Today we’d like to introduce you to Ellen Schlafer.
Ellen, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
After multiple mergers and acquisitions in the banking industry, I decided to take my financial services and marketing knowledge and create Electrum Branding. I recruited an account service and a creative team from the industry, my current bank became my first client, and I never looked back. The timing was perfect. In the mid-2000’s, de novo banks were being formed all over Florida and we created a “De novo bank marketing package” that provided all the marketing and PR a bank would need to launch. It put us in business!
We’ve been successful because we’re nimble and take advantage of opportunists as they arise. Our customer experience division was formed as a result of client requests. When Electrum Branding ran ad campaigns for clients, in preparation, we would call the company, posing as a potential customer, to be sure employees knew about, and would respond appropriately to an ad.
My first request for expanded services came from an Electrum client asking us if we could “shop” in person, in addition to phone shopping, and I told them we weren’t set up for that. The second request came just weeks later and, again, I told them we didn’t have the resources to do that. When the third request came, I realized there was a business there and began researching the industry. A year later, the customer experience measurement division of our company was generating 40% of our revenues.
My original goal was to create a company with a culture where people wanted to work. We’ve done that. From clients who drop in just to have lunch with us, to Zoe, our office bull terrier mascot, Electrum is a fun place to be and as a result, every employee is dedicated to the team.
Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Small businesses never have a smooth road. From 2004 through 2008, we super exceeded every goal – and then, with the financial crisis, we lost more than 50% of our revenues. The financial services industry was hit hard. We decided as a team to tighten our belts for two years, and it worked. By 2011, we were again exceeding our growth goals.
Electrum Branding – what should we know? What do you guys do best? What sets you apart from the competition?
Electrum is a full service branding agency that works with small to mid-cap companies to build brand recognition, then find, get and keep customers. Our specialty is financial services, but we serve technology, construction, real estate and small businesses that come to us for assistance.
Our customer experience measurement is a differentiator. Our tagline is “building your brand from the inside out” because we believe that internal branding is as important as external branding. Our internal branding team provides consulting and training to ensure that every one of our clients’ employees deliver theirs with every interaction.
We’re known for our fast response and being a one-stop-shop since we offer brand consulting, traditional and digital marketing, advertising, PR, training and customer experience measurement.
What moment in your career do you look back most fondly on?
Stay in business when a large percent of ad agencies and marketing companies went out of business during the financial crisis.
Contact Info:
- Address: 3333 W Commercial Blvd. Ste. 111
Fort Lauderdale, FL 33309 - Website: www.ElectrumBranding.com
- Phone: 954-318-1600
- Email: ellen@electrumbranding.com
- Instagram: @electrumbranding
- Facebook: /ElectrumBranding
- Twitter: /Electrum Branding
- Other: LinkedIn.com/company/electrumbranding
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