Briggs & Stratton is the global leader in small engines, and at one point enjoyed strong brand awareness and recognizable iconography. However, in serving the needs of its OEM customers it took attention away from its own brand, creating an awareness and relevancy gap with younger consumers.
| Legacy of self-reliance |
Seeing that fewer and fewer consumers recognized or demanded the brand, our client asked for help in making Briggs & Stratton relevant again.
As long as there are those who take pride in their work and in doing the job right, one thing will stay the same. Every time a Briggs & Stratton fires up, it releases an energy that doesn’t come from gas and oil, but from the power that’s within each of us. - Excerpt from Briggs & Stratton executive brand book
| The process |
Recapturing the spirit of the brand started with a redesign of the core identity system. Over the more than three decades since the last update, the logo had grown dated and collected an array of disconnected sub-brand marks, icons and language.
The re-branding challenge was to unlock any latent engine equity and build a feeling of self-reliance. Cue explored several complete branding systems, each with an identity, architecture, naming convention, engine treatment and package solution.
| Identity as iconography |
One shortcoming of the outdated system was a lack of secondary iconography to designate the different roles the brand played. We created a new system that incorporates the advertising signature, engine designation, genuine parts, commercial power and racing into a single solution.
| Rolling out the brand |
The guidelines, new business cards and a gift were packaged together and given to key members of management within the company.
To ensure that employees understood the essence of the new branding and could bring it to life, identity guidelines were created. The new guidelines package included two pieces: an identity system overview brochure, and a DVD containing instructional information and the digital artwork for the system.
| Parts to the puzzle |
Graphic silhouettes of parts feel powerful, and show a passion and pride in a job well done.
Briggs & Stratton makes maintenance and replacement parts for every product it makes and many it doesn’t. The new parts packaging system incorporates the use of trilingual naming, product numbers, engine specifications and icons in an architecture that makes it easy for consumers to find the exact part they need.
| Hard working equipment |
Materials that become more equipment than apparel fit perfectly under the self-reliant message "The Power Within".
The brand is a natural fit for licensed product. We evaluated brand appropriate partnerships and created concepts to bring the ideas to life, such as high performance work gloves.
| Heavy duty architecture |
The color coding of the sub-brands; bold red meaning "good", silver "better", and a rich black "best" could apply to the product itself as well.
With numerous sub-brands that bleed across three very different consumer groups, as well as performance features that cross-reference all of them, a modular color coding system of "good-better-best" was paired with an iconography system that could snap on or off as needed.
We knew the strategy was right, the real challenge became embodying the character of self-reliance in everything we did as a company. The Cue solution gave Briggs & Stratton a new visual language that had certainty and confidence. From logos to trade shows to packaging and racing, all of our efforts deliver the brand proposition.
– Mary Sausen, VP Brand Marketing, Briggs & Stratton