Case Study: Gossamer Threads Positioning, Website Design, and Content
Gossamer Threads is a Vancouver-based web technology company. Over the past 15 years, they have gone from 1 person to over 30, with the bulk of their growth occurring in the past 5. As they have expanded, they have increasingly incorporated professional services and hosting into their offerings. They also maintain a number of their own high traffic web properties.
They service clients in over 60 countries on 6 continents, and are relied upon by leaders in the IT, telecommunications, media, and financial sectors, as well as government agencies and higher education. Their clients include Aeroplan, Cisco Systems, Lockheed Martin, Oracle, and Hewlett Packard.
Collectively, they feel strongly about their deep, applied expertise in web technology. This is evidenced in everything from their ability to maintain high Google page rankings for clients, to developing a delivery system for a major news group, to helping grow start-ups (one notable exit surpassed $28 million). They maintain a healthy workplace and, as such, have high employee retention—a number of their staff members have been with them for over 10 years.
Gossamer Threads wanted to overcome some obstacles. One of the most notable, was directly related to their success. Their growth had led to an offering that wasn’t outwardly clear to new prospects, and this clouded their value proposition. While there are countless technology companies, Gossamer was evolving into something quite distinct. They had built a name for themselves authoring software, but this was no longer their sole offering.
Their most fruitful work came from large organizations that wanted comprehensive support and a high level of assuredness. This business came (and stayed with) Gossamer largely as a result referral. Unfortunately, their marketing didn’t effectively convey the scope and scale of their services.
Gossamer was in a bit of a “Cobbler’s Shoes” scenario. They were providing high value expertise to their clients, but found it difficult to articulate this effectively in their messaging. Their (substantial) technology skills weren’t being conveyed, and the stories related to their achievements remained untold. They approached smashLAB with a strong sense of what they stood for, and how they were different, but needed help clarifying this story.
From a positioning standpoint, Gossamer’s situation was a little perplexing. While conventional logic would suggest paring down their offering, this wasn’t an option. Their services were too closely linked and ingrained in the organization. Therefore, we started looking at how to differently articulate their offering, in a method that wasn’t as closely linked to outputs.
As we worked through our Discovery process, we learned how Gossamer earned much of its business. One common scenario involved C-Suite leaders frustrated by technology partners dodging responsibility and blaming other parties for errors. These individuals found something different at Gossamer Threads: a true technology partner that had enough in house expertise to not need to “pass the buck.”
It quickly became evident that Gossamer should reposition as an intelligence company. Clients like Nissan and the U.S. Department of Defense were already relying on them in this capacity; now they needed to tell that story. We asked them to shift from presenting their offering as a commodity, to presenting themselves as trusted advisors. We also encouraged them to push their success stories into the forefront, using proof-backed business cases to illustrate the problems they’ve solved.
smashLAB underscored a number of potential opportunities for Gossamer Threads to better reach its audience, attract new talent, and address some other logistical challenges. At this stage, though, the imperative is placed on the website, which serves as their core marketing platform (well, at least next to one-on-one interaction).
Technology companies often attempt to bamboozle, using arcane acronyms and rhetoric to convey a sense of cutting-edge expertise. Gossamer’s new website occupies a unique space, in which their value proposition is emphasized, but marketing rhetoric is stripped away. There are no promises made that aren’t backed up by real examples and case studies—presented succinctly in plain language. Their claims are supported by feedback from key clients, attesting to their satisfaction with Gossamer’s service.
Meanwhile, the spirit of the place remains intact online. If you represent an organization that requires a competent and trustworthy technical partner, Gossamer Threads may be right for you. They’re solid, intelligent, and experienced. More than that, they’re practical and down-to-earth. What you find online, is precisely what you’ll experience when you speak (and work) with them.