In 2020, Highline Aftermarket and Warren Distribution combined to become a leader in the automotive aftermarket industry. Vertically integrated from manufacturing and distribution to private label to their own consumer brands, they have an unmatched competition advantage. After integrating the two companies, it was time to bring the new Highline Warren to life and we had the privilege of helping rebrand the look, feel, tone, logo, tagline, and brand standards.
The new logo integrates the letters H and W, reinforcing that Highline Warren is now one company. The italicization of the H communicates the speed of their distribution. The drop in the top right nods to their fluid manufacturing strength, while also completing the monogram of the W. Did you see the H first or did you see the W first?
As B2B companies grow through acquisitions, their mantra often speak to so many services or products they often become too generic. They lose meaning, and become forgettable. We challenged ourselves to create a mantra that directly communicated how the Highline Warren team works, how they help their customers, and alliteration never hurts.
A successful rebrand demands an integrated roll out with a momentous launch. Highline Warren announced the rebrand with an internal anthem that built momentum into the AAPEX tradeshow in Las Vegas.
The most important event in the Automotive Aftermarket industry is the AAPEX trade show, which was rapidly approaching. We worked hand in glove with the Highline Warren team to dynamically rebrand in time for the trade show, using the booth as a primary deliverable.
At the AAPEX trade show, our skeleton production crew recorded and featured Highline Warren’s leadership team, top salespeople, marketing members, and the industry’s enthusiastic response to the new brand.
The brand anthem and tradeshow recap, were two tent pole features in a fully rebuilt social bank for LinkedIn and Instagram. The strategy, tone, and posting cadence all aligned to support the new brand’s momentum, external sales goals, and internal morale initiatives.
.png)
There’s a fun challenge in modern marketing. Accelerated rebrand timelines and phased rollouts often conflict with internal needs for a comprehensive style guide. Our solution is a living style guide, where each page is updated at the completion of each deliverable. So long as key stakeholders understand it’s a living document, everyone stays up to date.
Our favorite qualitative indicator of a successful rebrand is when teammates and clients are clamoring for the merch and swag. From new hats and shirts to business cards, lanyards, and backpacks, the tradeshow happy hours were heavily repped with Highline Warren gear.
Sheetz’s mission is to give people time back to do more of the things they love. In honor of Global Pay It Forward Day, we helped Sheetz put their mission into action with the “Time Back” campaign.
Leveraging social listening tools, we scrubbed Sheetz social platforms to pinpoint Sheetz Freakz who had fallen on hard times.
We then worked with the brand’s executive team to vet stories, select recipients, and donate unprecedented prizes to Sheetz fans who simply need some time back.
We produced five beautiful videos of the in-person donations, telling each recipient’s story and showcasing their emotional reactions. On paid social, the videos drove visitors to a custom #TimeBack website, where we encouraged community members to pay it forward in their own lives.
.png)
From financial aid and custom-wrapped vehicles to charitable donations and family vacations, Tattoo Projects tailored prizes to help each recipient make up for lost time and fulfill their dreams.
April’s business, Alexia’s Closet, had been severely damaged from major floods. Sheetz gifted her with a new car, $25,000 for her business, and a $5,000 donation to the American Heart Association in honor of her son.
An Associate Professor at St. Mary’s college of Maryland, Alan received a $25,000 donation to his school, a dream vacation to London, and a $2,500 Sheetz gift card to help fuel his students’ learning.
Todd Spurrier, a cancer survivor, runs a charity to raise awareness for the dangers of colorectal cancer. Sheetz surprised him with a $25,000 contribution to his charity, a custom-wrapped van, and a $500 Sheetz gift card.
Following a recent accident that totaled her car, Emily Spears was delighted to receive a brand-new car, $10,000 to help save homeless pets, and a dream vacation to Turks & Caicos.
Chris is a track & field coach at East Cary Middle School and a self-proclaimed Sheetz Freak. The brand surprised him with a $25,000 donation to his school’s athletic department, a new truck, and a free trip to the Sheetz headquarters.
“Standing behind our core values, we had a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to surprise a few of our lucky fans with more of the things they love in order to help them enjoy all of the time back they get from shopping at Sheetz.”
Ryan Sheetz,
AVP of Brand at Sheetz
Genesys Global™ is a lighting tech company proven to help businesses save millions on energy costs with their gLED™ and gHID™ lighting technologies.
When the company first approached us, they had their revolutionary technology and a few sales sheets. After analyzing the landscape and the brand's competitive set, we crafted detailed brand identity standards to lay a strong foundation for what we knew to be limitless growth potential.
For B2B companies, tradeshows are vital to raising awareness and making meaningful business connections.
We designed Genesys’ tradeshow display and collateral to match the magnitude of their innovation and educate passersby about the transformative power of Genesys Global™ lighting.
The Genesys Global™ team is passionate about their technologies and working together as a family to serve leading businesses. We designed and produced Genesys’ apparel to be high quality, versatile, and match anything, just like their gLED™ and gHID™ technology.
Genesys Global™ provides up to 75% energy savings, just by changing lights. For an industry that has been slow to innovate, that kind of upside can be difficult to comprehend.
.gif)
We built GenesysGlobal.com with an interactive savings calculator as the focal point, allowing users to input their lighting setup and realize the savings potential from the palm of their hand.
With strategy at our core, we take immense pride in going to the extremes to understand our clients’ industries and audiences. In preparation for a 2021 Genesys Global™ product launch, we flew coast to coast touring horticulture and cannabis grow facilities of all sizes.
Over one week, we met with c-suite decision makers, conducted interviews, shot photography, and took in the sights, sounds, and vibes of a market that is growing at an exponential rate.
The combination of immersive discovery and in-house social listening and ethnography has laid a detailed foundation for what will be the brand’s grandest launch to date.
Research and discovery indicated the brand’s c-suite target audience was more active on digital platforms than ever before, particularly LinkedIn.
By utilizing LinkedIn’s unique ad types and targeting, we crafted paid campaigns to increase followers and generate leads from executives in every sector of industry.
The overarching social strategy was tailored to each specific platform, with a mix of educational, promotional, and timely content, all presented in the same enlightening tone of voice.
