We’ve done it!  TREW Marketing has achieved what a third of all new businesses fail to do – survive and thrive through the second year of business.  Moreover, we did it in one of the worst recessions of the last century. And so, we are ready to raise our glasses in a toast to all we’ve accomplished, learned and muddled through. And to thank our customers, friends, colleagues and family who have chosen and supported us along the way.

We had a fantastic start to the year following the December 2008 launch of The Next Frontier, a report on the state of K-12 math and science education in Texas by TREW customer, The Academy of Medicine, Engineering and Science of Texas.

Following the launch, we were we were honored with two awards by the Texas Public Relations Association — Best in Texas for Non Profit Marketing and Best Publication. Both awards recognized our work in support of TAMEST, including broad media coverage statewide and nationally.

As we all know, early 2009 became a scary time of economic uncertainty. And being a new entrepreneur with little historical compare, the uncertainty was even greater.  Thank goodness we didn’t know what we didn’t know when we didn’t know it when we founded TREW in 2008!

In hindsight, we now see that with adversity and challenge comes opportunity. Such was the case with us. We had a bit of time for soul searching, and the result was to narrow our business focus, leveraging our decades of passion and hard marketing work collaborating with scientists and engineers in industry and academia.

With a renewed sense of purpose, we created the TREW mission statement:

We create smart ideas to promote the innovations of our technical and academic leaders.

And then we did what every marketing pro working with scientists and engineers does – headed out to NIWeek! It was great being back to see our NI friends, meet new people, and identify new opportunities to help engineering and scientific companies achieve their business goals through strategic, creative, smart marketing.

Since narrowing the focus of our business, we have had the incredible good fortune of growing and working with a number of committed, smart, and collaborative customers.  We’d like to brag a bit about them here, and share a few examples of the exciting work we’ve had the opportunity to deliver this year:

• With what felt like a reunion with an old friend, NI Alliance Member Wineman Technology brought TREW Marketing on-board to develop a marketing strategy and manage ongoing implementation, redesign their website, and implement an e-newsletter program. We also created and manage a robust search engine advertising plan.
• Cerium Labs, a semiconductor and electronics manufacturing analytical laboratory, tapped TREW Marketing’s B2B expertise to audit their marketing activities and provide support with targeted marketing efforts to promote their electronics product tear-down services.
• We were proud to see the launch of a new website supporting the Children’s Medical Center Foundation of Central Texas, who raises funds for Dell Children’s Hospital in Austin.  TREW Marketing played a strategic and integral role in this project by developing the website strategy, navigation approach, and content guidance.

• A big milestone for TREW in 2009 was being selected by Europe-based Alfautomazione and its U.S. affiliate, Alfamation USA, to position one company globally in the electronics functional test market. This project has been a fun challenge and even greater reward as we collaborate with the Alfa team to uniquely position them for success in the consumer electronics; video; RF/wireless; medical; and automotive infotainment test markets. Our work includes new branding identity, website, and a targeted marketing plan that includes exciting product launches that we’re looking forward to executing throughout the year.
• And finally, we were very excited to be selected by The University of Texas at Austin as a preferred supplier for marketing research and strategy (Wendy asks that you hold all Aggie jokes – c’mon, it’s business!). One of our first projects has been with the Hogg Foundation for Mental Health to lead a 6-month brand evaluation research project, employing qualitative and quantitative methodologies such as interviews, focus groups, and online surveys.  We look forward to sharing more on the results in our 2010 wrap-up!

With great customers, we need a truly great team. As we’ve continued to grow, so has the TREW Crew. We are happy to welcome new members – including Denise Goluboff, Gail Folkins, Charlie Brown and Birgit Sund – and thank those who are now considered TREW Old Timers– including Kelly Cottrell, Steve Goodwin, and Ryan Kagan.

We are passionate about our work creating ideas for our world’s technical and academic leaders. We are proud of our achievements and growth in 2009, and are grateful to our customers for allowing us to come into their organizations and become a partner to them. As we raise our glasses to 2009, we look forward to more good lessons to be learned and TREW growth in 2010 as strive to reach our vision:

To be the smartest and most collaborative marketing partner serving engineering, science, and academia.