Telling your brand story with models and replicas

[00:00:00] My dad works in B2B marketing, but I never really knew what that meant.

[00:00:04] Then one day my dad came by my school for career day and told everyone in my class he was a big ROAS man.

[00:00:11] Then he just kept saying things like,

[00:00:13] The bigger the ROAS, the better. Over and over.

[00:00:16] My friends still laugh at me to this day.

[00:00:19] I think it means calculating a return on ad spend.

[00:00:23] One thing's for sure. I'll be known as the ROAS man's kid for the rest of my days.

[00:00:28] Why couldn't you just be a fireman or a lawyer?

[00:00:31] Why? You ruined my life, Dad.

[00:00:34] Not everyone gets B2B, but LinkedIn has the people who do.

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[00:00:51] Go to linkedin.com slash mpn to claim your credit.

[00:00:54] That's linkedin.com slash mpn.

[00:00:56] Terms and conditions apply.

[00:00:57] LinkedIn, the place to be to be.

[00:01:00] Hi, I'm Jason Falls, the executive producer of the Marketing Podcast Network.

[00:01:04] As you probably know, Asheville and Western North Carolina were nearly destroyed by Hurricane Helene in late September.

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[00:02:26] Welcome to the Space Marketing Podcast.

[00:02:29] We look at marketing principles, strategies, and tactics through the lens of space.

[00:02:34] Hi, I am your host, Izzy House.

[00:02:37] How do you tell your company's story?

[00:02:40] Today, we will talk with Skyscale and explore insights on how model replicas can build your

[00:02:47] brand story in a physical way that resonates with your audience, engages your customers,

[00:02:53] and may help attract investments.

[00:02:57] So, lift off in three, two, one.

[00:03:11] Welcome to the Space Marketing Podcast.

[00:03:14] Information relating to our discussion today and links to the video version can be found

[00:03:20] in the episode show notes on spacemarketingpodcast.com.

[00:03:25] Please like and subscribe to the podcast.

[00:03:28] It will help more people reach beyond the atmosphere.

[00:03:33] Information in this episode is for entertainment and information only.

[00:03:37] Please consult a professional for your specific situation.

[00:03:42] Today, we will dive into the art of storytelling and explore a unique approach that brings products

[00:03:50] to life in a whole new way using detailed model replicas.

[00:03:55] This strategy captivates audiences by helping them visualize, interact with, and connect emotionally

[00:04:02] to your product, giving them a compelling experience without the real thing in front of them.

[00:04:10] Beyond customer engagement, we will also cover how model replicas can appeal to your investors,

[00:04:17] offering a tangible and captivating preview of how your products will impact and market fit.

[00:04:24] From creating immersive experiences to enhancing presentations,

[00:04:30] this episode is packed with insights on how model replicas can build your brand stories

[00:04:36] that will resonate and attract investment.

[00:04:40] So, please meet Skyscale, David Chalco, founder, and Adario Wehner,

[00:04:46] architect and marketing guru for Skyscale.

[00:04:50] So, welcome to the podcast.

[00:04:53] Thank you, Ife.

[00:04:54] Thank you for having us.

[00:04:57] Oh, thank you for being here.

[00:04:59] So, first of all, we take a few minutes to kind of get to know you

[00:05:04] and talk about your journey on how you got to where you are now working with space replicas.

[00:05:13] So, Dario, why don't you go first and tell us how you got involved in space?

[00:05:19] 15 years ago, I was starting companies in a lab and one of these companies was a great company right now,

[00:05:29] Saralogic, and I had the privilege of being part of this birth.

[00:05:34] So, during the 21st century, space industry is becoming a great democratic industry and a lot of private companies are growing in this sector.

[00:05:45] And I had the privilege to see the birth of a startup who grows a lot.

[00:05:52] And then David is my friend and I admire him.

[00:05:56] And he was doing a lot of stuff about scale modeling.

[00:06:01] And this is a great opportunity for us to take advantage of the needs of our potential and current customers.

[00:06:10] So, David, tell me about your journey to space.

[00:06:14] How did you go to space?

[00:06:17] How did the journey happen?

[00:06:19] So, I'm an industrial designer.

[00:06:22] I worked as an industrial designer for many years.

