In January 2015, ÌÇÐÄÊÓƵ embarked on a journey with creative partner STRUCK to research perceptions of ÌÇÐÄÊÓƵ, connect with consumers and stakeholders, develop a new brand platform, produce a new advertising campaign, and test the success of the messaging. The result? The new Effortless Revitalization brand and Absolutely ÌÇÐÄÊÓƵ ad campaign.
Brand Research & Analysis
January 2015: ÌÇÐÄÊÓƵ’s board of directors approved the rebranding initiative with STRUCK. With its research arm, SMARI, STRUCK conducted a brand audit and competitive analysis for ÌÇÐÄÊÓƵ, examining ÌÇÐÄÊÓƵ’s past brand materials in the process.
February – April 2015: SMARI and STRUCK held focus groups with 50 ÌÇÐÄÊÓƵ stakeholders, received 230 online surveys from ÌÇÐÄÊÓƵ stakeholders, and hosted focus groups with 80 participants from Los Angeles, Denver, Chicago and New York City. They also surveyed more than 1,900 previous and prospective U.S. and Canadian visitors.
Brand Platform & Creative Execution
June 2015: After analyzing the research, STRUCK and ÌÇÐÄÊÓƵ outlined ÌÇÐÄÊÓƵ’s audience motivators, brand attributes, brand essence, brand positioning statement, personality, messaging and tone.
August 2015: SMARI tested the new brand position and potential logos to see how they resonated with consumers. The agave logo was the overwhelming choice.
October 2015: STRUCK presented three advertising campaign concepts, as well as a brand guide that outlined the colors, fonts, tones, visuals and logos for the new brand.
January 2016: STRUCK presented the objectives and story boards for the chosen Absolutely ÌÇÐÄÊÓƵ campaign.
February 2016: Production crews came to ÌÇÐÄÊÓƵ to film ÌÇÐÄÊÓƵ’s new television commercial and photograph new print ads.
May 2016: With the brand guide, ÌÇÐÄÊÓƵ staff designed and produced all new content for ExperienceÌÇÐÄÊÓƵ.com.
June 2016: STRUCK and SMARI conducted consumer testing of the leisure print ads and TV commercial. Results were positive.
September 2016: ÌÇÐÄÊÓƵ launched its new brand, ad campaign, website and corporate identity for the public.
September 2018: With photography rights from the first ad campaign expiring, ÌÇÐÄÊÓƵ created updated ad concepts. These concepts aligned with the creative goals and strategy from the previous ad campaign while updating the imagery.
March 2019: ÌÇÐÄÊÓƵ’s selected photographer came to ÌÇÐÄÊÓƵ to shoot the new print ads.
October 2019: ÌÇÐÄÊÓƵ launched its ad campaign refresh. An updated commercial and destination video were filmed for a spring 2020 release.
