Owner at The Wrap Shoppe
Marketing and Advertising industry
2009 – Present
The Wrap Shoppe is the only full-service marketing agency in the Greater Phoenix area distinctly focused on premium vehicle and large format graphic solutions.
With The Wrap Shoppe you will find a knowledgeable staff who is passionate about presenting your brand to the largest audience possible while using the finest tools and techniques available.
A single vehicle wrap generates a staggering average of 18 million impressions a year. With that level of exposure your brand deserves careful and qualified consideration. This demand for quality is what sets The Wrap Shoppe client apart.
VP Sales and Marketing | Wraps and Media at Lowen Corporation
Marketing and Advertising industry
January 2009 – October 2009 ( 10 months)
Developing wrap related sales and training strategies in order to grow the vehicle wrap market on a global scale.
Creating a vehicle wrap training and certification program for the installer base in the US.
Owner at DeSoto Consulting and Development
Marketing and Advertising industry
October 2008 – Current
Vehicle wrap industry consultation.
VP of Marketing at Fellers Inc
Marketing and Advertising industry
October 2006 – October 2008 (2 years 1 month)
Responsible for the following:
Creating a new position for a multi Million dollar per year company.
Creating the largest catalog in the industry.
Product positioning and branding.
Customer Retention.
New customer acquisition.
Developed specialized industry Training.
Developed specialized industry Software.
Created a pull through program.
Responsible for re branding the presidents image.
Developed strategic marketing plan to sustain respectable growth in this down economy.
Owner at The Bad Wrap
Marketing and Advertising industry
June 2005 – October 2006 (1 year 5 months)
Developed the industry leading vehicle wrap design system and subsequently sold the company to a national signage supply distributor.
Owner at SNA Graphics, Inc
Marketing and Advertising industry
January 1996 – June 2006 (10 years 6 months)
Started, Owned and Operated a premier outdoor advertising company with a focus on vehicle wraps.
Sold company in 2006 to develop The Bad Wrap™
Education
Art Institute of Phoenix
BA, Marketing, Advertising Design
1989 – 1992
Recommended By
“I’ve had the pleasure of working with Sergio over the past few years, both with Fellers and with his new venture Desoto Consulting. His forward thinking approach and dedication to the Wraps market has made him “The Voice” of credibility. He truly cares about the success of every company he comes in contact with. He’s a leader, and innovator, and a friend. I highly recommend Sergio as a consultant or an employee.” December 23, 2008
James Kochevar , Account Executive , National Business Media
“Sergio really knows his stuff when it comes to business, marketing, and wraps. Don’t let the rough exterior fool you. He is a true wrap and marketing guru. He has helped me become a better businessman many times in the 6 years that I have known him. As a matter of fact, he helped guide me to my current business focus and it has been a great decision. I highly recommend you listen to anything he has to say. Thanks Sergio, for everything you have done.” October 9, 2008
Casey Yonemura , President , Hotwiredtech, Inc.
was a consultant or contractor to Sergio at DeSoto Consutling and Development
This is just a little something I put together for my own shop to help determine my costs and retails for products frequently used, Feel free to use it as you wish.
Due to recent events that are painfully obvious marketing seams to be a conundrum that most companies are struggling with. The real question is not should I be marketing, but how should I be marketing. You will hear me, or better yet see me use the term counterintuitive in mass. This is because I am a firm believer that if intuitive was the route to take we would all be as wealthy as Bill Gates. If extraordinary results were garnished by doing what comes naturally, everyone would be having them. Not taking into account that there are just some stupid people out there, and we cant count them because intuitive for them is just plain, well stupid!
So back to marketing. Marketing is more than just putting an image on something somewhere with a message on it. It is a whole presence, perception and mental and visual idea of who and what you are doing. It carries deep into the psyche of the consumer and far beyond the pages of any print add. It for the most part is very counter intuitive. Relationally speaking, you may have to remove yourself from your company mentally and create the perception from a foreign perspective. The perspective of the folks who open their wallets to you, or better yet the ones that need to and are not.
This economy has put an erie cloud in the hearts of small business’s everywhere, almost a doubt of the ability to succeed. Which is pulling business owners into a protected shell. They want to pull back on marketing, customer service and sales people. They think that retreating is the safer bet. Couple this will lower prices, reduced quality and a customer experience that is less than desirable will result the destruction of your business.