[00:06:25] I still do.

[00:06:26] I still work as an industrial designer.

[00:06:27] And I was always fascinated for the way the origami techniques are applied to space.

[00:06:36] The way things are deployed in space.

[00:06:39] The way you can have huge extra structures like the Shenmue Telescope, for instance, space that can fit on top of a rocket.

[00:06:50] So, there was always a link between different things that I found very interested in with the space.

[00:06:59] I found myself working on a design project for a huge company here in Argentina, which is INVAP.

[00:07:06] INVAP is a contractor for different missions.

[00:07:10] And they just ordered me a first model.

[00:07:13] They saw I just had the ability of making plenty of things.

[00:07:17] So, they ordered me this very first model that was a geo model, a geo-satellite model, a big one.

[00:07:27] From there, I started getting different orders for other companies, for the Argentinian Aerospace Agency,

[00:07:36] from companies abroad in the United States, in Europe.

[00:07:40] And this is how it started.

[00:07:42] So, my fascination from space, it started long, long before.

[00:07:50] And my work as working on models would be about 15 years ago, something like that.

[00:08:02] Well, I've seen pictures.

[00:08:04] And if you're listening to this and you want to look at some pictures, we're going to have some pictures on the video part.

[00:08:11] So, do travel over to YouTube and watch the video to see some of these amazing models that we're going to be talking about.

[00:08:20] So, go ahead and tell us a little bit about Skyscale and what it does.

[00:08:27] Okay.

[00:08:28] So, we focus on building very detailed models, aerospace models.

[00:08:35] There's a wide range of different models that we tackle.

[00:08:39] We work on satellite models, LEO satellite, geo-satellite, big ones, steel CubeSats.

[00:08:47] We also work on the radars.

[00:08:51] We have been doing projects related with launchers.

[00:08:59] And we are not just a company that is working on 3D printing parts and making kind of a model and a focus on just what you see.

[00:09:15] We are very interested in understanding how things work, how things are deployed in space, how things move.

[00:09:24] And that's the way, that's what we do.

[00:09:27] And that's the way that allows us to better understand what to show and how to make these models more appealing to clients, investors,

[00:09:40] more appealing for education, for getting people being interested in space.

[00:09:46] Dario, did you want to add to that?

[00:09:48] Yeah.

[00:09:49] Yeah, of course.

[00:09:50] Our customers are space marketers.

[00:09:55] They are in charge of thinking about how a tangible model could represent the vision and the mission of the company.

[00:10:06] So, tangible is very important in space industry, particularly.

[00:10:11] Not every industry needs physical models, but space industry launched their technology to space and this technology disappeared from the Earth.

[00:10:26] So, they need to replace.

[00:10:28] They need to show a tangible model of what they do.

[00:10:34] And what they do is epic.

[00:10:38] They are not doing a simple product.

[00:10:40] They are doing rockets, satellites who are transforming our life, who are increasing humankind.

[00:10:49] It's humankind augmentation or humanity augmentation.

[00:10:53] And we are attending at the beginning of a multi-planetary world.

[00:11:03] The last two weeks were incredible for the industry.

[00:11:08] So, we are solving the problem of building a tangible model for companies who are in space industry.

[00:11:17] I want to tell you, I love this story and I love this particular way of telling a story.

[00:11:24] So, back in the Apollo program, NASA would bring models of rockets and capsules to promote what they were trying to accomplish with the moon landing.

[00:11:34] And this was wildly successful.

[00:11:37] It was a way to make it real.

[00:11:41] And it was a story that engaged the audience and made a difference on whether or not the American public would support this particular moon landing.

[00:11:55] A big comment.

[00:11:56] I saw this documentary about NASA.

[00:12:01] I believe it was from the early 80s in which there were people from NASA that went to the Oval Office to try to convince the president, I believe, why they should build a space station.

[00:12:19] And they went to the Oval Office with all those little, very accurate models that shown to the president.

[00:12:29] And the president, the moment he saw the model, he said, we must do it.

[00:12:34] So, it is something that works for education.

[00:12:37] It is something that works for engaging with investors.

[00:12:40] It is something that works also for governments to help them to make decisions.

[00:12:44] And it's very interesting in this way.

