Santa Rosa digital marketing agency, Abra Marketing is proud to be locally focused in Sonoma County. Abra was founded in Santa Rosa in 1999. Founder Kurt Hoffmann had worked in marketing since 1989 before starting the agency. Our initial services focused on website design/website development and graphic design, however having worked in marketing for 10 years prior, we quickly found that the value we brought to our clients was not just in providing great website or graphic design projects, but the strategic marketing insight we brought to the table.
We helped clarify the purpose of the project and how it should be executed to help drive business for the client. To this end, we’ve never just built websites produced ads, but always have viewed projects as part of our work to help the client drive sales.
In December 2014, Abra Marketing developed the branding for Sonoma West Medical Center in Sebastopol, California.
The Sonoma West Medical Center branding development was a particularly interesting project because it was part of the effort to reopen a closed hospital, something that is rarely successfully done.
The Sonoma West Medical Center rebranding presented an opportunity to connect to the extensive history of Palm Drive Hospital while communicating the new beginning that included important changes in the organization.
The very brief background of Sonoma West Medical Center is that it opened as Palm Drive Hospital in 1939. It served the West County community for many years before financial challenges led to its closing in 2014 after a 2nd bankruptcy.
Rebranding can be an important part of taking a company in a new direction. And in this case, rebranding was a critical part of the strategy needed to overcome the enormous challenges of reopening a hospital.
Starting with the existing Palm Drive Hospital brand, we had the strengths of a long history and connection to many in the community. However, given the years of financial difficulties, there was a lot of negative connection as well. This included a great deal of opposition to reopening efforts.
Abra Marketing has managed many social media marketing programs as part of our online marketing services. Abra has been managing social media marketing programs since 2009 (the first page we set up is still active for Nor-Cal Think Pink, now with over 4,000 followers). Back then it was a tough sell for most of our clients to try this new medium.
We had early successes that helped reinforce the ROI benefits of the new social media marketing.
How did we achieve ROI from Social Media Marketing?
Most of all we stuck to the fundamental principles of marketing. We’ve been in marketing for a long time and every time something new comes along (the web, Web 2.0, social media, etc.) there’s this delusion that it’s going to be a magic marketing pill. Just put up a website and the customers will come flocking.
Way back in Marketing 101, I was taught the 5 P’s of Marketing. As I’ve worked in marketing since 1989 (over 25 years now), I’ve refined the list and am now updating it to include 10 P’s.
The 10 Ps of Marketing (a.k.a. P’s of Marketing X) 1. Product 2. Price 3. Placement 4. Promotion 5. People 6. Positioning 7. Packaging 8. Persistence 9. Parasitism X. Partnership
The purpose of the P’s of marketing is to help us analyze areas of our marketing efforts to determine what is or isn’t working.
An interesting aspect of the 10 Ps is that a company does not have to perform well in all P’s to be successful. They might have achieved success through just one or a few of the Ps. Likewise, a company might be doing well in most of the P’s, but fail because of an insurmountable problem with one of the P’s.
The Ps – and more effectively, this full list of 10 P’s – provide a complete framework to assess our marketing programs.
More details on the 10 Ps coming soon.
Marketing Ground Zero is the marketing blog of Abra Marketing, a full-service ad agency based in Santa Rosa, Sonoma County, California.
“Sonoma County Culture of Good” is a series of videos exploring people using business for a greater good in Sonoma County, California.
Abra Marketing was started in November 1999 in a home office on Burnside Road in Sebastopol, California. For family reasons, the agency moved to Redding in 2000. When we returned in 2010, we were particularly excited to be part of a community where there is a heightened set of values: the quality of the food, the local focus, sustainability, humane treatment of farm animals, commitment to community, and using business for social change.
We created this video series to showcase this aspect of our home, Sonoma County, while shining a light on the many great people and companies who strive to achieve something else in their daily work.
Drake Sadler, Traditional Medicinals Using Business for Social Change 9/8/2018 TraditionalMedicinals.com
World Centric The B Corp Movement in Sonoma County 3/23/2016 WordlCentric.org
Jay Coen Gilbert, B Corporation What is a B Corp March 21, 2016 Abra had the incredible opportunity to interview Jay Coen Gilbert, one of the founders of B Lab. bcorporation.net
Bryan Welch, CEO of B the Change Media What is a B Corporation? March 3, 2016 As part of our exploration into the B Corp Movement in Sonoma County, we had the great opportunity to interview Bryan Welch. BtheChange.com
Plum Blossom Farm Sustainable Farming and the Humane Treatment of Animals November 28, 2015 plumblossomfarm.com
Jennifer Harris, Fermentation Consultant The Fermentation Movement in Sonoma County October 2, 2015
When it comes to marketing videos – or any online videos for that matter – one of the questions likely on everyone’s mind is “Will it go viral?”
I have a simple point to make today and it’s this: a marketing video does not have to go viral to be a success.
The attraction of viral videos obviously is the reach – all those eyes on your video. But it’s more important to understand the quality of those eyes.
A lot of viral videos are like a car wreck – people can’t help but look. But is there really quality content there that they are connecting with? Will there be a useful relationship established? Will the view generate a result that supports marketing strategy?
“Never underestimate how invisible your business is.” – Kurt Hoffmann
Santa Rosa California based Abra Marketing explores the marketing concept of blazing mental paths.
Just speaking from personal experience, it’s amazing to me how I will drive a certain road for years before finally noticing a business I drove by every day. It can be the most random incident that finally makes me take notice, but suddenly I’m a regular customer.
What a failure of marketing that a business that 1)I fully appreciate and makes my life better and 2)is conveniently located somehow stayed off my radar for all that time. What is the cost of that to that business?
So here is the opportunity for businesses: do whatever you can to get people into your business.
Next time you’re out hiking, take a moment to ponder the path. That space was once uniform wilderness and obstacles. Someone forged a path and now, people can’t help but follow it, further establishing the flow it has created it.
In December 2012, Abra Marketing embarked on a very special project that says a lot about us as an agency. We were approached by Ben Brown, owner of PHAS3 Martial Arts to help with a press release. He had achieved the honor of being the first coach in North America to be certified by muay thai coach Jongsanan “Woodenman.”
The Significance of Jongsanan “Woodenman” Jongsanan “Woodenman” (previously known as Jongsanan Fairtex) is one of the most legendary fighters and coaches of the sport of muay thai, the national sport of Thailand. He was one of the most prolific champions during what many consider muay thai’s golden era of the 1990s. One of his fights – known as “The Elbow Fight” is considered one of the greatest fights of all time. Since retiring as a fighter he has become famous as a coach. He has coached many champions including Gilbert Melendez with whom – as of this writing – he is appearing on the current season (Season 20) of Fox Sports’ The Ultimate Fighter.
Abra Marketing is now on Instagram. We’re excited to be adding to the ways we can share the work we’re doing to help promote our clients and the incredible things happening in Sonoma County.
At Abra Marketing, it’s not just “do as we say”, it’s “do as we do”. If there is a marketing tool we believe can work for your business, we’re most likely using it as a tool for our own marketing. Now that Instagram has started taking over the world, it was time for us to get our own account going. We’ll be sharing photos from our clients, and giving you a look into the life of Abra by sharing photos from our own adventures.
If you are a Northern California business in search of creative marketing that keeps you in touch with the most current marketing trends, contact us to see if Abra Marketing is the right agency to represent you.