So what is the answer? In my opinion the answer is very simple. Market, market hard, market harder than the other people in your field that are cowering in a corner. Now of course I am the biggest fan of vehicle wraps because not only do the numbers prove that it is in fact the most cost effective marketing form in the world. Beside that point, lets talk about the rest of the items needed to create, maintain and execute a successful marketing plan with a small budget in mind.
First and foremost my advice to any company pondering their existing marketing plan is to ask yourself this simple question. Be honest with yourself. What is it that you do? I know its a simple question but take the time to really think about it. What do you do? After you decide what it is you do….. Take the time to unpack your business. This is vitally important. Do whatever it takes to clarify this statement. Here is the catch 22, there is a balance between what you focus on, what you make money on and a potentially dying cash cow. The reason this needs to be unpacked is simply to resolve what message you are sending to the customer and is it the shortest route to a lasting absolute within their decision making memory bank. When they think of X do they think of you.
This may mean that you change your focus slightly, but more than likely you will probably come to the determination that your message is not clear enough, your marketing is crowded and over bearing and you may not even be sure you know what your trying to say.
Once you have discovered what you are trying to say in a way that your customer can easily make the connection ask yourself if the items you are using to market to them are clear and concise. Is your message easy to understand both with imagery and verbiage. This may mean that you will become very frustrated with your current situation! Thats ok, keep in mind that you are professional, a professional at what you do! This does not make you a marketing expert or a design professional and its ok to go outside of your realm of expertise and get some professional help. Sometimes I think I need some real professional help, but thats not up for debate here!!!
Now for the budget part. Most changes in marketing do not involve spending a ton of money to get them done. Start with your attitude, look through a fresh pair of eyes and see what your customers see, your message will become clear. This will in turn have a viral effect on the way you present to your customer, the ways your employees project to your customers. This will affect your place of business, maybe it will induce a long over do cleaning, redecorating and sprucing up. This will start the first part of your marketing.
Word of mouth. Cheap easy and very effective. Your customers will talk about your new attitude and will began to share with others.. “hey I was over at X and man, they were smiling, they were happy to see me, they cleaned up the place, the owner told me he had new direction and was very excited. They are a X Company and are focusing on X..
Spending your hard earned cash on marketing should have a return, but do not mistake that for an immediate return. I used to battle with a linebacker of a woman who ran a marketing dept, her whole focus was immediate ROI. Bull ****, not only do good things take time to build, but when they do they are most often the most profitable and memorable.
Now as far as your printed media is concerned. The simple rule is this. Whatever you decide to spend your money on make sure that the message is crystal clear!!!! show some of your customers prior to printing it and make sure they get it. Do not overcrowd your message, do not muddy the waters. If you are a locksmith that does emergency service. Make sure both visually and verbally this message is crystal clear.
Wether or not you choose to get a vehicle wrap, is completely up to you, however I would highly reccomend it. The day we unleashed our wrapped vehicles our phone started ringing, and besides fliers and business cards to give to people when they ask us what we do we are not spending any dollars on marketing.. How can I , using our wrapped vehicles for marketing is our marketing.. Make sense.
I cant fathom the fact that my success is determined by my government and from driving by the mall every weekend it sure does not appear like we are not spending any money! — ( rabbit trail )
Best regards and much Success!!
Sergio DeSoto
We often refer to the term focus in our business and personal lives, but what does it really mean. I have found and have learned that focusing is the most misrepresented term in life, meaning that we often talk about how well we focus but seldom ever see it through to completion.
Personally I feel that focusing requires more than just good effort, it requires a digging deep into ones gut and putting effort into doing what seems most counter intuitive. I have seen this in business over and over again. Many business claim to have a focused direction, very few actually do. In fact I have personally witnessed some very successful business owners say some very focused things and turn around and do the opposite.
For me the decision to focus required me to limit my social activities, such as facebook, myspace and twitter and spend that time on dealing with the business at hand. Think about it for a minute.. For every post, response and time reading in one day, you could have spent that time on the phone with a client, looking at your children’s homework or something else of value. You could spend the time to look at your business processes, customer service or marketing message. Things which are intrinsically important to your overall success but are often neglected.
Take some time and spend a day off of distractions, look at how your people, including yourself represent your company, how are you responding to clients, is your message to the public crystal clear as to your business specialty. If not you may need to adjust and posiblly make some hard decisions to get things back inline.
For me, I killed facebook, myspace and twiiter which is very counterintuitive to todays thinking. However I have built and sold 2 businesses with a value of over 1.3 million dollars before facebook ever existed. Go figure. I dont mention that to impress or brag, just to put things into perspective.
For more information on focusing. Visit. Ries and Ries