[00:12:47] So, when you go to an investor and you've got a tangible product that you're able to have them hold, it makes it real.

[00:12:57] It's more than just a presentation.

[00:12:59] So, do you want to talk about the different types of things that the models can show and demonstrate to an investor?

[00:13:08] I could tell you about different key projects we made.

[00:13:12] For example, we made a project for the University of Luxembourg.

[00:13:17] In which it was important for them, for the client, not only to have a replica, a scale model of the satellite.

[00:13:28] In this case, it was the Prova 2.

[00:13:30] It's a satellite that was built by the ESA.

[00:13:35] They also wanted to use this model to validate a software, navigation software that they were developing.

[00:13:43] So, this model had to include different aspects, specific aspects regarding the surface finishing, the way the light is reflected.

[00:13:57] Plenty of different details that would allow those people to attach the model to a robotic arm.

[00:14:05] And then run the software they developed and be able to understand whether the software works or not.

[00:14:14] There were other cases in which it was very important for the client to be able to see the inner part of the spacecraft.

[00:14:27] Whatever is inside, because there are different cases in which you have plenty of technology that is hidden inside the box.

[00:14:38] And then you go for investor or clients and they don't understand why they spend so much money on this, you know, this book, this anonymous box.

[00:14:52] So, you must show what is going on inside.

[00:14:55] So, there are models that we made for Reorbit, which is a very well-based startup in Finland.

[00:15:05] And I was asked to show all the inner components.

[00:15:12] Easy.

[00:15:12] Easy.

[00:15:13] Well, as you know, we have a lot of nice stories, a lot of great stories about our customers because they are doing great things.

[00:15:22] But about investors, when a founder is raising funds and they are launching their satellite, they are launching their rocket, their first launch, their second.

[00:15:35] They need to share with investors, a way their investors could tell to their circle in which company they were investing, in which company, which type of company, the mission of the company.

[00:15:55] Imagine a company who is doing space mining, asteroid mining, and they need to understand, well, what is a refinery to mine an asteroid?

[00:16:08] Is the same thing as a satellite?

[00:16:11] Is a new thing in the world?

[00:16:16] Because in Earth, of course, mining is happening in a different way.

[00:16:23] So, we have to create new environments.

[00:16:26] David is telling you about a challenge, for example, with sonar panels, trying to create a new environment, happening in space, but to show in Earth.

[00:16:42] Well, and being able to show inside the box is a great way to enable trust.

[00:16:49] And trust is huge when you're trying to work with somebody or you're trying to get a customer or client or investor.

[00:16:57] And being able to show how everything inside is, it's an education piece.

[00:17:03] And education, like my listeners know, is one of my favorite forms of marketing is when you educate who it is that you're talking to.

[00:17:13] David about it, which is related with the way you show case and it's related also with education because the project we did with NASA,

[00:17:21] it was a, it tackled different mechanisms and structures that they built that were able to deploy a bigger structure in space.

[00:17:38] So, we managed to replicate all those things to showcase to people the way you launch the satellite and the way it is deployed in space.

[00:17:49] So, that's why it's very important for us to understand, besides the shapes and besides the parts, besides this particular 3D printing part,

[00:18:00] what is that we are going to show, what is the core of what we want to showcase.

[00:18:07] And this is what happened with the SAPL, with NASA.

[00:18:11] We built this huge model.

[00:18:14] It was about three meters tall model.

[00:18:19] And we managed to replicate not also the particles, but the way it deploys in space.

[00:18:28] Which, this is a very important thing to be able to show all the details, but there's times when there's not.

[00:18:35] Like, for example, if you want to give a gift to your investor of a rocket that it's going to be launching on, you can do that too.

[00:18:43] Let me explain a little thing about our different formats.

[00:18:48] Miniatures for online stores, for fandom of the companies, but also miniatures or premium miniatures for the desktop of the investor or for a facility.

[00:19:03] You have to show a most important replica to, yeah, to stretch the brand.

[00:19:10] That's so interesting too.

[00:19:13] If you can give an investor something that they want to keep.

[00:19:17] Well, that right there makes kind of almost that yes happen right off the bat if they're wanting to do that.

[00:19:26] Plenty of different applications.

