EXPION 360 BRIEF
Creative Brief Participants
John Yozamp, Paul Shoun, Carson Heagen, and David Mumm — May 2022
Overview
What would you like us to do for you? What is the purpose and scope of the project (heighten credibility, expand services, sell 2000 widgets, etc.)?
We build better batteries. We must educate our audience and show that our battery is well-engineered with high-quality components.
We need better marketing. We love the gift box designed by 101 Hats. We wouldn't have thought of it or been able to describe it.
We believe that a fresh flow of ideas is an excellent thing. Our current marketing thought seems to be rooted in the muscle car era with snakes and bugs and such. We are starting to feel that VIPER doesn't add much value to our product. Paul says: "We should focus on the fact that we are a tech company and present ourselves as a tech company. We are making a push toward environmental awareness as well."
One of our marketing pain points is that the talent pool is small in central Oregon. As a result, it's hard to find quality people.
We need to keep our sales team focused on selling, not creating marketing materials.
Projects include
Our marketing effort is undergoing some significant changes. We are hiring a new marketing director, and we plan to have a complete marketing plan in the fall.
We understand that we need six to eight touches with our customers.
Our marketing effort is expanding rapidly and we have many projects:
We need to standardize our marketing materials.
We need a variety of compelling point-of-purchase displays.
We need new sales materials quarterly.
We need a good variety of stickers, patches, and other ad specialties.
We need to target specific trade shows like the upcoming marine and overland trade shows.
We are thinking of making an effort to reach all Interstate Battery dealers. Note: Interstate is big on NASCAR.
We need a strong brand presence for XPON shareholders.
We could improve the battery case labels.
We must upgrade the website. We are not happy with the current site. The site needs to educate our customers about our products. The site should also offer an easy-to-navigate dealer portal area where our dealers can log in to order display and marketing material.
We need an excellent Single page product overview flyer (tech-sheet). The booklet was too big and too quickly dated.
We need a Product flyer for each product. These flyers should include the cutaway view, product details, and SKU.
Interior and exterior trade show displays are vital to our efforts.
The smoked plexiglass display, maybe?
Posters for our existing floor standing displays.
More…
Creative Considerations
What limitations or constraints do you have (budget, schedule, size, paper, etc.)? What elements or colors, or other personal preferences must be represented in this project? Where will additional materials that we do not create come from? (writing/photography/illustration etc.) What are examples of projects of this type you have seen that you think are effective? Can you please share some samples?
We are wide open and looking for creativity. We are pretty easy to work with, and personal preferences do not tend to drive the projects. However, it is vital that John like the work we are doing. John likes the WOW factor, and he likes black and green. So we're unlikely to change colors. Note: John loves the battery-style gift box.
Note: We feel that showing the battery build quality with the cutaway diagram is a helpful approach to offering our customers details about our well-engineered and high-quality product.
Another note: We've had problems with materials becoming dated quickly, and we'd like to build marketing materials that are a bit more timeless.
About our slogan: Our current "Powering The Pursuit" slogan was initially written to appeal to police clients. We may be able to massage this slugline to work with an adventure theme. It's agreed that "Power The Pursuit" is more potent, and "Power Your Pursuit" might be more personal.
Writing: The copy we create tends to come from group consensus. All the writing we do goes through a review process. The arguments are legendary. We want to ensure all the engineering details are accurate, so we will ask one engineer to review all tech data. Carson and Paul also double-check everything. Sales will also see the work in the final stage.
Illustrations: Neal is doing the illustrations based on renderings from solid works.
Photography: We don't have a consistent relationship with a photographer. A local photographer, Studio7, has done some product photos.
Who is doing it right? Paul recently bought a Jeep, and he was impressed with the company's brand image. Paul says: "Jeep is doing things right." Jeep has an excellent focus on the brand's long history and its customers' lifestyles. Their approach is very consistent, connected, and flexible. Jeep has outstanding brand recognition.
