There is something compelling about makeover shows. You know, where a team of experts comes in and completely redesigns a house, or even a person, to visual perfection. They’ll transform a home by adding new floors, a state of the art kitchen, and stunning landscaping, leaving viewers amazed. Others will manicure, color, and wax one into a total transformation that elicits jaw dropping disbelief from loved ones in the big reveal. Jealous? Who wouldn’t be!
Maybe no one is knocking on our door to give us our dream home, or a total style makeover, but a brand makeover for your business or organization on the other hand is completely attainable. And in many cases it may be necessary in order to realize that next stage of growth.
So, what does a brand makeover look like? Let’s view the case study of Spitfire Strategies, a communications firm based in Washington D.C. that has worked with some of the world’s most influential foundations and nonprofits since 2001 by helping them move their issues forward and create big change. Spitfire engaged with Kaptiv8 in the fall of 2013 for a brand and website makeover. The results are dramatic:
The Full Story
Spitfire Strategies had simply outgrown their image. Although they’d experienced significant accomplishments and much industry respect since their inception, their image was more whimsical than serious. Using a soft, muted color palette, a hyper relaxed font, and a wispy logo design, they were still reflecting their grassroots startup phase. Their work was all grown up, but their imagery didn’t look the part.
No strong messages or visuals on their website or in their collateral material encapsulated their values or clearly communicated their areas of expertise. The brand did not highlight their diverse team or the influential work they had performed for hundreds of organizations. They were in clear need of a makeover:
Kaptiv8 collaborated with Spitfire Strategies, utilizing their newly minted internal brand brief, to better understand their identify their values and core offerings, which would ultimately translate into new brand messaging and visuals. First, it was suggested that they embrace the shortened name, ‘Spitfire’ as they had come to be known. A new action-oriented company tagline, ‘Spark Change’ quickly evolved through strong collaboration by both firms. A logo was designed which incorporated a much stronger color palette, a bold modern font, and an icon that simply demanded to be noticed:
Next, a website was created as an extension of the brand, featuring large high-impact image backgrounds supported with simple headlines to lead visitors into key sections and case studies:
Icons and graphics are used to call-out core areas of service and tools so that they are easy to locate and clearly visible. Ability to hover for a quick intro and click through for more detail keeps the experience clean and impactful:
By integrating testimonials and case study intros into the home page, viewers can easily take in company highlights as they begin to establish understanding and trust with the brand.
All team members are represented within a carousel of photos, names, and titles, in order to demonstrate the full breadth of their talent. This helps to illustrate how the firm has evolved from a small scrappy firm into a highly influential organization:
Beyond the website, Kaptiv8 incorporated the new visual brand into an entire identity system, consisting of business papers, an email newsletter, a PowerPoint presentation, and print collateral materials:
All of this massive change took some mad talent and collaboration on both company’s parts. Yet, the process was smooth, and all deliverables were provided on time and on budget. But don’t just take our word for it:
To begin realizing your own brand makeover, or just to receive a free brand or website assessment, please contact Kaptiv8 today!