[00:19:30] Use cases, yeah.

[00:19:31] Yeah, use cases.

[00:19:31] Use cases are plenty.

[00:19:33] Use cases, yeah.

[00:19:34] And trade shows.

[00:19:37] And the challenge in every use case we are addressing is how to, yeah, we can't live only in a digital space.

[00:19:46] We have to convert from bits to atoms.

[00:19:53] 3D print is a way to go from bits to atoms.

[00:19:59] And atoms in space industry are essential.

[00:20:02] And atoms are essential to build trust.

[00:20:05] Atoms are essential to show your brand in terms of trust and in terms of power.

[00:20:13] And this is what we are doing and this is our challenge in every customer we are working with.

[00:20:21] It's also excitement too.

[00:20:23] Because like if you were to walk into a company and you see a 3D replica of a satellite or a rocket,

[00:20:32] you're automatically in that story.

[00:20:36] You're with them.

[00:20:38] And there's just, it's just a tingly moment.

[00:20:41] And so that is very powerful.

[00:20:44] Hold on to your boosters.

[00:20:46] We will be right back with Skyscale's founder, David Chockel,

[00:20:51] and Daria Wehner, architect and marketing guru for Skyscale,

[00:20:55] after the briefest message from our sponsors.

[00:20:59] Please like and subscribe to this space marketing podcast so you don't miss a thing.

[00:21:19] Okay, now I'm going to kind of switch it a little bit.

[00:21:22] So what are some of the marketing strategies to get your brand's awareness out?

[00:21:28] Are you using?

[00:21:29] For example, we met on LinkedIn.

[00:21:31] So you want to talk about how you're expanding that, your awareness out?

[00:21:37] Of course, LinkedIn is our first field where we are working,

[00:21:43] telling every week a new story.

[00:21:46] And we have a plan of content during the next year.

[00:21:51] And we have a lot of surprises, a lot of new projects,

[00:21:55] a lot of potential new use cases.

[00:21:57] We are attending SAP now in March in DC.

[00:22:01] We are attending different events.

[00:22:04] We are understanding the importance of events,

[00:22:08] the importance of trade shows.

[00:22:09] We need to show our work physically also.

[00:22:14] And we are trying to help marketers,

[00:22:19] not only offering products,

[00:22:22] but engage with them to understand the emotional connection

[00:22:27] our models could get from customers,

[00:22:31] investors and stakeholders in general.

[00:22:34] That's one of the challenges that about what you're doing too,

[00:22:39] is that your whole premise is that you're providing customers

[00:22:44] with a tangible replica of their part.

[00:22:47] So, but that means that you have to do the same.

[00:22:51] And coming from Argentina,

[00:22:53] one of the challenges I'm sure is the travel,

[00:22:56] you know,

[00:22:57] being there and showing your tangible products in front of them.

[00:23:00] So how do you manage that from being in a different country?

[00:23:07] There are different ways to tackle this thing.

[00:23:09] So one is we just have been traveling,

[00:23:13] have traveled a lot.

[00:23:16] And there are a lot of projects that we took with us to the customer,

[00:23:21] whether it was in Europe or United States.

[00:23:24] And we have this ability to be in the place,

[00:23:28] to build models in place like it was in Luxembourg,

[00:23:31] for example,

[00:23:33] or Chile,

[00:23:34] United States,

[00:23:35] or NASA also,

[00:23:37] where we build this big satellite model.

[00:23:41] So this is an approach.

[00:23:43] Of course.

[00:23:44] Let me tell you something about your last question.

[00:23:48] Of course,

[00:23:49] we are building models.

[00:23:51] Our customers are going to show,

[00:23:55] or they are going to sell in a,

[00:23:58] in an online store.

[00:23:59] They are going to show,

[00:24:01] they are going to give them investors.

[00:24:03] In every case,

[00:24:05] we need a perfect experience,

[00:24:08] not only the model,

[00:24:09] but the assembly,

[00:24:11] the transportation,

[00:24:12] the box in itself,

[00:24:14] the premium box,

[00:24:15] because we are delivering a premium experience in our service.

[00:24:19] The model is part of this premium experience,

[00:24:24] because space companies need premium services.

