Building Brand Awareness

How we methodically
built a brand.

The Challenge

Breaking through brand awareness of their main products and creating a brand identity for this family owned business.

The Solution

Consistency, consistency, consistency. Rather than using “pre-made” manufacturer ads, we created original ads for digital and print.

The Result

Ten years of consistent branding that has changed them from “the Firestone” dealer to Heinold & Feller who sells tires.

Building Brand Consistency

Heinold & Feller is a full service auto repair shop, tire service center, and a lawn and garden equipment retailer. They are one of the top 50 national retailers for Firestone, Toro, and Husqvarna.

Located in Valparaiso, Ind., they are a family-owned business with over 60 years of experience. We started working with Heinold & Feller in 2010 as their full service marketing agency.

brand awareness case study, Heinold & Feller Case Study

The Challenge

Heinold & Feller was struggling with establishing their brand identity. As a successful retailer of several national brands, they were often referred to as “the Firestone dealer” or “the Toro dealer”.

Before we started working with them, the look of their ads varied greatly. If you placed two separate Heinold & Feller ads next to each other but covered the logo, you would never have known they were for the same store. There was no consistency in the color, layout, font, or messaging.

The Solution

  1. Our first step was to create their “voice”. That exercise included updating their slogan, which speaks to the heart of why they do business. Click here to learn more about this critical step that we do for every client. 
  2. The next step was to define their brand standards. This included the palette of fonts and colors that would be used in every ad. Whether the ad was for tires, automotive, or lawn and garden equipment, we wanted customers to recognize the Heinold & Feller look. 
  3. Often, national brands give retailers pre-made advertising. These “canned” marketing pieces allow the retailer to simply add their own logo and the ad is done. The problem using these pre-made ads is that they aren’t customized to the retailers branding palette. We stopped having Heinold & Feller use the “canned” ads, and we created customized advertising that includes the big name brands but presented in a way that stays true to Heinold & Feller’s new brand standards. The result was customized advertising that helped Heinold & Feller overcome being known as “the Firestone dealer.”
  4. Their consistent branding has also been carried through to every aspect of their business, from in-store signage to reminder cards to business cards and their website.
brand awareness case study, Heinold & Feller Case Study

The Result

For almost ten years, Heinold & Feller’s advertising has presented a consistent look and personal feel. Customers turn to Heinold & Feller when they need a set of new tires, not just when they think “I want Firestone tires”. Homeowners shop their lawn and garden department for zero turn mowers, not just for Toro mowers.

The entire branding effort has allowed us to tie together the advertising for the auto repair, tire sales, and lawn and garden sides of their business.