Marketing That Matters

Kathy Clark, Ph.D., has spent years studying the field of body composition and uses a highly sophisticated instrument to measure it. Despite her years of experience and expertise, she found herself at a very elementary level when it came to launching and promoting her new body composition measurement business.

Clark is co-owner of Score Body Composition, which uses advanced technology to analyze body composition—how much fat and muscle a person has—and assists people in using that information to improve their health and well-being. She and her Score co-owners, Stacey Feldman and Hayley Brendengen, are passionate about sharing their knowledge with the public in order to help people become healthier and reach their fitness goals.

“All of us were fairly green,” says Clark. “We came to FUEL to get a logo and a business card, like we were just going to sew a button on a shirt.”

    Feldman says it was an eye-opening process to work with FUEL to define their business concept and create a brand strategy and identity to achieve their objectives.

    “We thought we had a name, and we just wanted FUEL to make us look established and professional. Working with them, we realized we needed much more than that. FUEL walked us through everything that we needed to think about,” says Feldman.

    The goal was to prepare Score to make a credible entrance into area gyms so the team could form relationships with gym owners and individuals customers—from competitive athletes to people just trying to improve their health and fitness.“

    Kathy is a leading researcher in the field of body composition at the University of Iowa,” says FUEL designer Pat Prior. “But they were starting a company in an undefined market, and it was imperative to develop a strategy to communicate how the service that Score offers is extremely beneficial to an individual’s well-being.”

      FUEL assisted the trio in naming their business and developing an identity expressed through a well conceived plan of print, online media, and environment displays.

      “They came up with a great logo, along with a lot of additional kinds of contact points that we could use to reach people,” says Clark, who especially likes a large banner display created by FUEL. It doubles as a privacy screen and an attention-grabbing display at the gyms where Score offers its body composition analysis and advice.

      Score launched its business over the summer with appearances at several gyms and clubs.

      “We’ve been out to multiple gyms and are setting up recurring visits now,” says Feldman. “We’ve had a very good response. For me, the greatest sense of accomplishment comes when someone learns their body composition and then has that ‘aha’ moment when they understand why it’s important and how they can use that information, rather than just stepping on a scale and saying, ‘I want to lose five pounds.’”

      She says the FUEL team succeeded in positioning Score as approachable, professional and knowledgeable—the expert in its field. And that’s exactly the way she feels about FUEL.

      “FUEL’s designers are very good at what they do and they made it very easy for us,” says Feldman. “To be honest, we had tried some other places and gotten what we paid for. There’s definitely value in setting up our business the right way from the beginning, working with someone who knows what they are doing.”