Let’s Call It Additive Marketing

I’ve known Tony Staub for a long time. He is the president of Staub Inc, which was called Staub Machine Company when I first got to know Tony. Back then, Tony’s contract production shop in Hamburg, New York, had a reputation for adopting new machining processes and investing in up-to-date, automated machine tools. MMS has featured his shop in several articles over the years. Its machining operations are still remarkable.

So I was pleased to get an email report of Staub Inc.’s findings at the recent RAPID show in Detroit, Michigan. In fact, the report arrived a day after the show closed (talk about rapid)!

It quickly occurred to me that there were many lessons to be learned from this report. Here are four I jotted down:

1. This shop has aggressively moved into additive manufacturing and has launched this added business as a division called Staub Additive. The efforts to get this news out are energetic, too.
2. The company is using today’s media well and wisely. The email message is timely, readable and informative. It’s interesting to see this shop’s take on the technology innovations unveiled at the show.
3. The company clearly understands the importance of “building brand” and marketing its capabilities. Adding links to the message gets you to complementary content easily, too.
4. Linking to the company’s website shows how well Staub is using the Internet, too. One thing that comes across there is the focus on skilled people as a key asset in addition to technical capabilities.

In general, the manufacturing industry needs to “build its brand” in the national consciousness. Manufacturing companies that are savvy about their own brand building help this cause, too.