It’s uncomfortable to feel like you’re suddenly out of step with the world. From finding yourself wearing the wrong cut of jeans to wondering if you should switch to a cooler brand of take-away coffee, we all feel at risk of judgement.
The good news is that we can choose whether we care about what other people think about us. But it’s not the same for brands. A brand that fails to take the temperature of the world it operates in plays a dangerous game. It isn’t necessary or even advisable to flex to every micro trend, but it’s essential to have a willingness to take the time and effort to tune in, listen and, where necessary, make adjustments.
This particularly applies to heritage brands – brands that are at a higher risk of relying on track record and historic assets to maintain their position, regardless of their relevance and appeal.
Having worked with brands like Aston Martin, Bonhams and VOLA, we’ve seen a change in the way that heritage can influence business success. In the past, it was often seen as an indicator of trust – we’ve been around a long time, we know what we’re doing. It also signified a level of premium – jewellery and watch brands in particular lean into it to justify a price point.
Today, the whole idea of heritage needs to work much harder and be much more layered. It’s less about history and more about authenticity and depth. And as we all know, those are two of the most valuable assets a brand can have in our increasingly digital world.
So when we’re working with our clients who value their history but don’t want to be held back by it, we focus on diving deep into what originally drove them to do what they do – their passion, their values, their unique view of the world. In short, what makes them timeless.
ASSOS of Switzerland was founded by Olympic cyclists in 1974 as an industry disruptor. Its clothing was the most technologically advanced in the world, its quirky product names garnering a cult following. But things moved on. Cycling clothing became an issue of style as well as substance, with myriad companies like Rapha and Le Col zooming up on the inside lane with their lifestyle-influenced range of clothing and café-culture positioning. The ASSOS brand started to look less exciting, with a foot stuck in the non PC 1970s and an ageing customer base.
So when ASSOS asked us to help them reassert their position as sector leaders, we worked with them to dive deep into their heritage to rediscover the spark that ignited them at the outset. It was never about relying on the usual cycling heritage tropes – black and white images of Tours de France gone by, faux-handwritten typography, revivals of retro products – but about reclaiming their maverick spirit that continued to keep them at the forefront of technological advances whilst taking a non-conformist approach to design and marketing.
The brand refresh led with their world-beating technical expertise – unusual for a heritage brand –coupled with a confident, uncompromising look and feel. It included a clean-up of the jumbled logo assets but this was about much more than a logo tweak. Together, we pulled out the decades of passion, expertise and attitude that formed the foundation of the brand and then paired it with innovation to create a unique and market-leading proposition that would attract a younger buyer without alienating the original ASSOS aficionado.
The fact that check-out conversions increased by 73%* after we redesigned their website is proof that taking the time to go bit deeper is not just good for your brand, it’s good for business too.
*compared to the previous year
