Logo Logistics The logo, along with the distilled brand statement or tag line, has the important job of conveying the brand visually — a tall order for a little icon. There are many memorable logos — think Coca Cola’s red and white graphics or Nike’s swoosh symbol — but “a mediocre logo used effectively,” Alpert says, “may be better than a logo that’s nice graphically but isn’t backed up with any kind of representation of the company’s attributes.”
Using a logo effectively means using it consistently. Everything from truck panels and job signs to advertisements, brochures, change order forms, stationery, and company clothing should have a uniform logo.
“Over time, our logo use had gotten sloppy,” says Dave Bryan of Blackdog Design/Build/Remodel in Salem, N.H., ( www.blackdogbuilders.com). There were different fonts and point sizes in the text. Bryan now has a full-time marketing -coordinator who recently revamped and standardized the logo and its black Labrador retriever — now in his third incarnation after 16 years in business. Customers ask to keep job signs and want to buy sportswear with the Blackdog logo.
Case, the well-known Washington, D.C.-metro-area remodeling company ( www.casedesign.com), has a logo that even after 20 years still gets tweaked. The graphic is a pair of hands, long fingers intertwined, surrounding a house. Just this year, Erazo says, the company chose a darker red color for the house on the logo to soften the design and give it a more upscale feel. The font has also been updated over the years.
Because Case has developed three distinct business entities — Case Handyman Services, Case Handyman and Remodeling, and Case Design/Remodeling — the company has been developing a new tagline to position itself as full-service, from small projects to major additions.
Case’s logo is visible everywhere — on job signs, trucks, and clothing. More importantly, the company’s culture and workmanship reinforce the logo, whose hands convey a sense of caring as well as building and structure.
To Each His Own A brand and its associated logo can’t simply be tacked onto a business; they have to evolve, growing from the company’s core values. Every remodeler has a different reason for creating a brand and a different goal to pursue with that brand. Here are five examples:
New Business A new business can be relatively easy to brand because it has no “baggage” and the team is small, Erazo says. A new owner can set standards and goals from the beginning. “It’s more difficult to change the perception of an existing brand.”
Alpert agrees, adding that new-business owners should also figure out what kinds of people they will work best with: “Do you want a homeowner who’s a full partner or someone who hires a professional and then moves out of the way? One who doesn’t care about quality or one who’s particular? Do you want to sell based on price? On quality? A fixed-price product? Cater to a middle-class market or an upscale market?”
In Houston, Ben Crawford set up shop five years ago with a marketing plan, a target clientele, and a brand in mind. “We’re selling lifestyle,” VP of marketing for Crawford Renovation, Phae Emert, says. From the beginning, Crawford Renovation (www.crghomes.com) defined its target market: realtors. “We’ve built a brand image around a lifestyle, and we take that to real estate agents to help them think about possibilities,” says Craw-ford, who recognizes that when people buy a home there is always something about it that they would like to change or improve. “Who are real estate agents going to call to go mano a mano with that doctor or attorney [client] to illuminate the possibilities? We’re all about easing their client’s lifestyle.”
Having a clear focus from the outset has been key to Crawford’s multimillion dollar success, and the company has backed up its promise with attention to detail and careful workmanship. “You can create a brand based on where you aspire to be,” Alpert says, “but it doesn’t make sense to create a brand [based] on something you’re never going to get to. People will be unhappy with what you’re providing.”
Improving Leads To improve its lead quality, R.L. Connelly & Co. ( www.connellyremodeling.com) in Atlanta hired Polaris. “We first had to understand which clients they were after — high-end homeowners, super-care customers — [and if] that matched the actual delivery of the product. They really are high-end,” says Stine, whose firm helped the remodeling company deliver its brand message by upgrading its Web site, switching to embossed letterhead, and generally “making the company look and feel more valuable.” The company identified attorneys as a client segment it liked working with, and Polaris specifically marketed to them.
Re-Branding “If you re-brand because the company crashed and burned, you may want to get away from any connection to the old company,” Alpert says. “But if you have brand equity, you might want a gradual change.” As an example, he points to the Levine Group (formerly WL Architect–Builder), which serves metro Washington, D.C.
“We wanted to maintain some of the brand equity connected with [principal] Jerry Levine,” Alpert says. Levine, a builder, acquired the interest of his architect partner, Bruce Wentworth, who went out on his own. The company’s Web site ( www.thelevinegroup.com), designed by Alpert’s firm, is a modification of WL’s site. In the lower-right corner is the WL logo and the words “formerly WL Architect–Builder.” “This is a launching point for the company that’s built on everything there was before, and now is even better,” Alpert says.
Changing Focus Dan and Mary Tibma recently shifted the focus of their company from remodeling to design/build. The name changed from Tibma Construction to Tibma Design Build. “We needed to change our name and look to reflect our capabilities,” Mary says. Since the seven-year-old company already had brand equity, a defined clientele, and good recognition with job signs, it didn’t want to stray far from the old logo. “We wanted to give it more impact and more of a design essence.”
Their original black and white logo conveyed, in Mary’s words, “a solid, traditional presence.” The new logo has more “flair,” with a swoosh that adds energy and color. “It helps the company look to the future, but with elements from its previous logo,” their marketing consultant Patricia Lynn of RT Inc., says.
Extending Your Brand Rasmussen Siding and Roofing has a 52-year history in Grand Rapids, Mich. Owner Jamie Kuiper, who bought the siding and roofing company 6 years ago, wanted to maintain brand equity while expanding the business to other markets and regions. To this end, Kuiper did some corporate restructuring, changed the name of the parent company to Your Home Design Co. ( www.yourhdc.com), and began marketing aggressively in outlying areas.
Because of the often negative impression of the siding industry, Kuiper defines what his company is selling to the homeowner as “a company they can trust and not be afraid of. We want to become a brand that provides professional, competent services and does so with integrity and respect for the homeowner.”
Almost a year ago, Your Home Design Co., purchased All Gutter Systems, a local Grand Rapids gutter protection business. The changes Kuiper has made with Your Home Design Co., allow the company to extend its brand and market in new areas while gradually phasing out the locally recognized names, such as Rasmussen and All Gutter Systems, without losing core clients.
Forward Motion
Why should well-established companies that gain most of their clients by referral worry about spending money on branding?
“The value of doing branding right,” says Stine of Polaris, “is that your past customers will refer you correctly. If your brand is ‘We’re really expensive but we take care of you,’ then you want clients to refer you to people who are going to appreciate that. Let clients carry the message out and be your marketing team.”
Finding what your company does best and communicating that to the right clientele will help steer your company more successfully toward its goals.
“I look at branding as a warm blanket that insulates you from the harsh weather of the world,” Blackdog’s Bryan says. “If you’re doing a good job with it, it can tone down the peaks and valleys in your lead flow and make the process easier in securing new business.”