In 2014, when the U.S. Department of Defense signaled that defense budgets would be cut, the question for New Jersey’s Aerospace & Defense industry was how to retain critical capacity needed for Aerospace & Defense-related products and services despite U.S. government spending cuts. How could they bolster the Aerospace & Defense commercial marketplace and complimentary industry sectors in the state? The answer to this challenge would be in finding new ways for New Jersey Aerospace Defense industry to collaborate and rewrite the future.
The New Jersey Innovation Institute asked WestWordVision to create the online brand for their new program called NJ MarketShift. The program offers an intelligence system for the state’s Aerospace & Defense commercial clusters. At the core of the NJ MarketShift website is an application with powerful data visualization tools, access to a supplier network and streamlined, customized services to diversify the Aerospace & Defense supply network.
The primary goal of the program website is to create and sustain a community of New Jersey suppliers who discover and assess opportunities, and connect to other New Jersey companies in the Aerospace & Defense supply network. With its emphasis on open collaboration and technology sharing, the program could have been perceived as a radical departure for Aerospace & Defense-related businesses. Our brand would encourage dramatic changes in how the A&D companies see themselves and do business.
New Jersey Aerospace Defense Industry Rewrites The Future
To help the New Jersey Aerospace Defense industry rewrite the future, we researched and found a narrative thread that linked the state’s past, present and future in a way that would increase the strength and resilience of the A&D economy. The story thread that led to our brand solution integrated the New Jersey A&D industry’s inherent equities and the originality of the program, while communicating to participants that they control the online process and ultimate outcomes.
Research yielded a clear “first choice” on strategy, and we carved every aspect of the brand, expressed first on the website, to look, sound and function with complete consistency. Our graphics and language were developed to inspire confidence and trust in the program’s useful application of tools, resources, social networks and services. Our voice was active, authoritative and accessible, speaking directly to potential users.
Dr. Timothy V. Franklin, Vice President and Chief Operating Officer for New Jersey Innovation Institute says, “WestWordVision’s contribution to NJ MarketShift is the definition of ‘exceeding expectations.’ They had to thread the needle and weave a brand tapestry that had broad appeal and specific benefits for a complex state-wide network and an international marketplace. Mission accomplished.”
Our message to participants was that through their collaboration, they could rewrite the future of the New Jersey A&D industry by building new alliances, finding new customers, creating new products and exploring new markets. As network members participate, they are accessing powerful business-to-business collaborations, gaining a deeper understanding of competitive positions and helping to evolve regional strategies.
Take a look at our online brand solution for NJ MarketShift.
