KC streetcars rolling along with their timeless new brand

Often the simple, elegant solution turns out to be the best approach to branding, but getting there may be an indirect path. In fact, it can take a year of traveling a circuitous route to find the correct solution.

Nicole Satterwhite, left, and 

Megan Stephens discussed

branding with #FXofKC members.

Willoughby Design of Kansas City, creators of the brand for KC’s new streetcar line, rode such a journey in the past two years. Megan Stephens, Willoughby president, and Nicole Satterwhite, creative director, talked with members of the Freelance Exchange of Kansas City about the branding process at a lunch meeting at Bloch Executive Hall at UMKC.

The KC Area Transportation Authority hired Willoughby in January 2014 to create a new brand identity for KC’s regional transit system as well as the coming streetcar – the new/old, public transportation system that the metro area eagerly anticipated. The project entailed creating an umbrella name and an identity that would unite the various metro transportation operators and give the public a consistent signage system, one map, one website and one fare card. With a total price tag of $102 million for the 2.2 miles of round-trip track route and the four streetcars, the branding project was indeed high profile.

Not just another logo

So the creative minds at Willoughby went to work. “We saw an opportunity to bring all of the transit lines serving the metro area together,” Megan says. “We didn’t want to create just another logo to add to the mix.”

Within a week of winning the contract for the branding work, the Willoughby firm was told it was time to pick the color for the streetcars, which were being manufactured in Spain, with final assembly in Elmira, N.Y. “It was a classic case of putting the cart before the horse,” Megan explains. “We didn’t even have a name yet for the streetcar and we faced this impossible deadline.” The firm pushed back, saying it needed more time, but the manufacturer was insistent and offered three options – red, blue or green. None was acceptable and the Willoughby team held firm that “Kansas City can do better.”

Months of research followed around the country and across the pond, with Willoughby creatives looking at what other cities use for colors and branding of their light rail systems. “We didn’t want to be gimmicky,” Megan says, and the brand had to be timeless, sophisticated, progressive and confident.

An elegant palette

The elegant solution, Nicole says, was to keep the colors simple. “So we chose pearl, graphite and platinum, and we specifically decided to not call them black, white and gray.” The simple palette created a neutral canvas that can hold graphics when needed.

Colors finally decided, it was time for the team to name the streetcar. Again the creatives went to work researching, testing and inventing various names – dozens of iterations in all, Megan says. “Line” was seriously considered, along with “Trax,” since KC already has the Max bus system and the Connex system in Johnson County.

Two-letter solution

“But very few cities have a claim for a two-letter identity,” Megan explains, like NY, LA and DC. And KC. Since KC is recognized in surveys by 80 percent of respondents across the country, “RideKC” was ultimately declared a winner. But RideKC what? RideKC Line? Maybe just RideKC with a logo? And then a flash of inspiration came to the Willoughby team. “What if the streetcar is just called a streetcar?” Megan says.

And so it became RideKC STREETCAR.

Then came logo development. The team looked at the universal symbol for rail transportation, adapted it, market tested it, revised it, streamlined it and made it resemble the actual streetcar with its sleek front end. Voila! The brand was finished, ultimately approved and rolled out across the metro area, in time for the early May debut of the streetcars.

If you have not yet had the experience of riding the RideKC STREETCAR, do hop on for a spin around downtown. It’s free and fun.

How to set up a clear path for the Buyer’s Journey

The traditional Buyer’s Journey, which relied on personal recommendations followed by a phone call to a company, has been largely replaced with technology that yields impressive amounts of information.

Today’s buyer, in fact, doesn’t even directly contact the company until late in the game, maybe sometime around the 7^th inning, says Sheri Johnson, President of Morningstar Communications.

Sheri shared insights about “Customizing Content through the Buyer’s Journey” for B2B businesses, with members and guests of KC IABC at a breakfast meeting. She quoted research findings from several sources that increasingly point to buyers’ needs for online research, social media, data and statistics before they’re ready to make a purchasing decision.

Four stages plus one

At least three of the four traditional stages of the Buyer’s Journey – Awareness, Familiarity and Consideration – can be completed before the buyer even contacts the target company, Sheri added. “By the time they contact you, the buyer has done extensive research on your firm,” and may even be nearly ready to make the Purchase decision. Once the buyer commits to doing business with your firm, it’s then time to build that fifth stage of the Buyer’s Journey – Trust, she added, the stage where they turn into a loyal customer or client.

Since potential customers are largely doing their own purchasing research, it’s incumbent on the company to create great messaging that provides the data needed to capture attention and draw the customer in. Great messaging covers the What, So What and Now What of their research journey. “Describe what’s important for them to know using facts, features and benefits and tell them why they should care and what they should do,” Sheri said.

