions.
“That really pushed the limits of getting us into the experiential space,” Vonck says. “Everything from the technology that went into the physical displays to the maintenance of it, and then tearing it all down and shutting it down.”
The entire project went from concept to rollout in 90 days.
launch.
Innovating From the Voice of the Customer
“We believe very strongly in Voice of Customer research backed by third-party industry data to design unique solutions that help our clients improve their business and delight their customers,” says Scott. The insights fuel the work that is done within Innovation Studios that DCI Marketing has developed in Detroit, India and at its headquarters in Milwaukee.
“In our Innovation Studio, we can showcase technologies and solutions that our clients may not have even considered. They’re a safe space to have these conversations, build relationships and explore these ideas. It also allows us to get solutions into the dealership much more quickly and get problems solved at a much more rapid rate.
”Concepts in the Innovation Studios can be iterated quickly to help elicit questions and uncover concerns from customers when they visit. “We can bring a client back weekly and give them a new experience every single time,” says Kyle Uhan, DCI Marketing Innovation Manager. “The Studio is outrageously modular. A client wants to try a touch-screen experience mixed with a physical display. We can put it in that lab, bring them in and they can see it.”
But, in the end, it’s connecting through conversation that’s paramount.
The work that comes out of the Innovation Studios germinates, thanks to DCI Marketing’s core partnerships with key retailers around the country and locally near their Milwaukee HQ, including the Boucher Auto Group, representing 29 automotive brands.
“They give us a sandbox to be able to test new products,” says Vonck. “Through that, these core partners get to showcase their own innovation with some of the best technology and products in the marketplace, and we get data analytics around consumer behavior so we can iterate a more formal solution.”
“We are focused on solving problems that aren’t in what I call the ‘Tyranny of the Urgent,’” says Michalek. “We’re very good at not only delivering on the current needs of our customers, but, once we get to know the brand, we can start to anticipate and bring things to them that they are not even expecting.
”Over the years, those innovative efforts have gained approval from automotive clients such as General Motors, Kia, Subaru and Nissan; motorcycle manufacturer Harley-Davidson; beauty products distributor Titan and retailer Sephora; and software and social media leaders like Microsoft and Meta.
Learn more about DCI Marketing at dcimarketing.com
