Branding Success Stories
Companies team with Brand Mentoring to address their branding challenges – and get great results!
Success Story #1
With rebranding, a “me too” rafting company identifies its unique strengths and immediately increases sales by 30%
Challenge
American Adventure Expeditions competes in a highly competitive industry: rafting trips in Colorado’s whitewater rivers. This rafting company has two major challenges: they have only 16 weeks to achieve the entire annual revenue, and they have 50 direct competitors!
Naturally the 50 outfitters tend to advertise in the same publications, yet most don’t differentiate themselves. This “me too” brand and marketing approach has commoditized the whitewater rafting industry.
Solution
Pecanne Eby facilitated a Creative Summit with the owners and operations manager to discover this rafting company’s “brand truths” and formulate their brand platform.
She conducted in-depth interviews with a variety of customers, representing various target audiences. These interviews balanced out the perspective on how the brand was actually seen in the marketplace.
The voice-of-the-customer interviews and research uncovered the company’s natural strengths and buyers’ intellectual and emotional motivators. Pecanne also uncovered a clue to an exciting point of difference: guests valued feeling safe on both the physical level and the emotional level since whitewater rafting is filled with adrenalin moments and guests are often first-time rafters.
She developed a brand platform to reposition the company as a Whitewater Hospitality Leader, along with a core marketing message to back up this unique market positioning.
Pecanne captured this new brand strategy in the customized Brand Guide, which orients and anchors all creative partners as they conduct social media marketing, develop ads, and pursue other marketing communications activities.
Results
This outfitter achieved greater differentiation in a crowded marketplace. To visually represent this, a trusted creative partner brought forth a new, powerful, eye-catching brand identity and a new tagline: “Epic whitewater. Inspired hospitality.”
By repositioning and rebranding their company, American Adventure Expeditions increased revenue approximately 30% within 6 months. A true branding success story.
Company leaders achieved clarity in how clients think and talk about the business AAE is really in. And the owners, operations manager, and employees gained consensus regarding how they will “live” the brand.
Testimonial
“We asked Pecanne Eby to help our small business stand out in an over-saturated market where everyone appeared the same, said the same things, and essentially offered the same product. Pecanne helped us figure out how we were different, and she showed us how to leverage our personal strengths to develop our brand identity.
We immediately implemented Pecanne’s suggestions, and I strongly believe that’s why we’ve already seen a 30% increase in revenue. I highly recommend Pecanne for anyone looking to really make their brand stand out, and I can’t wait to work with her again.”
– Mike Kissack, Owner
American Adventure Expeditions
Success Story #2
By updating their brand, a trade association increased their membership base by 50%
Challenge
A national trade association in Washington, DC, represented 5,000 members in the financial services arena. And they had a problem. Their 40-year-old name no longer reflected the organization they had become. Their name, The American Society of Pension Professionals, no longer reflected the member base. Plus, this name was a turn-off to its largest market segment opportunity.
This association’s brand image was sorely out-of-date. The organization needed to be repositioned and renamed – and it needed a new, up-to-date graphic look and feel.
Solution
Pecanne assessed the competitive landscape to determine the best market position for the association to “own.”
She uncovered key drivers for why members continued to renew their membership and tested new names and brand identity concepts with existing and prospective members.
By firmly guiding and educating the association’s executive leaders, Pecanne and the team repositioned the association as the “powerbrokers” in the industry and selected a new name for the organization: American Society of Pension Professionals & Actuaries. A name whose new acronym (ASPPA) phonetically still sounded like the original acronym (ASPA).
With clarity and surprising speed, the graphic brand identity was overhauled, a new tagline was developed, and the new look and feel was woven throughout all the marketing materials and member “touch points.”
The new brand was launched first with the staff members in a fun, creative way – via a fashion show starring key staffers!
To communicate the new brand, all association members received a special gift emblazed with the new logo.
The association formally launched its new identity at its annual conference. In addition, Pecanne contributed articles for the organization’s journal, underscoring how the new brand would help the association attract more diverse members and strengthen its image among legislators and regulators.
Results
In the first year, the new brand contributed to a 40% increase in revenue from advertising and tradeshow exhibitor fees.
The new branding strategy was the tipping point to recruit new market segments of advisors and brokers, which helped to increase the member base by 50%. Plus, the re-branding activity opened doors to large financial institutions for corporate memberships.
Backed by a stronger brand identity, the association separated and elevated its position in the market, which helped them to acquire other associations and seek joint ventures. A true branding success story.
Testimonial
“Pecanne calmly, patiently, diligently, and creatively took us through a process of redesigning the organization’s image and meeting the objections of those who wanted nothing to do with a progressive logo or up-to-date color scheme. She did so with such a gentle determination that she turned the hide-bound into true believers.”
– Bruce Ashton, Esq., Past President
American Society of Pension Professionals & Actuaries
