Branding Case Study: Extreme Painting

The Situation

Husband and wife team, Andres and Karima, own and operate Extreme Painting, a company based in San Diego, California, that serves both luxury residential properties and commercial customers for over 10 years. Andres and Karima wanted to continue growing their business and achieve greater local brand strength and recognition, so they came to Green Hat Web Solutions.

The Challenge

Extreme Painting already provided a superior painting service, but needed a more strategic way to attract new customers. The company’s previous branding work and word of mouth marketing technique were no longer bringing the results Andres and Karima wanted. They had challenging growth goals to be achieved in the short term and they felt they needed to differentiate themselves from their competitors in order to attract new customers.

The Solution

Our brand experts began by analyzing the business owners’ expertise and personal leadership competencies that inform the brand values of their company. We also asked questions about their successful business stories, strategic business goals and the current market conditions for their business.  

Next, Andres and Karima took the CultureTalk archetype assessment that gave them language to help understand the type of stories that have created the culture of their company. This assessment revealed their top archetypes, or the recurring patterns of behavior that inform how they lead their business. We guided Andres and Karima through the validation of their results to help them discover how their strengths and blind spots work together to create Extreme Painting’s culture and brand identity. They agreed that Extreme Painting’s main three archetypes were: the Hero, the Lover, and the Caregiver. Each archetype has different qualities that make Extreme Painting unique in how they do business and serve their clients:

Lover

  • Passion for work
  • Enthusiasm
  • Detail-oriented
  • Close relationships with customers

Hero

  • Determination
  • Focus
  • Saving the day
  • Risk-taking

Caregiver

  • Optimism
  • Creates trust
  • Going the extra mile
  • Self-sacrifice for clients’ needs

Once Andres and Karima were aware of these values and qualities, they were able to choose which archetype they wanted Extreme Painting to focus on primarily. After analyzing the company’s story, they chose to direct their branding and marketing towards the Hero archetype because they felt that this archetype was the best fit in how they wanted Extreme Painting to be perceived by their clients. While the other two archetypes are the ones that influence how they take care of the business in general and their administration processes.

Finally, Andres, Karima, and we discussed how all the information they had discovered about Extreme Painting’s culture could be practically applied to improving their brand. Green Hat then used the Hero archetype to inform how we designed Extreme Painting’s logo and the language to be used for their website and other marketing materials. 

“Fabiana is amazing to work with. She was so patient and had a genuine desire to get to know our business. She truly got to know us and understood the strengths behind our company. She was able to completely develop our company’s personality and inspired us to bring to light the unique attributes that our business has. Thank you, Fabiana!!” ~Karima

The Results and Deliverables

  • Ready-to-use keywords and taglines
  • Updated logo, business cards, and polo shirts
  • Redesigned, brand-focused website

Keywords and Taglines

The keywords we gave were based on Extreme Painting’s top three archetypes, and included words such as “go the extra mile,” “committed” and “determination.” 

Taglines included sentences like the following: “we always go the extra mile to guarantee that our clients are satisfied and feel that their expectations are met”; “we are determined to deliver our services on-time and creatively overcome obstacles that may appear on our way”; and “we are committed to make a difference in the world and in people’s lives by helping others to transform their expectations into beautiful and perfect environments they feel comfortable being in.”

Client Experience

Andres and Karima were impressed by the depth, thoroughness, applicability, and customized nature of Green Hat’s branding process; this is not just another personality test. Green Hat’s branding process is focused on delivering results that make a difference in how your company understands and deploys its culture to craft a strong brand identity. By working through branding with Green Hat, Andres and Karima have come to understand how who they are influences their company’s culture, and how to share their brand’s unique culture with their clients to stand out from their competitors.

Our branding process provides taglines and phrases you can use to express your brand’s values and identity to others. The blue text in this image corresponds to Extreme Painting’s Hero archetype, the pink text corresponds to their Lover archetype, the coral text corresponds to their caregiver archetype. It’s important to remember not to get caught up in the name of the archetype. Archetypes are an analogy to help you understand your business’s motivations and values, and can bring clarity on the kind of language you should use to talk about them.

Another deliverable of Green Hat’s branding process is identifying how your business already uses your archetypes to serve your clients and sell your products by highlighting practical examples. We found these examples during personal conversations with Andres and Karima about their business. 

Creating a New Logo

One major change Extreme Painting requested from Green Hat Web Solutions was the creation of a new logo. The old logo featured a black and white shark with bold font. The new logo still includes the company’s distinctive shark, which represents their location (San Diego) and the determination, courage, precision, and tenacity that defines their brand. Instead of facing the shark head on, the new logo has the shark in a circular motion to depict the way the company “embraces” their clients through exceptional customer service. The orange and blue color scheme was chosen to represent the strength of Extreme Painting’s main archetype, the Hero. The new logo also came with a new font, where parts of each letter are “masked.” This represents Extreme Painting’s specialization in detailed, high-quality, and precise painting services. 

Creating a New Business Card

Business cards are one important way your company presents itself to the world. For Extreme Painting, a new logo, color scheme and font, also meant new business cards. We designed these cards to feature the company’s updated logo and colors, along with the information that matters.

Brand Identity Guide

Another deliverable Green Hat Web Solutions provided was a Brand Identity Guide. Its style guidelines were created to reflect Extreme Painting’s archetypes and brand story, and to communicate that story to the world. The guide included updated logos, a new brand color scheme, and brand typography.

Conclusion

Issues Identified

  • Previous branding work and word of mouth marketing no longer bringing results
  • Challenging short-term growth goals required brand differentiation
  • Need for a more strategic way to attract new customers

Deliverables

  • Increased understanding of brand identity
    • Main archetype: the Hero (focus, determination, saving the day)
    • Secondary archetypes: Lover (passion, detail orientation, close relationships with clients) and Caregiver (caring for client needs, patience, flexibility)
  • Effective language for marketing materials and website aligning with brand archetypes
  • Brand style guide
  • Updated business card
  • Redesigned logo
  • New brand color scheme and fonts