Case Studies
SAIC
A naming solution with an edge
Situation
SAIC, a Fortune 500 company, is a leading provider of scientific, engineering, systems integration and technical services and solutions to the U.S. government and private sector organizations. With thousands of employees, hundreds of customers and billion-dollar business deals in the works, internal business units were often each other’s customers, and needed to market their products and services to both internal and external audiences. Faced with the challenge of marketing a complex new system-of-systems engineering solution, SAIC’s Tactical Systems and Solutions (TSS) business unit needed help naming and branding a new solution developed by their engineers.
Objectives
- Conduct in-depth executive interviews to determine the current perceptions of the solution.
- Create a brand platform for the solution to determine its strengths and opportunities in the marketplace.
- Develop a name, tagline and logo for the solution to make it marketable internally and externally.
Tactics
Boscobel began with a comprehensive discovery process to determine how best to describe and market this complex solution. After participating in a series of technical briefings and product demos, Boscobel’s market research team conducted interviews with a dozen SAIC executives to discuss features of the product, its uses and its benefits to the customer. Then, Boscobel conducted an extensive competitive analysis to help determine the product’s unique selling proposition.
As part of the research process, Boscobel also conducted opportunity research through a variety of databases to identify opportunities for SAIC to introduce the product to potential government customers.
After Boscobel had a complete picture of the marketplace, the team established a list of criteria to guide the naming process. Once the criteria were established, Boscobel facilitated two branding and naming brainstorming sessions with SAIC executives and creative team. The sessions resulted in not only a name for the product, but a naming architecture for the entire product series as well. And, by working collaboratively with the client during the branding and naming session, Boscobel was able to shave several weeks off a process that normally takes several months.
Results
Based on the new name and brand architecture, Boscobel designed a sharp, clean logo for the product that would resonate well with commercial, federal and military audiences. The creative team also developed a short tagline to help TSS describe the benefits of the product in only a few short words.