Elastic was recently requested to participate in a university questionnaire on marketing, brand identity & our background. Natalie Warnock from the University of The Highlands & Islands had some intriguing questions:

Q: How did you start out as a brand?
A: In 2005 when we started, Elastic as a brand came out of our interest in the definition- flexible, agile and resilient. We also began life as a company that worked a lot with outside freelance team members, so we could ‘stretch’ into any shape required. As we’ve grown, we’ve brought all skills in-house, so now we represent the full integration of skills from brand strategy to digital marketing, video creation and web build. This means that we can deliver robust expert solutions across the full media mix. The stretchiness remains and we’re stronger than ever!

Q: What strategies do you use to target a certain market?
A: Targeting using digital platforms can be very specific and allows us to get the right message to the right people at the right time. We can communicate to any audience using the sector they work in, what level of job they have, where they are located geographically, and many other factors.

Q: Who is your current target market?
A: We enjoy and excel in our ability to handle any sector- just some of them include:

• Technology
• Hospitality & Tourism
• Property & Construction
• Health
• Education

We strongly believe that learnings and intelligence from one sector can have applications in others. In fact, the more you regularly work in different sectors the more adept you get at delivering fresh and innovative solutions. It keeps everything we do exciting and interesting, which we believe shows in how we approach each new project.

Q: What new markets have you tackled?
A: We have had opportunities to work with clients disrupting existing spaces and creating new products & services on several occasions, including in the financial, technology and energy sectors.

Q: What barriers do you face designing for a new target market?
A: Barriers in these new arenas start with awareness; with search and digital marketing, you need people to know to search for these new services or products in the first place. You need to identify what this audience might look like and allow learnings and research to adapt to new data as you develop your campaign. From here you need to generate interest and knowledge about what you are offering and create compelling content that will convince them to contact you. It all takes time, but when invested properly, the results can be very rewarding.

Q: What opportunities have opened up designing for a new target market?
A: Designing for new markets means understanding something new and by forging new ground, new ideas and new connections are generated. All of this continues to feed into our overall growth as a company and means that the next time someone has something new to promote they can trust that we will deliver great results for them. It keeps everything elastic to constantly stretch beyond our boundaries!

Q: What research methods do you use?
A: Our research methods include reading available material on- and off-line, comparing and contrasting with past experience, contacting known experts when relevant and most importantly conducting one of our brand workshops with our clients. These are designed to test assumptions and with the collective knowledge in the room there can be many connections and expertise shared and ideas formed that would otherwise not be possible.

Q: Have you recently designed for any intercultural brands?
A: The global nature of many of our clients and projects means that we get involved in not only translating language but also in interpreting cultural elements, too. This can mean broader messaging changes where one country or culture doesn’t understand a certain phrase or term, or it can be smaller nuances that some wouldn’t even notice; a colour choice or an image choice that might reflect different attitudes in different cultures.

Q: How would you describe your own brand?
A: Our own Elastic brand is agile and ready for whatever is thrown at us.

Q: What advice would you give to anyone designing for a new market?
A: Be brave and go with your gut. In challenging what already exists, also remember to challenge and test your own assumptions.