Carson adds: "I like the clean, modern, and sharp images presented by high-tech companies like Tesla and Apple." Carson continues: "I am also a fan of festival marketing. The image for festivals is often loud, creative, and wonderful." See branding for festivals like EDC and Shambala.
Homework: I'd love to see more examples of successful projects.
Branding Note: We had several long discussions about the logo, name, and brand image. A few variations of the name and logo are currently in use. We all agreed that the company would benefit from making the name and brand more consistent. I'll save this discussion for another day.
Product Description
What are the products or services your business provides? What is the product or service that you want to promote? What are its features? How much does it cost? What is it made of, and how is it used? What makes it different, unusual, or unique?
Expion360 makes the best quality lithium batteries for Overland, RV, and Marine users today. In addition, the company is expanding rapidly to make lithium batteries for the Golf, Industrial, Residential and Off-Grid markets.
Soon, Expion360 will also provide complete power packages, including solar panels, solar controllers, battery chargers, inverters, cables, and all the mounting kits required for these applications.
We design for users who need extreme durability and reliable performance off-grid. Then, we supply the same outstanding quality to the weekend user.
Our battery performance is unmatched. We are the only battery company that can produce 120 amp-hours in a Group 27 battery. We should be able to increase the performance to 135 amp-hours soon.
We also offer our flagship 360 amp-hour battery that fits perfectly in a Sprinter van wall section. We will soon improve this battery to 405 amp-hours.
Battery Management System Features:
Under and overpower shutdown
Under and over temp shutdown
Battery Features:
UL1642 and UL1973 compliant
High-quality cells are welded to a solid copper distribution plate
Case Features:
High-quality case (no shims or foam)
Round corners add strength and absorb shock.
Rubber feet prevent sliding and reduce vibration
Fire-Rated ABS case is UL94 compliant
Engineered Insulation
Custom tie-down points
Mechanical connections — No soldering
Plainly and permanently marked polarity
We must emphasize our UL1973 compliance. Soon, the RV industry will mandate that all batteries must meet the UL1973 requirement. We are well-positioned because, in the next year and a half, it looks like we will be one of only three manufacturers who are ready for UL1973. The Coast Guard will also soon require UL1973 for boats that hold more than six people.
Support: We also offer excellent customer service. Our expert team is available weekdays from 8 am to 4 pm.
Competition
What makes your business special among similar businesses? What's your value proposition? Who is your present competition? Who would you like to be competing with? What similar products or services are currently available, and how good are they?
We compete against some good and some bad quality competitors.
Prominent competitors include:
Discover Battery, British Columbia
Relion battery, South Carolina (Small line)
Battle Born, Nevada
Dakota Battery, Seattle
Lead-acid batteries are of inferior quality. They take a long time to charge, require annual replacement and are very heavy.
We stand out from the competition because of the quality of our team. John says: "We have an edge because the three of us work here! We are great guys!" But, seriously, it is clear that this trio works hard to make beautifully engineered products for outdoor enthusiasts and other users. Plus, the products are an excellent value for our customers.
We sell a complete system: Drop-in replacements don't take advantage of superior lithium battery technology. Correct Placement, cooling, and charging are all essential. In addition, integration is vital. A matched shore charger, lithium regulator, and the proper solar controller will significantly affect battery performance. So why spend $1,000 to get 50% performance. The system surrounding your battery makes a huge difference! We would never cheat our customers by selling them a corvette with a top speed limited to 35 MPH. We are lithium integration experts. That's the origin of our name, Expion.
We offer top-quality batteries: We engineer our batteries for top performance, even in challenging conditions. We build batteries for our customer's specific applications. We build our batteries with top-quality materials to ensure outstanding performance, long life, and safety. We are not "lick and stick." We don't put our stickers on Chinese products. Instead, we control the whole manufacturing process. Paul has seen the inside of many of our competitors' batteries. There are some genuinely amazing horror stories to be found inside these batteries.
Our pricing is competitive: Our customers get an excellent value.
