RENEWPR Messaging Case Study
Understanding An Industry to
Determine How Best to Tell its New Brand Story
Challenge
In 2021, the marketing and events team responsible for the largest clean energy trade show in North America asked us to develop messaging to support their new brand, RE+. The brand had been developed by another firm, but they had only completed the brand and didn’t develop messaging or positioning. The new brand was a secret and would be unveiled in dramatic fashion at the next in-person conference. The messaging had to reflect both the spirit of the previous, very well-known brand (SPI) and the momentum they wanted to build for the new brand.
Response
Working with our Network partner Christine Middleton of Gokotta Group, we reviewed all the existing brand guidance, research, reactions and insight. We conducted listening sessions with key staff and influencers and asked a lot of questions! We developed a framework for the new brand built on the core attributes the client had identified and the new elements they wanted to focus on (including new technologies and a broader value statement). We created extensive messaging and talking points to support the framework and suggested taglines to help power the new brand awareness campaign the client would launch.
Result
The client team took the ball and ran with it on messaging and taglines. They built support for it internally (with our help) and created a plan to roll-out the messaging at the next conference. The new brand was celebrated at the 2022 show with banners emblazoned throughout the Anaheim Conference Center. The RE+ website was updated to reflect the new brand positioning and messaging. The 2023 conference in Las Vegas (the largest ever, with more than 40,000 people – a 50% increase over 2022) included even more branding and messaging with the “Renewing What’s Possible” tagline emblazoned across banners, signage and materials throughout both conference venues (including the RE+ team member’s business cards, which now say “Renewing What’s Possible” in bold font).
"When we determined that we needed help building out the messaging for our new RE+ brand, Ben and his team were the first people we thought of as partners for this critically important project. Ben and Christine were terrific colleagues who led us through a focused, deliberate process that resulted in strong, relevant and compelling messaging. We're so pleased with the work they did and so appreciative of their insight and smart thinking."
Gary Thuro, Chief Marketing and Sales Officer, RE+ Events