The Next Evolution in Channel Marketing: SproutLoud

The Silicon Review

Brands around the world are struggling with a fractured marketing atmosphere where there are too many messages overloading their customers. The only way forward is to drive national campaigns through local tactics so you can speak to your customers in their community.”. – Jared Shusterman

SproutLoud was founded 10 years ago with a simple question: How can Brands be more successful selling their products through local channels? Jared Shusterman and Gary Ritkes believed that a cloud-based platform could simplify the execution of national marketing campaigns at the local level and help Brands drive more sales. They focused on building a solution to the most common problems in local marketing–poor Brand compliance, underutilized funding and inconsistent execution.

SproutLoud’s platform disrupts the way Brands think about the cost of marketing, their marketing channels and even their go-to-market strategy.

The Unique factor
SproutLoud’s software is in the cloud which makes it simple to implement and easy to use for both Brand marketers and local partners. Moving off old systems can be difficult which is why SproutLoud offers extensive change management as part of the set up process. The implementation team guides the Brand through every part of the transition – from customization of the Brand platform to enrolling local partners in the portal.

Once the platform is deployed, SproutLoud’s local expertise allows Brands to execute the right campaigns efficiently. SproutLoud’s Client Relationship Managers (CRM’s) utilize the expertise from hundreds of previous campaigns to provide guidance to the Brand corporate marketing managers. Local Marketing Coordinators (LMC’s) act as a resource for the local dealers to help them effectively select, fund and execute campaigns that will accelerate growth. Think of the LMC as the channel partner’s personal advertising agency but without the high agency costs.

The Next Evolution in Channel Marketing
SproutLoud reduces the overhead traditionally associated with marketing execution. Using the SaaS platform to distribute
marketing assets reduces the cost of enabling local dealers with the latest campaigns. Because the platform is in the cloud, budgets for support are greatly reduced and those funds can be reinvested into customer facing campaigns. SproutLoud integrates best-of-breed Marketing Service Providers (digital, search, listings, reputation management, direct mail) seamlessly into its platform which means Brands spend less money managing vendors and get the best possible price for every campaign they execute. Less overhead, simpler execution and more buying power means Brands can evolve their go-to-market strategy and get more traction with customers at the local level.

At the core of every campaign is funding. That is why SproutLoud put so much thought into disrupting the outdated claims/reimbursement model that frankly is causing more harm than good. SproutLoud’s revolutionary SproutPay Instant Funding allows the brand to make funds such as Co-Op and MDF instantly available to channel partners on preferred campaigns. To unlock these funds and activate the campaign the partner simply points and clicks – their 20-50% portion of the campaign is automatically funded because their credit card is pre-loaded in the platform. SproutPay means less hassle for the local partner and more participation. Greater dealer participation amplifies the total spend for that campaign by 1.2X to 1.5X. With all traditional and digital campaign choices available from any browser, SproutLoud can turn any partner into a marketing machine with little to no effort on their part.

The Future
SproutLoud’s core value is the ability to create hard dollar savings across the marketing lifecycle. When you combine lower marketing OPEX, better buying power and the SproutPay multiplier – you start to redefine how Brands look at their marketing strategy. Expanding this value is the foundation of SproutLoud’s solution strategy and our innovation roadmap. The great news for Brands is that future innovation is never far away because of SproutLoud’s Agile development methodology.

Meet the Key Executive

Jared Shusterman, CEO: Jared is the Founder and Managing Partner of SproutLoud. Prior to SproutLoud, Jared worked in Thomas Weisel Partners’ internet and online advertising investment banking practice in San Francisco. He served as the lead analyst on a number of Corporate Finance and M&A deals including News corps’ buyout of Intermix Media (Myspace.com).

Jared graduated with a B.A. in Finance and Marketing from the McIntire School of Commerce at the University of Virginia. Jared has an MBA from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University and is a member of the Young President’s Organization (YPO). Jared has been honored as one of a Top 40 under 40 Entrepreneur by South Florida Business Journal and a Top 50 Entrepreneur by Business Leader Magazine.

Evolving Content Delivery in Cruise Marketing
Home-based travel franchise CruiseOne, which is part of the world’s largest cruise agency and award-winning leisure travel company World Travel Holdings, recently launched one of its most successful marketing programs to date, CruiseOne Automated Social Program. The progressive new program utilizes SproutLoud’s advanced hyper-local marketing platform to deliver automated, Branded social media content and scheduling to its vast network of franchisees. The CruiseOne Automated Social Program launch received a record-breaking response, with more than 320 enrollments in just the first 10 days.

For almost 25 years, CruiseOne has equipped its franchisees with dynamic programs, which are complemented by the latest technology advancements, resulting in rapid growth. The CruiseOne Automated Social Program is offered at no cost to franchisees and enables them to receive corporate-aligned content that can be filtered to their potential customers using today’s social media platforms. “We are thrilled to offer our franchisees a centralized, hassle-free way to distribute optimized content and improve customer engagement,” said Rosemarie Reed, Vice President of Marketing at CruiseOne.