Solihull based Argenta aspires to be the market leader in providing bespoke test, measurement, control and automation systems to the aerospace, automotive, and defense industries. This rapidly expanding company had an excellent track record however needed to meet the challenge of increased sales to match their expanding team of software engineers. The directors were managing a handover from the first to a second generation of the family business. They chose Birmingham Chamber Member Aardvark Marketing to help them meet their challenging sales targets.

Working with Aardvark Marketing brought about a change in their management of the whole sales and marketing process, with new planning, budgeting and monitoring of performance targets (KPI’s). Proposals increased from 20 to 36 in 2 years. The brand was updated and modernised. A new digital marketing strategy, integrating website, SEO, email and social media resulted in an enhanced reputation for the company with B2B buyers. The company invested in PR and sponsorship of the Midlands Aerospace Alliance conference. A new and very successful LabView user group for the Midlands was set up which enabled Argenta to establish a reputation or expertise to a targeted group of engineering companies.

“Argenta presented a typical challenge for Aardvark Marketing” says Gill Hutchinson, “with a limited sales and marketing budget it’s important to get the strategy right and use a very targeted approach to new prospects. Because we work very closely with our customers, developing new systems and training their new staff to carry out their new roles our legacy is one of continuing success.”

Argenta qualified for business support through the Growth Accelerator program, which reduced the overall cost to the business. The support provided by Aardvark included leadership and management training to enable the company to implement more of the marketing plan in-house. Similar grants are now available through the Accelerated Growth program for manufacturing, IT and other high tech companies looking to expand into new markets or simply increase customer numbers in existing markets.

“The tools and techniques Aardvark Marketing have introduced us to have given us confidence in implementing a marketing strategy. With the new brand identity, improvements to our website content and introduction of our Midlands LabVIEW User Group, the Argenta profile has been significantly raised.” commented Chris Woodhams, MD at Argenta. “The Improvements that have been implemented to the management of our sales pipeline mean we are much more focused in this area resulting in an increase in the number of projects we are quoting for.”