When Ingenuity Marketing Group launched into professional services more than two decades ago, we had little idea of the revolution about to take place in marketing and branding and where we would land today.
Even with digital marketing and artificial intelligence, one thing has remained constant. That is the deep value proposition that comes from branding strategy and its connection to human emotion.
When we think about successful rebrands, we think about the human story. What is the experience of people inside and outside the business or organization? Only then, once we’ve clarified that story, do we think about how to bring that story to life across a palette of colors and fonts and media channels.
As branding pioneer Walter Landor once said about branding, “Brands are created in the mind.” And what better way to take up space in the mind than through a story? It’s the oldest and still the most effective method on the planet to sustain community memory.
Landor was a pioneer because he introduced consumer research into branding and marketing of products to reach a broader audience. Through surveys and interviews, he identified which designs resonated with the most people before he promoted his concepts to clients. He became the designer for iconic brands like Levi Strauss and Miller Brewing, leading to other global brands like Coke and FedEx. Landor incorporated research to differentiate as well as to stir emotional memory that leads to lasting loyalty.
What Brand Is
First, let’s talk about what a brand really is.
What is a brand?
And what is branding?
Answer:
A brand encompasses the heart, the values, the key messages, the vision, the visuals and everything the company stands for and promises. That story must resonate with an audience and be trusted by it…or it’s not a lasting brand.
Branding is the process of sharing your story and value proposition in authentic ways across audiences and platforms.
Why Successful Rebrands Need a Memorable Story
We’re going to show you three brands developed by Ingenuity Marketing Group over the past 20 years that are still strong brands today because of the story behind them. As branding enters the age of AI and the creative opportunities it promises, we stand behind our research and storytelling for lasting rebrands.
Sambatek
Casey Peterson
Mahoney
It’s also a really fun way to celebrate our 20th anniversary in professional services!
With these examples, we’ll show you why successful rebrands resonate across generations and diverse experiences.
Rebranding Example #1 – Sambatek
The engineering firm now known as Sambatek endured some rough times in its more than 50-year history. Founded by a Navy veteran in Plymouth, Minnesota, the firm moved through ownership transitions that led to its purchase by a private equity firm.
The grand vision of a few people during the Great Recession put everything on the line to buy the company back from PE and expand into the transportation and transit markets in the 2000s as a DBE and MBE certified firm. In 2008, a former engineer-in-training, Sirish Samba, became president and CEO, solidifying the value of investing in the team of professionals who serve its clients.
By 2014 when we met the owners, MFRA was one of the fastest growing civil engineering firms in the country. The owners wanted to share their story with a rebrand that reflected their vision four primary markets. We concepted a glyph that represented these four markets while also appealing to an environmental focus and growth mindset among its team.
To determine a name change as part of the rebrand, we interviewed key leaders and clients and also researched their market position and competitive landscape.
The result was Sambatek, a new name resonating with the tenacity and innovation that has taken the firm to national presence and a strategic acquisition in 2022.
The memorable logo still graces their national headquarters in Minnetonka, Minnesota.
Rebranding Example #2 – Casey Peterson
What brand is complete without a great founder’s story, right? If you visit downtown Rapid City, South Dakota, you will notice a very tall building that has the names of three prominent businesses listed on its tower. The top name is Casey Peterson, which is why the locals call it ‘the Casey Peterson’ building.
When we started researching a rebrand for the firm, we learned that some people in town didn’t know that Casey Peterson was a real person. The founder, Casey Peterson, brought our team in because he wasn’t sure if the firm should continue to bear his name or not. The future wasn’t about him, he said.
And yet, we learned that brand recognition for this name was so strong in Rapid City (even among people who didn’t know Casey himself) that it made sense to stick with the founder’s name but rebrand it for the next generation of leaders and clients.
Using the firm’s initials to create a glyph, we expressed their focus on organic growth and independence by promoting leaders from within and retaining experienced professionals.
Going with a bold orange in the palette reflected the energy of the youthful firm while the slate gray anchored its history of service for more than 40 years when Peterson started the firm. Now with a presence in three states, the firm continues its entrepreneurial focus for team members and clients, named after an entrepreneur ahead of his time.
Rebranding Example #3 – Mahoney
As our most recent rebranding example in this article, Mahoney is a Minnesota-based firm that previously had one of the longest names we had come across for a CPA and advisory firm.
Since the partners who led to that name had retired, the firm’s management team believed it was time to move forward without the forgettable acronym, MUCR. Many younger employees referred to the name as “muck-er,” which made us a bit concerned as branding strategists!
Ingenuity interviewed clients and the leadership team to understand the firm’s culture, strengths and goals for the future. We also conducted competitive messaging to assure differentiation. We analyzed this data to truly understand what made the team tick and why clients stayed with them. It had a lot to do with their can-do attitudes and enthusiasm for their work.
We used our naming strategy with 30 different points of consideration to conclude that the firm’s brand name should be shortened to Mahoney. Derived from an Anglicized Gaelic surname, Mahoney stands for strength through its association with the word “mathghamhan,” which means, “bear”. This attribute of strength fit the firm’s branding messages, which includes Mahoney’s well-regarded reputation in real estate and not-for-profit organizations and their depth for solving technical problems in a collaborative environment.
Mahoney’s new brand was created using this definition to showcase the firm’s positivity, strong reputation and collaboration. Team members immediately embraced the bear claw glyph through sharing their own definitions and even doing “bear claw” mimes in the firm’s culture video.
If you go about 2 minutes into the video, you’ll hear from the employees about what their brand means to them. That’s the power of a successful rebrands. It’s when team members are excited to talk about the brand and how they deliver services better than anyone. The energy from this team truly is on brand.
What Brand Is Influenced By AI?
After more than 20 years of producing brands for our clients, we are proud of these examples that stand the test of time and still resonate strongly with the people inside these firms.
That’s the power of a story. It’s also the power of longevity and context serving an industry…our consultants share that depth of knowledge with the clients we serve in professional services. It’s knowledge plus relationships that make the difference.
So what does this have to do with AI? We named this article: Two Decades (Plus!) of Successful Rebrands Meet AI.
Here’s the thing. AI is offering fresh ways to inspire and be creative, but it is not creativity in and of itself. True inspiration comes from the human minds of dreamers and pioneers like Walter Landor. He focused on the people who would purchase and use brands that he designed. He created an emotional connection and experience that we all crave today. And he had a long and satisfying career.
So the next time you see a brand, ask yourself: what’s the story here? If someone can tell you about it with true enthusiasm, then it’s a successful rebrand. If not, then go back to your research and concepting. Use AI if it gets you started, but ask a human their opinion, too.
We’re here when you need us!
Questions? Contact us at Ingenuity.
Dawn
