Online Gimmicks May Work – But for a Flagging Business “Old School” Branding Has Its Place

For a company in the construction sector in the suburbs of Australia’s greatest and most liveable city Perth – sorry Sydneysiders and Victorians – we had always prided ourselves on our success, being a family business that put people first. We had a good reputation and standing in the community being recognised as a bit old-fashioned.

When the pandemic hit our business, like so many others, suffered an almighty bashing. Post-Covid we were left with no option but to reestablish our name and our branding but how.

The first “innovation” we tried was using cartoons to explain our business to newbies. This was a dramatic departure from our previous advertising but we were persuaded it would work by a new young hire.

The success of the venture was difficult to quantify as business had recovered anyway. Visitors to the showroom remarked on the video on loop and new customers did say they had seen the new approach online which was positive. 

Animation has a positive effect on branding and we would not dismiss it but it was an “old school” approach that had the most effect.

Creating a feel-good, community togetherness factor through branding and signage was the real winning strategy after Googling signage in Perth.

The first thing that we did was re-create a bond that existed with staff prior to the pandemic. This involved not only more staff functions, get-togethers and team building but was accomplished with new clothing.

Staff were issued with branded apparel in the form of shirts and t-shirts, hats and beanies, High-Vis jackets and hoodies.

We didn’t skimp on the quality and soon customers were asking where they could buy the items that featured the animated character.

Stage two of our branding reinvention was signage in and around our HQ and decorations for the fleet further utilising the image that had been created for our animation effort.

Other things naturally followed. They included branded mugs, travel mugs, water bottles, custom magnets and umbrellas – all functional items that managed to get our name out there and the idea that we wanted to convey – a community company that was not standing still but moving on from the past not forgetting core business principles but building on them for a new generation.

These days it’s not unusual to see our calendars – made by the same company – on desks, walls and as magnetic attachments.

Updating basic items like business cards, letterheads and email headers were all incorporated into the “new us” helping to cement our image.

For us it was a question of mixing the old with the new. The animation and videos were never meant to replace real people but to provide a fresh look.

While the improved branding, staff integration via clothing, customer loyalty via functional items all help reestablish our firm after the hit that was Covid.