We provide outstanding support: We offer Full dealer training, so our dealers know how to install, integrate, and service our batteries. We offer expert phone support on weekdays as well. Paul says: "Our competitors offer no real tech support."
Target Audience & Market Realities
Who is your current primary audience (gender, age, socioeconomics, employment, geographics)? How much do they know about the product? What are their attitudes toward products or businesses like yours? What motivates them? Who do you want your audience to be?
Currently, we sell primarily business-to-business. We also sell to dealers, OEMs, and distributors.
Our customers seek adventure in the outdoors.
We market to men and women—both genders like reliable and safe power.
We used to think that the RV and marine industries catered to people over 50 years of age, but the number of younger users is rapidly growing. We're seeing customers in their 30s and often in their mid-20s.
What do they Know? Some do a lot of research at home, and others learn about our products from a dealer. So it's all over the board. Therefore, it is essential that our marketing educate our audience. When they understand the benefits of our technology, they'll rapidly become customers.
Our customers choose us because of our Safety certifications, quality of construction, training, and support.
Our primary markets today include:
Overland RV: An Overland RV is an off-road vehicle equipped to drive to remote areas over harsh terrain. The overland RV will provide the driver with everything they need, including a place to sleep and prepare food. Overland rigs are often vans or an off-road capable truck and trailer combo. Overlanders camp primarily off the grid in undeveloped sites, and thus, they require durable and dependable power to keep all their amenities running.
Recreational Vehicles: Reliable house batteries are also essential to keep all the appliances running for on-road RVs. However, many campgrounds offer electricity, so power is not quite as crucial as it is to the overland group. It's also important to note that there are a vast number of campgrounds that do not provide electricity, especially in the Western United States.
Marine: Most marine users employ our batteries with an electric trolling motor on a bass boat or similar. Others use our batteries for appliances and such on larger boats with living quarters. The marine market leans a bit more heavily toward male decision-makers.
Golf Carts: Soon, we will offer batteries for golf carts and forklifts.
User Benefits
How will the user be better off using your product or service? Will they save time, effort, or money? If so, how much? How important is this product to the consumer? Are there tradeoffs (higher quality but higher price)?
Note: We've covered a lot of benefits in other sections of the creative brief, so we'll keep this short.
RV camping and boating aren't much fun without reliable power. It's always lovely when the trailer tongue jack works, the slide-out slides in, the fridge works, and the heater is hot. What's more, it's really nice when the TV works for an outdoor movie under the stars.
Other benefits:
Weight Savings: Tow vehicles are smaller today. Our average battery weighs 32 pounds compared to 225 pounds for a lead-acid battery with similar power specs. A lighter battery will reduce tongue weight and make driving easier. A lighter battery will make a boat draw less and move more easily through the water. A lighter battery will also improve gas mileage.
Recovery time: On average, lead-acid batteries take 24 to 36 hours to recover. Our batteries can recover in ONE HOUR with the right charging gear. The average charge is about four hours from a completely dead battery.
Long life: Lithium batteries last 12 years or more. Lead-acid batteries often need to be replaced annually.
Low discharge: Lithium batteries discharge only about 1% a month. Lead-acid batteries require a trickle charger, or they will discharge.
Great value: Even though the initial investment is more significant, a lithium battery will save money over the long term due to its outstanding durability.
Most Important Point (MIP)
What are the top three (or more) ranked benefits of your product or service? If you could choose only one thing the audience remembers from your advertising, what would it be?
Benefits:
Greater power density.
Better charge options, including solar.
Quicker cycle time
Longer life
Lower weight
Improved safety
Rapid recovery
Easier to use, practically no maintenance
Paul MIP: Safety. We must overcome the burning laptop battery stories. When built correctly, lithium-ion batteries are safe.
John MIP: We offer users an elevated camping experience and a better lifestyle when camping. Without Expion360, they are roughing it. With Expion360, they are glamping.
Carson MIP: Echos safety and convenience.
Combined MIP: We offer users a powerful and safe product and an elevated outdoor experience.
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