Brown
Designing the future

Brand makeover keeps Brown in style

Problem

Brown’s Interior Design had some concerns when we first met them. For starters, they were way overdue for a brand refresh. Also, their architectural blueprints were complete and they were about to begin a complete showroom renovation. They wanted to promote this to the public, but there were other changes going on as well. Since 1976, the company offered both home furnishings and interior design services but, moving forward, decided the focal point would be the design side of the business. It was crucial that they educate their target audience about this shift without alienating their loyal clients. The executive staff and owners determined this was too great of an undertaking and decided they needed to partner with an outside agency to build their new brand system.

Challenges

With enormous competition in the South Florida interior design space, Brown needed to develop a total internal and external platform to re-brand themselves. There were multiple goals occurring organically including adding a younger target demographic, attracting superstar interior designers to join the staff at Brown, telling the company’s story in a unique fashion and marketing themselves in an efficient manner.

Solution

Our strategy was to transform the Brown brand, depicting its innovative technology, revolutionary business model, modern appearance and expanded showroom. We did this by delivering a revolutionized communication system. To illustrate their fresh approach to high-end interior design in South Florida, we created a corporate website, interactive digital kiosks, powerful marketing resources, employee culture guide, adjusted social media campaigns, memorable tagline, digital marketing plan, engaging promotional items and a short-form television advertising campaign. We raised their awareness, helped them share their story better and reinvented their approach to design story-telling.

.internal-hero-image {
max-height: unset;
height: auto;
}
.internal-hero-image video {
width: 100%;
}

Brand Strategy

Logos, mission statements, ad layouts, social media avatars and brand promises are only a few of the elements that enter into a cohesive brand platform. When it came time to develop the Brown brand, we needed to first understand how this 40-plus-year-old interior design firm assists their clients, who they are, why their clients adored them and what made them unique. To achieve this, we took a deep, comprehensive view of their overall brand, determining both the strengths and pain-points to craft a strategy that repositioned Brown, enabling them to better reach their target audience in the present and future.

Branding

Since Brown’s clientele tends to be a very discerning audience, the various elements of the brand system had to be robust, steady and forceful. We had huge mountains to move with the new client-facing resources. The team at Brown truly goes above and beyond when designing, consistently exceeding client expectations. Emphasizing this fact is challenging because most companies make the claim so audiences tend to view it as hyperbolic and dismiss them. We had to effectively incorporate real situations and cite actual efforts to truly capture the essence of the Brown experience.

Experience

We worked closely with the Brown executive and marketing teams to create a more modern experience. These efforts focused on the new showroom, while providing a realistic and relatively real-time environment for customers to learn about the latest methods for interior design. This dedicated space also had to function as a workspace, serving as a collaborative area where staffers and freelancers can research, compare materials, challenge themselves and, ultimately, fuel adventurous creativity.

Corporate Website

During the initial research phase, we quickly determined the need for a website that is modern, responsive, comprehensive, user-friendly and capable of showcasing the breadth and quality of the Brown portfolio. How could the new Brown website match the level of excellence found in the spaces they create for their clients?

The previous Brown site had served the agency well for years. It was simply…fine. They could have kept the status quo and moved forward, but it would have been a great injustice. Brown is not merely “fine.” Brown is an industry-leading design firm that is steeped in tradition, built on principle, and known throughout South Florida for its incredible vision and dynamic creations. The company was growing, a new brand was being introduced, and in order to reach varying audiences, a new site was needed.

We began this process by analyzing the existing site, using our findings to improve the site architecture. We then evaluated and organized hundreds of images, selecting those to be featured on the new site and assigning formatted descriptive metadata for each. It was then vital that we tell the Brown story, not only of its past but the present and, most importantly, its future.
The resulting website is a collection of what Brown represents. It will be used to generate leads, serve as a presentation portfolio, demonstrate their process, and serve as a media kit for prospective clients.

We partner with brands of all sizes at every stage of their journey.