Back Story

GOAL/QPC is a pioneer in the field of continuous improvement and quality circles. Through years of research in the U.S. and abroad, the company developed both a productline (Memory Jogger Series) and an educational curriculum for member companies and participating firms. During the 1980's, GOAL/QPC combined the teachings of Deming, Juran, Crosby and Fiegenbaum, with a firsthand evaluation of Japanese management practices.

The Challenge

We were invited to meet with the senior marketing team at GOAL/QPC to discuss the responses they were receiving from a print advertising campaign in publications such as the Wall Street Journal. As one marketing manager explained, "Whenever we run these ads we get a lot of responses. We mail our literature out and in many cases a week or two later we get a phone call inquiring "What is it you do again?"

Results

In a review of GOAL/QPC's existing marketing materials, we noticed that each brochure or separate piece of collateral material supported the product or skill set it represented extensively well. The problem as I saw it was there was just too much of it. After our initial meeting, I was on my way to a follow up conference to clarify some questions I still had. Road construction backed up traffic for miles, during which time I wished I had taken a different route – at that moment 'The Journey' was born. We all take different roads to our destination and no two travelers are really alike. A week later, a photographer was flying to the west coast and driving back across the country to Boston, photographing all types of roads, highways and vehicles along the way.

A senior marketing VP at General Motors asked for two dozen brochures so he could pass them out to his marketing managers. A query came to us from Panasonic/Pacific Rim inquiring if we were management consultants since the brochure was so different and explained what is so unique in all companies. 'The Journey' was reprinted several times for the client and utilized by a paper company as an example of creative excellence by their sales people.