Catalyze EKY Participant  ·  SOAR Innovation  ·  Pikeville, KY

LBD for
Eastern
Kentucky.

Loveland Brand Design was selected for Catalyze EKY through SOAR Innovation. We are here to build AI-powered marketing ecosystems for the businesses, nonprofits, and organizations shaping the region's future.

29
SOAR Counties
55+
Prospects Mapped
20+
Years Experience
6
Movements
The Opportunity

Eastern Kentucky
does not lack ambition.
It lacks access.

The businesses, nonprofits, and entrepreneurs of Eastern Kentucky are building real things. What they have never had is access to the kind of AI-powered marketing infrastructure that businesses in larger markets take for granted. That is the gap. That is what LBD closes.

Section 01

What Is A
Marketing Gap?

A marketing gap is the measurable distance between a business's current ability to attract, convert, and retain customers and what is possible with the right systems in place. LBD identifies marketing gaps using five specific indicators.

01

Digital Maturity Level

We rate every prospect Low (Facebook only or no web presence), Medium (functional but dated, no automation), or High (modern and well executed). Most EKY businesses are L or M. Their digital front door is either missing or broken.

02

Platform Dependency

Tourism operators paying 15% to 20% per booking to Airbnb and Vrbo because they have no direct booking infrastructure. Every OTA booking is revenue leaving the region.

03

No Pipeline System

Businesses relying entirely on word of mouth and referrals with no automated way to attract, capture, or follow up with prospects. Growth is accidental, not engineered.

04

Brand Transition Windows

Organizations undergoing a rebrand with no clear digital rollout strategy. These are time-sensitive moments that close quickly and require expert navigation.

05

Size vs. Presence Gap

Large, revenue-generating organizations running digital infrastructure that significantly underperforms their scale. The gap between who they are and how they show up online is the opportunity.

Section 02

The Research

Since arriving in Eastern Kentucky, LBD has conducted a comprehensive market study across all 29 SOAR eligible counties. We mapped the business landscape, identified marketing gaps, and built a full prospect pipeline organized by cluster, industry, digital maturity, and service fit.

55+
Named Prospects
7
County Clusters
13
Industries Mapped
3
Priority Tiers
County Clusters
Home Base
Pike
Pikeville

SOAR HQ, Pikeville Medical Center, Community Trust Bancorp, University of Pikeville. Highest enterprise density in the region.

FIVCO
Boyd · Greenup · Carter
Ashland area

UK King's Daughters (live rebrand), Addiction Recovery Care, Kentucky Christian University, VanAntwerp Attorneys.

Big Sandy
Floyd · Johnson · Martin · Magoffin · Lawrence
Paintsville area

Christian Appalachian Project, Jenny Wiley State Park, Country Music Highway tourism cluster, Mountain Arts Center.

KY River
Perry · Letcher · Knott · Leslie · Breathitt
Hazard area

Hazard ARH, Appalshop, Hindman Settlement School, Kentucky Mist Moonshine, the $1B Starfire solar project.

Southeast
Harlan · Bell · Knox · Whitley · Clay
Corbin area

University of the Cumberlands (20,000 students), Baptist Health Corbin, Union Commonwealth University (live rebrand).

Red River Gorge
Wolfe · Lee · Menifee · Jackson · Owsley
500,000+ annual visitors

OTA-dependent operators. The Direct-Booking Growth System opportunity.

Morehead
Rowan · Bath · Montgomery
Morehead area

Morehead State University, UK St. Claire (live rebrand), Cave Run Marinas, Mt. Sterling Court Days (200,000 attendees).

Section 03

How LBD
Serves EKY

The seven movements form one closed-loop system. The sequence is deliberate. Each movement builds on the last, compounding scattered marketing into a unified growth engine.

Movement 01

Marketing Action Plan

Strategy, audience research, and go-to-market composition. A complete roadmap before a single dollar is spent on execution.

Movement 02

Brand Architecture

Positioning, messaging, visual identity, and voice. Who you are before you speak, consistent at every touchpoint.

Movement 03

Digital Ecosystem

Website, analytics stack, and technical infrastructure. GA4, Search Console, Tag Manager, and Clarity on every build.

Movement 04

Marketing Operations

CRM, reporting, automation, and the connective tissue that keeps the system running without constant intervention.

Movement 05

Content and Social

Brand-aligned content at scale. AI-accelerated production that holds your voice and your standard.

Movement 06

Prospecting and Pipeline

Structured outbound, CRM setup, and lead systems that run unattended. A predictable pipeline where every lead is heard.

Movement 07

Digital Advertising

Paid media built on strategy. Every dollar traced to a decision. Digital Advertising comes last by design, and it performs better because of it.

The Intelligence Layer

AI-Integrated Growth Engine

Running through all seven movements. Predictive analytics, adaptive content, and brand voice AI training across GPT, Claude, Gemini, and Copilot. Infrastructure, not a feature.

Section 04

Built With
SOAR Innovation

LBD is a Catalyze EKY participant and Social Enterprise Accelerator cohort member through SOAR Innovation, the region's premier economic development organization headquartered in Pikeville, Kentucky.

We are not here as an outside vendor. We were selected for this ecosystem and we are part of it. We are embedded in the ecosystem and committed to growing alongside the businesses, organizations, and founders building Eastern Kentucky's future.

Community First by Design

LBD is a one-person firm running on AI infrastructure, built to serve the entire region. Our impact is not measured by our headcount. It is measured by what we help other businesses become.

AI Workshops for EKY Entrepreneurs

We are planning free monthly AI marketing workshops open to any Eastern Kentucky entrepreneur. Practical tools, real systems, no gatekeeping.

Force Multiplier for the Region

Every EKY business LBD helps grow creates more local opportunity. Every direct booking we drive back from an OTA keeps money in the mountains. That is the social enterprise story.

Long-Term Commitment

This is not a remote work experiment. LBD was selected for Catalyze EKY and chose to build here because we believe in what is being built here and we intend to be part of it for the long haul.

Ready To Build

Eastern Kentucky.
Ready To Make Your Business Sing.

Whether you are a small business in Pike County, a nonprofit in Hazard, or a tourism operator in the Red River Gorge. If your marketing is not working as hard as you are, let us talk.