Stacey Tiveron is CEO/Founder of TODL, Trade Only Design Library, which provides a design research database for interior designers, architects and stocking retailers. Like others in her field, Stacey had spent too many hours trying to find and spec products rapidly. Years after working in the industry, she came up with the solution: Harness the power of the Internet to create a portal where researchers like herself could find what they needed, when they needed it. By streamlining the research process, efficiency and profit would be increased for all concerned. To this end, she incorporated TODL in September 1997 and launched the online database in January 1999.

Within eighteen months, TODL was bringing thousands of products to thousands of users. As successful as the portal idea was proving, TODL was not experiencing the quick growth they had hoped for. What they needed was a campaign to reach their different publics to significantly increase their growth rate, thereby transitioning from a "bright-idea start-up" to a serious player.

On Trial and Error

As Tiveron retells the story, they were "looking for some effective marketing help. First, we hired a company that didn't take the time to understand our industry and target market. As a result, the marketing and ads they produced were somewhat generic and produced very little response. So, we went looking for another company. We found one and the whole process repeated-a bright-idea ad that looked great but, again, didn't result in the hoped forresponse.

"As it turned out, doing research for an interior design assignment was easy compared to finding the right firm to help us market and 'brand' TODL. We continued to produce our original in-house ads and direct mail pieces while looking for the right marketing group."

Growing Up Fast

"Toward the middle of 2000, we were getting ready to launch Generation II, the much-improved TODL database at a major industry show. We felt we needed a new look for the database, our marketing campaign, and our show persona. We couldn't continue with 'attempts' anymore. We had an incredible product, now we needed an incredible look and campaign to communicate it."

Research Before Design

"We brought DBD International on board. They came very highly recommended from some of our associates, though we were a little jaded by this time on the idea of professional help.

"We saw an immediate difference in DBD's approach with their OneVoice(tm) Image Management Program. First, they asked a lot of questions! They wanted to know about us. They did a tremendous amount of research, worked with us extensively to understand our industry and helped us isolate not only where we fit in, but what our actual market position was going to be, realistically and ingeniously. Only when that was clear, did they put together designs.

"DBD worked closely with our knowledge of the industry, learning industry terms, the frustrations and inefficiencies trade professionals deal with daily. They asked questions until we were blue in the face!

"The result of all this was a fantastic new logo, slogan, color scheme and schematic design for our web site; and an extraordinarily on-target campaign for us to move forward on our ads and marketing. The slogan "Findit. Specit. Profit." was immediately memorable and set us apart from the competition, none of who had a clear market position that appealed to designers and manufacturers alike. With our new campaign, we were telling designers and architects the simple message: 'We're the answer to your design research problems.' Based on the language and market message of the campaign, our various publics knew-without a doubt-that TODL really understood their needs.

"These ads grab attention. They are very interesting, very light hearted and contain all the correct buttons. The core ad (four ads make up the initial campaign) has a person as its central graphic, nearly in silhouette, as a backdrop to the copy. Now while this may not sound dramatic, it's brilliance is in its simplicity: DBD International scoured all the trade magazines we would be advertising in and discovered not one single ad in the industry focused on a person-they were all product, product, product-almost no human element. So DBD put in a smiling, confident, satisfied woman-shown from mid-torso to mid-face and clothed in a black turtleneck that directed the viewer's attention toward the smile versus the eyes-highlighting the end product of our service. The results from this campaign have simply been remarkable, with more member sign-ups now in a single day than we used to have in an entire week."

On Market Recognition

"We have been inundated with responses. Designers came to our booth at the first trade show we attended, NeoCon 2000, carrying cut-outs of the ad and saying, 'I laughed so hard, I had to come see who you were!' Our booth was three-to-five people deep on every computer station for three days straight. We signed up in excess of five thousand new members from the show alone, effectively doubling the number of users. We also had manufacturers coming to our booth to see what all the activity was about, many of whom we had been trying to contact for months. We now offer more than 60,000 products from more than 350 manufacturers. I couldn't be more pleased. TODL is leading the paperbound design industry into the Internet era and is in the enviable position of being the industry leader.

"Our membership has grown from 315 in the first quarter of 1999, to over 10,000 at the end of the third quarter 2000. The number of pages viewed has increased from 34,000 to 773,000 in the same time span, with daily downloads right now averaging 10,000. There's no question that word is out and we are filling a long pent-up demand."

On DBD International

"DBD International concentrates on whatever the end product of the campaign, branding or communication is, as opposed to simply considering the design or 'coming up with something creative.' Now, when we put out a postcard that is intended to increase our user sign-ups, it actually increases our user sign-ups. If we put an ad in a magazine to get people to our booth at a show, it actually gets people to our booth at the show. Each product achieves the end result with brilliant designs, great copy and all the correct marketing buttons.

"DBD International is definitely an integral part of what we do and where we are going. The professionalism and spirit of play of their work has been a dream come true and another perfect addition to a company that is on a very strong expansion curve, experiencing great success."

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