Dry Effect

Dry Effect

BRAND IDENTITY REDESIGN, COLLATERAL, PROMOTIONAL PRODUCTS


Overview

Dry Effect Restoration Services is a property restoration and mold remediation company in Greater Cincinnati, Northern Kentucky, and Louisville. When a water, fire, flood, or mold disaster occurs to a home or business, they put the property back to its pre-emergency condition.

before

after

The Challenge

When Dry Effect started, the co-owners were understandably focused on getting their shop up and running as quickly as possible in order to begin generating business. Shortly after entering the marketplace, they realized their operation was very different than the competition. They didn’t depend on scare tactics, misrepresentation, and tricks to get work. They worked and represented themselves with honesty and integrity. They had a story to be told, they needed to communicate why they were the better choice over the competition, they simply did not know how.

GRAPHIC SYSTEM

The Dry Effect graphic system complements the logo with a series of stacked parallelograms. The shapes reflect the colors of the brand and overlay one another in a random pattern that adds dynamic movement to the brand. The parallelograms reflect the multiple layers of the Dry Effect business.

Research

To get a complete understanding of Dry Effect, the industry they served, their strengths, what weaknesses they’d have to overcome, and what opportunities were available in the market that we could take advantage of in order to achieve their goal of communicating its unique-for-this-industry offering and growing their business we started doing our homework. This “discovery session” with the co-owners also explored the reasons why they started their company, what it meant to them, what they saw as the company’s mission, and what values lead them.

Strategy

We looked at what the company was doing right (e.g. providing honest service and unparalleled customer care), what they could improve upon (e.g. color palette was identical to competitor colors, photography and other, overall brand inconsistencies, getting the word out that they provided an honest service and unparalleled customer care) and where they wanted to go (become a major player in the property damage repair and remediation services industry). After completing ideation sessions and word webs, we generated mood boards that began to unearth a direction for our design to move toward and we set out to craft a marketing strategy that would support the Clients’ mission.

Solution

Deriving from the idea that the company services customers who are in pretty stressful and, at times, dangerous situations, it was important that the brand and its support system – the colors, typography, imagery, etc. – emitted an immediate sense of being calm, cool, and collected in the presence of dire circumstances; the complete opposite of how competing brands represented themselves in the marketplace. All marketing efforts (digital, print, etc.) lead with the message that the customer was in the Client’s complete care and that they’d have the situation under control. And, unlike much of the competition, we shunned those ideas of using scare tactics and disturbing imagery to get attention. We instead communicated the company’s values of honesty, integrity, and professionalism. Social media messages generated original and curated content that positioned the Client as an expert in the industry, offering tips, “How To” fixes, and other useful information.

The Results

By positioning the company as one that provides an unmatched customer service and professionalism, Dry Effect continues to stake its place as one of Greater Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky’s most trusted companies when it comes to property restoration and remediation services.