Austere Environmental Gets Real Results from Branding and Web Design by Dynamic Tech Media
Marketing can be tricky for groundbreaking innovators, especially early-stage hardware companies who may lack experience with topics like branding and design. This is how Dynamic Tech Media helped an industrial cleantech startup win their first investor check and gain traction in the market.
“After getting Dynamic Tech Media’s help with our branding and website, we noticed a significant spike in engagement with investors and customers,” says Dr. Curtis Purrington, founder and CEO of Austere Environmental.
Less than a week after we finished our work, Austere received their first investor offer. They went on to raise a pre-seed round by leveraging the messaging and materials we developed.
As a B2B tech company run by founders with an abundance of technical skill but no marketing experience, they were struggling to communicate effectively. They knew they had a solution to a real problem in the oil and gas industry, but they couldn’t seem to convince customers or investors to get on board.
After we met at Colorado School of Mines, everything changed.
“Before working with Dynamic Tech Media, I didn’t really understand the value of marketing,” says Purrington. “Now I realize this is clearly important.”
The Problem
Austere Environmental was not getting the traction they needed.
Investors weren’t interested, customers weren’t engaging, and their presentations weren’t landing. Between the technical jargon and the confusing brand identity, no one saw them as a credible company capable of following through on their promises.
Their website and marketing materials lacked clarity and cohesion. They had multiple logos created by various freelancers, but whenever they went to meet with investors, they heard that their logos didn’t make sense. Their tagline, “Restoring Earth to a Higher Standard,” was equally confusing.
One of their biggest struggles was that they needed to communicate with different groups at the same time.
It comes down to the nature of their product. In a nutshell, Austere’s machinery separates liquids from solids, and their beachhead market is oil and gas companies who could cut costs by separating petroleum from soil after drilling rather than hauling contaminated dirt away and paying for disposal.
Austere Environmental had a win-win solution that would benefit both the planet and industry, but they struggled to find the right messaging that would appeal to stakeholders in both camps. There were the environmentalists—obvious champions for the planet who may be skeptical of industry. And then there was their primary market, oil and gas companies—whose defenses would be raised by hearing words like “green” or “mess.”
There was another wrinkle in the messaging that made it hard to appeal to everyone at once. Purrington was proud of the fact that he had developed the tech during his PhD in Space Resources at Colorado School of Mines. And although industry customers couldn’t care less, investors were eager to hear about space-age technology.
Striking this balance was crucial for gaining support on all sides, but Austere couldn’t seem to get there. Because of that, they were missing out on investors and customers.
They needed marketing experts who understood their solution, their market, and their goals. They needed a partner who could simplify complexity and deliver results.
The Solution
Like so many of our engagements, we started with a proof of concept. Austere would be exhibiting at the Mines Entrepreneurship and Innovation Showcase, and they needed some print materials for their booth.
“We originally tried to catch investors’ attention with a scientific paper or poster, and it wasn’t a great fit,” says Purrington. “Dynamic Tech Media’s solution was superior and led to a ton of valuable conversations.”
Now the real work could begin. It was time for a brand overhaul and a new website.
We started working on their brand identity by walking them through our Core Brand Elements Template and codifying their core purpose, vision, and values.
From there, we honed in on the right messaging with taglines like “Quiet Custodians of Heavy Industry” and “We Clean Dirt.” We wanted to keep it simple while also positioning Austere as silent partners who, like janitors, work in the background to make sure industry can keep running in a clean and orderly manner.
With this in mind, we started designing a new logo and visual style. After going through 50+ logo concepts internally, we narrowed it down with each pass until we had a top five, then a top two, and finally a winner. At each stage, we took feedback from the Austere team and then created different versions until we landed here.
Equipped with a logo, colors, and fonts, we began revamping the website. Rather than break it out into a complex, multi-page format, we worked within Austere’s budget to create a single-page site that hits all the major talking points. Digital ink is never dry, so the site can always expand later as the company grows.
Creating the new site was also an iterative and deliberate process with plenty of back-and-forth over coffee in Golden, Colorado. From outlining the narrative to writing the copy to handling the design and development, we did all the heavy lifting to bring Ausere’s beautiful new website online.
“The website was far superior to anything we could have come up with on our own,” says Purrington. “On top of that, Dynamic Tech Media is always prompt and straight to the point. They offer fast turnarounds for a fair price.”
The Results
Less than a week after we finished the new website, Austere Environmental received their first investor offer. “Before, people would look at our site and think we were too early,” says Purrington. “Now we have a lot more credibility.”
Suddenly, people no longer wanted to share their opinions about how Austere could improve their branding and messaging. Venture capitalists listened to what they had to say, got the point, and saw the potential of their innovative, space-age technology.
On top of the spike in investor interest, they also started receiving calls from customers who were confident Austere could solve their problems.
“We had one mining company repeatedly call us, asking for help with their tailings and saying they saw it on our website,” recalls Purrington. “Whenever a customer pursues you, you know you’re onto something good.”
That’s the power of marketing. We turn confusion into clarity, clarity into leads, and leads into customers.
Because Austere chose to invest in their brand by working with Dynamic Tech Media, they went from being considered “too early” to becoming a credible, reputable brand. We’ve continued to work on other projects together, like one-pager sell sheets, and they know we’re here to support them through every step of their growth journey.
“We will definitely use Dynamic Tech Media in the future,” concludes Purrington.