“Use everyday language that’s direct and easy to understand. Avoid acronyms and make sure your content is oriented toward the buyer – not what you want to say, but what they need to hear,” she recommends. “And content should be informational with news and social media. Don’t try to sell them immediately.”

Messaging strategy

Depending on the size of your company, various channels can be used to deliver your marketing message:

·      Paid channel – Ads: sponsorships, advertorials, trade shows

·      Earned channel – PR: news, publicity, speaking engagements

·      Shared channel – Social media: LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter

·      Controlled channel – Collateral: website, events, blog

If it all sounds like a lot of work, it is, and the journey may be lengthy – anywhere from a few months to a year or more. But content delivery can be streamlined through marketing automation. Automation includes scheduling, segmentation and tracking of marketing campaigns, creating a systematic approach, instead of manually gathering data and trying to sort it out.

Automation tools

Several tools are available commercially to automate marketing, including HubSpot, Eloqua, Marketo, Pardot, Act-On and others. “The beauty of marketing automation programs is you can segment your list and get the data to support your case,” Sheri says. But, first, lay the foundation for success in automated marketing by making sure you’ve covered the following:

·      Clear positioning of your company and brand

·      A strong list of prospects

·      Commitment to creating 3,000 words of fresh content monthly

·      Seamless integration of website, CRM (customer relationship management) and automation technology

·      Focus on measurement

To be your best version of yourself, you may need to transform

If you’re yearning for a major change in yourself, you may find it’s time to stop trying to fit in and time to transform.

Marty Stanley, certified life and business coach, led a lively discussion about how to redefine or reinvent your career after age 50 with members of the KC IABC Masters group at a dinner meeting.

Marty offered tips on a variety of topics:

• Starting your own business

Many people later in their careers decide to leave their full-time jobs, or that decision is made for them via a layoff, and then they try to start their own business. Some, however, have no solid commitment to self-employment; rather, “they hang out their shingle while they look for a job,” Marty says. Of course, their business is not successful because they had no solid plan.

“If you decide to go solo, this is not a hobby,” Marty says. “You have to decide that this is your full expression of yourself and what makes you happy. You also have to sell your services, which is why most businesses fail.”

Before deciding to start your own business, give serious thought to what makes you happy and how you want to feel when you work with your clients, Marty advises. Then come up with a realistic business plan, which includes how to sell your services, then place your full effort on working your plan. Most people don't want to sell or market themselves or their business, which is why only about 1 in 100 businesses succeeds. And give it time, because it’s a rare business that’s an overnight success.

• Ageism

Many older workers report being passed over for jobs or promotions that went to younger people. But some older workers continue to excel at their organization because of their age, not despite it, Marty says.

Being “too old” is often a state of mind, rather than reality, she says. “Think not of your age, but of how you are adding value. You’ve had to think situations through and make decisions. You can bring a level of stability to the workplace and a sense of organizational objectives. And you won’t get all caught up in drama.”

Besides positive thinking about your age as an asset, appear contemporary instead of old school. “Your hair, your dress, your shoes, your tie and your conversation” all send out signals about how you view yourself. And don’t talk about age and constantly remind your co-workers about the way things used to be,” Marty advises.

• Know your strengths

“Every time we try to mold ourselves and adapt ourselves to a situation that doesn’t feel right, it never works out,” Marty says. “It affects our performance and ultimately it affects our health.” So when you reach the point where you want to transform yourself, first do your homework.

Marty recommends Strengthsfinder 2.0 by Tom Rath, a book with a timed online assessment that was first published in 2001 and that has helped millions find their top five strengths. The book also contains hundreds of strategies for applying your strengths. Pinpointing your strengths can help you build your resume around your strengths, rather than a traditional chronological resume, Marty suggests.

• Preparing for an interview

Networking is what will get you an interview, more than your resume, Marty says, but what wins the job offer is the ability to sell yourself during the interview. “People get hired on their listening skills and on their vibrational energy. So ask yourself, ‘How do I want them to feel during this interaction? What body of knowledge do I possess that no one else has? How can I package that to be the person who’s the top candidate for the job?’”

• For more information on transformation

Marty is the author of a new book, From Type A to Type T: How to Be a Transformational Leader in a Bottom-line World.

In it, Marty covers:

o   How to integrate body, mind and spirit to enhance personal relationships.

o   How to create a future vision and action steps for personal and organizational change.

o   Practical steps to create healthy, empowering and collaborative families, communities and workplaces.

See more about Marty at www.alteringoutcomes.com.