Brand Store Remodeled

We have just updated our branding and marketing guidelines for 2010. It was interesting to work through this update and think back almost 6 years when I started on all this. It was pretty much a clean slate. No written guidelines, no marketing plan. Centennial had operated for 15 years very successfully as a stealth brand, but the founder realized that to grow into new markets and non-federal segments, we need to grow the brand recognition and the awareness of job order contracting and take it all to the next level.

The process started with the traditional brand development efforts. Assessment of the current brand, interviews with the clients, with the key field and corporate leaders, the subcontractors, the industry and even the competition. What did the Centennial brand mean, represent, say? What was the promise held and committed to by the brand. Everything was explored, refined, defined and tested. I was blessed to have a solid starting point – a brand that truly lived up to the inferred promise, “Building relationships that withstand the test of time by keeping our promises and honoring our commitments”.

From no web, no written guidelines to where we are today is fun to remember. So with the recent release of the new standards, including marketing, development and public relations processes, samples and more it is worth stopping and recognizing how far we have come and re-engaging a vision of where we are headed. It is more than a binder or a website – it is a general alignment of all areas of Centennial on a single brand message and image. The new brand store is one level of the effort.