Taking You to the Next Level of Growth

A Marketing Story by Heidi Toboni about The Steve Trautman Co.
1 Views | 0 High Fives
The Steve Trautman Co.
Brand Development

Challenge

To rebrand the client’s image, define a new brand architecture of company/master brand and subbrands, and to set a brand strategy for taking the company to the next level of growth—carrying this out through on-brand marketing iterations.

Solution

MARKET RESEARCH PAST & EXISTING CLIENT RESEARCH: INTERVIEWS HeLT conceived, wrote, fielded, and analyzed interviews of current and past clients of The Steve Trautman Co., to gain customer insight that would inform the C.O.R.E.E. Brand Positioning Process “NEXT LEVEL” POTENTIAL CLIENT RESEARCH: SENIOR EXECUTIVE INTERVIEWS HeLT created, fielded, and analyzed web-enabled 30-minute phone interviews with senior executives to test the brand vision and brand identity decisions made during the C.O.R.E.E. Brand Positioning process. Examples: o Dir. of Global Operations of Citibank o Executive VP of Distribution of Tootsie Roll o VP and CTO of Tupperware o VP of Trade Marketing & Marketing Services of Bacardi o CIO of Old Republic o ADAS of Enterprise Systems, Engineering & Operations, Dept. of Veteran Affairs, U.S.A. o Sr VP of Business Research Reporting at VISA o Ex. Producer of Digital Media at Lionsgate o Dir of IT/CIO, The Economist o CIO of Westwood One o and more BASIC BRANDING EDUCATION AND TOOLS A brand position was defined NEW COMPANY/MASTER BRAND: A new logo/wordmark was conceived and designed* for the company as a result of HeLT’s C.O.R.E.E. Brand Positioning Process. It solved these problems AND was memorable, communicated the client’s brand values, and alluded to Trautman’s simple 3-step process for knowledge transfer. BRAND ARCHITECTURE: ENDORSED BRAND STRATEGY & LOGOS Defining and managing brand architecture is one of the most challenging aspects of branding. With an endorsed brand approach, the company/master brand (in this case, The Steve Trautman Co.) is a point of reference for all the subbrands under it. The main role of the master brand’s “endorsement” is to provide credibility, differentiation, and assurance to the client or customer. In turn, the subbrands build greater awareness and experiences of the master brand. Endorsed brands can have their own unique attributes but they will still carry certain common values of their master brand. HeLT chose endorsed brands as the brand architecture best fit for The Steve Trautman Co. of three reasons tied to how Trautman conducts his business: 1. BUSINESS STRATEGY FIT. 2. PERSONA FIT. 3. MARKETING FIT. BRAND ARCHITECTURE & LOGOS HeLT used an endorsed brand approach for the client’s subbrands and streamlined the company’s products into the easy-to-understand motif of a simple 3-step process. BRAND PERSONA HeLT established that Steve Trautman was a “product” and a brand himself—in addition to his company’s products—and clearly defined his core brand persona. BRAND PERSONALITY HeLT’s brand personality exercises revealed the on-brand sweet spot— what was “too little,” what was “too much,” and what was “just right” for his brand persona. NEW BRAND HEADSHOT, PLUS “ACTION SHOT” ON-BRAND ANCHOR COPY HeLT wrote a comprehensive document of starter on-brand marketing copy— “anchor copy”—that could be used by Trautman’s marketing team to create collateral (e.g. website, brochures and email messaging, etc.). For further support, HeLT translated this into certain tactical brand iterations…. BRAND ROADMAP HeLT created a brand roadmap—with evaluation points and checklists—to help The Steve Trautman Co. manage the transition from old to new in the next 1 -3 years

~5 Employees
$5,000 Min Budget
Become A Partner

Heidi Toboni

Chicago, Illinois

Brand Specialist | Chicago Branding Firm | Small Business Branding

Want fresh marketing stories in your inbox?

Get the weekly email that makes you a marketing genius.
Stay informed and inspired, for free.

Related Stories

Probinsky & Associates
Probinsky & Associates
3 years ago
Bridgestone
Bridgestone
3 years ago
Serranos
Serranos Restaurant
3 years ago