Don’t let the name fool you. Blue Ridge Builders Supply (BRBS) is far more than a contractor’s supply store. BRBS first sought out The Ivy Group in 2010 to help with marketing efforts to attract new customers, especially "DIYers" interested in home improvement products and services.

Your local builders supply AND home improvement business

Blue Ridge Builders Supply is an established business located in an area of residential and rental property growth. Both of its two locations, one in Crozet and the other in Charlottesville, offer brand name windows, flooring, decking, window treatments, paint and interior design services.

In a local economy with big box stores and other competitors, BRBS needed better brand awareness to transition from being known as "just a local hardware store" to also being recognized as a trendy, knowledgeable, and service-focused home design center. Founded in 1987, BRBS originally catered solely to professional builders and contractors. However, with a commitment to the idea of "real people, real service," over time BRBS wanted to expand its reach with home DIYers.

Stay top of mind

Campaigns such as, "Make yourself a home!" promote BRBS's personalized services, expert advice, plus top-of-the-line products, served up in a locally-owned, community-oriented package.

Our collaborative integrated marketing approach ensures that BRBS has consistent exposure in many different marketing mediums.

We craft creative campaigns and follow through with execution: designing and placing ads, scripting and producing radio commercials with original music, producing content marketing videos, and working with local production companies to film and produce TV commercials.

BRBS's marketing manager and coordinator handles social media management, email marketing, and web content.

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Load the marketing toolbox with the right tools

A website quickly became a critical digital tool to add to BRBS's marketing toolbox. Our first iteration of brbs.net was launched in 2011, and a 2016 redesign featured a fresh color palette, clean lines, and concise wording appropriate for both professionals and DIYers.

In browsing the website, a customer knows before walking into either location which national brands are available as well as which services, such as professional design consultations, are offered.

While BRBS is not ready to jump into the online sales market, the WooCommerce-based product catalog contains products from both Crozet and Charlottesville locations. Customers can check pricing and quantities—which is especially important for contractors on job sites.

Out with the old, in with the news. We noticed that feature boxes on the original site allowed content to linger too long. To both simplify the design and streamline how content managers update information, we eliminated extraneous modules and developed a single source for store news, sales, and other articles, the"blog". The articles often also serve as landing pages from digital promotions on Facebook and e-newsletters.

Show and tell your strengths

Taking the principle of “real service” to heart, in 2014, we first introduced a fun, informative, low-budget DIY video series into the marketing mix.

The videos feature key products and provide expert advice to DIYers without alienating contractors, empowering them to confidently tackle a variety of home improvement and design projects.

To walk the fine line between teaching and selling, the videos offer both value and entertainment. They share the staff's expert know-how in teachable moments and capture the company's culture in a creative light.

Stretch content for all its worth

To engage customers on multiple channels and position BRBSas a knowledgeable resource for DIYers, the videos are transformed into blogs, social media posts, and in-store signage. BRBS's in-house Marketing Coordinator has used the DIY videos to write step-by-step instructional blogs and social media posts; she also uploads the videos to screens within the store.

BRBS has learned how to get the most out of content marketing! Best of all? The videos are recyclable and can be continuously promoted. Each is an investment that continues to deliver over time. 

Teach a (wo)man to fish

In every solid partnership, there’s some give and take. We knew from the beginning that our job was not just to deliver a quality product but also to train BRBS’s team how to create content themselves.

With hands-on training for video planning and filming, and social media best practices guide in hand, BRBS is positioned for continued marketing success.

Working with Ivy Group has been a blast. They are all about making these projects fun but functional and are very professional. From planning to staging to filming, they’ve shown me how important each step of the video-making process is and have given me confidence that I can do it myself.

Jordan Logan, BRBS Marketing Coordinator