[00:24:29] Well,

[00:24:29] they're customers too.

[00:24:30] I mean,

[00:24:31] when you get your,

[00:24:31] your new phone,

[00:24:33] it's,

[00:24:33] it's half of it is the box and you open that box.

[00:24:36] It's like,

[00:24:36] woohoo,

[00:24:37] look at what I got.

[00:24:38] If you have a huge model,

[00:24:40] you know,

[00:24:41] that opening that box may be a little bit of a challenge.

[00:24:43] And it may be a very monumentous open.

[00:24:47] An essential part of our value proposition.

[00:24:51] We are specializing in space industry.

[00:24:55] So space industry is for us,

[00:24:58] our world,

[00:24:59] where we understand marketers,

[00:25:01] where we understand communication people,

[00:25:04] where we understand the need,

[00:25:06] not only companies,

[00:25:07] but museums,

[00:25:10] public organizations,

[00:25:12] agency,

[00:25:13] state agencies in the world.

[00:25:15] They are in the need of create models who,

[00:25:20] yeah,

[00:25:21] who represent technology in different countries.

[00:25:24] So we are attending and we are helping the ecosystem in a,

[00:25:30] in a,

[00:25:31] in a whole thing with our premium experience.

[00:25:34] Now,

[00:25:35] as you're going down this journey,

[00:25:37] so what do you see happening in the next 10 to 20 years within the space

[00:25:43] industry?

[00:25:43] I think the future of the,

[00:25:46] the industry is happening into a fast changing world.

[00:25:53] So,

[00:25:55] the future of scale models in space industry is going to be about being

[00:26:01] immersive,

[00:26:02] being interactive,

[00:26:03] producing tangible models,

[00:26:06] but connecting with a world who is,

[00:26:10] as David says,

[00:26:14] being and evolving in a,

[00:26:17] in a completely connected world.

[00:26:19] So,

[00:26:20] this is the future for our,

[00:26:23] our work also.

[00:26:24] and we are going to address this challenge.

[00:26:29] So,

[00:26:29] as the listeners go through their day and there's,

[00:26:32] and they're thinking about things,

[00:26:34] what kind of thoughts do you want to leave them with as they mull over in

[00:26:38] their heads during the day?

[00:26:39] You know,

[00:26:40] what are your final thoughts for today?

[00:26:42] Well,

[00:26:43] well,

[00:26:43] I believe for us,

[00:26:46] it's important to remark that the works is not just addressing scale models in a way of

[00:26:55] such 3d painting parts.

[00:26:57] we want,

[00:26:59] we always want to,

[00:27:01] to go a bit deeper into better understanding the missions,

[00:27:07] the things they do.

[00:27:08] And from that understanding,

[00:27:11] understand better,

[00:27:13] the better way to showcase what they're doing.

[00:27:16] So,

[00:27:17] I believe this is a value that we want to preserve,

[00:27:21] that it works for us.

[00:27:25] and,

[00:27:26] and yeah,

[00:27:27] and we are in a growing moment that we want to keep,

[00:27:31] we want to keep being connected with the industry to,

[00:27:34] to wide the,

[00:27:37] the,

[00:27:37] the,

[00:27:38] the range of companies that are connected with us.

[00:27:42] People,

[00:27:43] and I am included,

[00:27:45] we are living in a,

[00:27:47] in a very digital and in a very attention,

[00:27:52] economic world,

[00:27:54] and we are creating emotional connections with tangible objects.

[00:27:59] This is our value proposition.

[00:28:01] And this is our challenge for the future.

[00:28:05] A special thanks to Skyscales founder,

[00:28:09] David Chaco,

[00:28:10] and Dariel Wainer,

[00:28:12] architect and marketing guru for sharing their journey to space.

[00:28:16] Be sure to check out their links listed in today's show notes.

[00:28:20] Please like,

[00:28:22] and subscribe to the space marketing podcast to help us get the word out about

[00:28:26] this incredible industry of space.

[00:28:29] I hope that you have found this podcast useful for your journey.

[00:28:35] As you reach for the stars,

[00:28:56] you may know you're listening to this show along the marketing podcast network,

[00:28:59] but did you know there are other great shows on MPN to help your business?

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