How does The Branding Foundry gain access to new products and services? How will you generate a continuous stream of ideas?

We’re based in the Pacific Northwest, a breeding ground of innovation for at least a century. Notable industry leaders are rooted in the Northwest. We are known for airplanes, coffee, software and all things new and exciting. As for The Branding Foundry, two members of our executive team, Kevin Young and Bill Span, spoke to more than one million entrepreneurs while traveling the U.S. in the early 90s as they launched the phone card industry. To this day, those entrepreneurs continue to alert Bill and Kevin when they hear about great new ideas.

Two other members of our executive team, Rowland Hanson and Ken Hunt, bring experience with Fortune 500 companies to TBF, and their contacts generate idea flow from a set of people at a different level. That’s how a lot of our products come to us; our internal networks have continued to expand over our collective years of business activity. People who know us know we can turn great ideas and into great success.

In addition, through TBF’s relationships with large retailers, we’ll be assuming their overflow of products that aren’t ready for prime time because they need stronger branding, packaging and consumer awareness. We anticipate that other retailers eventually will learn that they, too, can bring us their not-ready-for-prime-time players to us to build consumer awareness and education through infomercials and mass media marketing.

If what you’re doing is so great, why hasn’t someone else thought of it?

To begin with, let’s take a look at what we collectively have accomplished. We have on our team the pioneer, founding father and most significant name in the history of infomercials: Rick Cesari -- and he’s totally enthralled with what we’re doing. What we’re doing has not been done before in the history of marketing. In an era when many are only talking about convergence, we are literally merging the power and reach of TV, Internet and “boots on the ground” (retail distribution). Whether someone wants to purchase our products on the Web, via an 800 number or in a store near them, they will soon have easy access to our important goods and services.

We are confident in saying that this has never been done before because two of our team experts, Rick Cesari and Rowland Hanson, and several top decision-makers in some of the largest retailers on the planet confirm it as fact. Simply put, sometimes the greatest companies and greatest ideas are yet to be developed.

How does TBF select the products and services that make the cut?

The executive team and partners of TBF evaluate the products on a set of criteria that we have developed over years of experience in this type of business. Then we go to our retail partners for their sign-off on products they agree would be popular if an infomercial drove velocity to nationwide retail chains. Our typical product would not “jump off the shelf” unless an infomercial educated the consumer on why they need it and where to get it.

Our product profile calls for approx. a 1:4 ratio of cost-to-sale price, and the product needs to offer great benefits, and appeal to, a large segment of the American population.

What percentage of ownership do you typically assume in a company whose product you select for promotion?

We negotiate each deal depending on the level of investment required for us to brand, market and promote the product.

We know how to:

• Develop a powerful brand position for potential spin-offs
• Add value to a company
• Create strong monthly cash flow
• Target media and buy media placements
• Leverage the influencer approach to marketing

We also know how to create and use valuable surveys, conduct inbound and outbound telemarketing, and position products in the marketplace. We also have the necessary contacts to work with high level political and government officials.

In short, we will help you connect with people you previously could only dream of being in business with. Sometimes it really is who you know that counts!

We encourage inventors to fill out our entry form to start the process. We’re looking for products that have the potential to be the next George Foreman Grill. Those that aren’t selected for TBF promotion will be given the opportunity to create their own infomercials to broadcast online. This will be done through our partner company Venture2Show.com, which provides an online venue for showcasing new companies and potentially matching inventors with investors.

THE BRANDING FOUNDRY™ featured in Yahoo and Puget Sound Business Journal