Monday, January 12, 2009

Carrying through on brand

We all preach brand and consistent image, but here's an example of carrying a theme through all media to make your image clear to your various audiences.

Aviall is the world's largest aviation parts supplier. They have a significant presence in trade media and utilize a large slate of trade shows, both international (Australian Air, Paris, Farnborough) and domestic (NBAA) and across verticals (HAI, MRO). So, needless to say, their brand is strong and recognizeable.

Through a series of ads and other strategic planning and positioning, Aviall has an identity as "the box the parts come in." Their value proposition is based on the service provided before and after the box arrives. These ads have appeared in numerous aviation industry publications as well as show dailies around the world.

The image is so important that in 2007, the company instituted an internal (intra-company) training program to involve all employees with the brand.

iDeliver introduced every employee in the company to the brand pillars and educated them on the value and position of the brand as it relates to them.
Fast forward to the trade show program. How to carry over the theme to the exhibits without either diluting or overexposing the brand. Several ideas were floated, but on the floor of the HAI show last year, several people associated with the account thought out loud about having the box be the hanging sign.

"What if," they said," the box were to hang over the booth? It would be direct and simple, but be iconic." So, the search was on for examples and costs.

At the NACS show in October, a sample sign was spotted.
The shape, size and position were all of what was sought. Now, how to traslate that to reality.

Freeman of St Paul handles a portion of the program and came up with some concepts. Based upon a typical hanging sign frame, the design was crafted by Zachry Associates, Aviall's agency, and, collaboratively, appeared in the design for the 2009 HAI show.

Here's an example of owning one's brand and embracing it realistically and without fanfare.

Lesson Learned: own your brand and take charge of it without being overbearing.

TTSG

Thanks to Kim Williamson of Aviall; Gary Donatell of Freeman St Paul; and Jeff Warr, Danny Flanagan and Brian Stark of Zachry Associates.

No comments: