Trade talks: Q&A with Adam Wakes, Marketing Manager for Access BDD
Between 4,000 and 10,000 is the amount of advertising and branding people in modern societies are estimated to be exposed to each day, according to an interesting article by Red Crow Marketing. The result is that consumers are now extremely proficient at blocking out advertising and branding and for companies, this means it has never been so difficult to try and make an advert stand out and grab attention.
In the latest issue of THIIS however, one Christmas advert seemed to particularly stand out because there was so little to it. Adam Wakes, Marketing Manager for Access BDD, discussed the motivation behind its simple yet effective advert (check it out on page 9).
THIIS: Your advert in the last issue of THIIS really stood out because of its simplicity, can you tell us more about the thinking behind it?
Adam: “Simplicity is exactly the right word! The guiding principle behind our new branding has been that everything we create should look clean and elegant. When you dig below the surface though, it actually gets a bit more technical, because as a trade-only supplier, we have to make sure that the brand works both for us and for our dealers. So when we’re talking to the trade, for example when we’re advertising in THIIS, we want the Access brand to be strong and eye-catching, but when we’re creating material to support our dealers, such as brochures, our own brand has to take a back seat and let the products and the dealer speak out. The simple and neutral look of our new brand allows us to do all that.
“We worked with Better, a brand agency based near our head office in Teesside. They took our old logo and stripped it down to just the arrow, and then rebuilt our striking new vertical logo around that arrow. They then used the result to create an entirely new typeface for us, so there are hints of our logo in all our headlines. The arrowhead itself is retained in the A giving us a distinctive icon for when we really want to make an impression, as we did when we tweaked it for our Christmas advert.”
THIIS: What has the reception been to the new Access BDD branding from the trade and from OTs as well, having exhibited at this year’s OT Show?
Adam: “We’ve had a really good response from our dealers in the UK and across the world. We held an event for key dealers at the National Space Centre in Leicester in June, where we unveiled the new look and it immediately got a very positive reaction from our guests. The black and white colour palette really caught people’s attention because it’s quite unusual in this industry.
“Likewise, feedback from OTs at the recent OT Show was very positive with a lot of interest and curiosity. The show was the first time we had presented the new brand externally at any type of show or exhibition so illustrating it in such an impactful way really caught people’s attention.”
THIIS: Can you tell us more about Access BDD’s approach to marketing?
Adam: “The keywords behind our marketing are innovation and luxury. The luxury story began when we introduced our new Altura homelift range – whatever their reasons for installing a homelift, and whichever product they choose, we want our end customers to feel that an Altura lift adds a touch of luxury to their lives.
“So we took inspiration from classic upmarket brands, and that’s where the very neutral black and white look came from – if you look at the brand evolution of companies like Apple or John Lewis, you can see a similar journey away from colour to clean monochrome lines.
“To enhance the new logos, images and colours, we’ve switched to a serif font, which recalls classic print fonts, and we’ve added a luxurious amount of empty space in our designs so that the information is clearly presented and easy to read. We’ve even moved to a heavier paper stock for our print material that customers can feel that they’re dealing with a quality brand right from their first encounter with us.
“Our Flow2 stairlift uses unique, market-leading technology and does things that no other stairlift can achieve, so we also looked at other leading technology brands to see what they do. One thing that stood out what the way technology brands use photography to show the product from the point of view of the user, so you’ll see us using that idea with close-up detail shots of the stairlift controls and seat belt, giving the user a sense of how it will feel for them when they’re sitting in the chair.”
THIIS: Do you find it difficult to emphasise the luxury aspect of the Access BDD product offering when, arguably, they are products people do not want?
Adam: “It can be difficult to present mobility products in a positive light because they exist to address needs that we’d all rather not have to confront. No-one aspires to own a stairlift, so you might wonder why we’re presenting the products in this way, but our message of luxury and innovation encourages the customer to feel good about the product rather than thinking about why they need it.”
THIIS: Do you think more companies in the mobility industry should invest more attention on building and developing their brand?
Adam: “The UK stairlift market is very competitive at the moment and suppliers are all realising that brand building is an important element in retaining or growing market share. It’s difficult to do this when we’re selling products that people would rather not think about but we think our new look is a bit of a revolution and it meets the challenges of the market head-on.
“We also strongly encourage our dealers to develop their own brands, and we can offer them advice and support as they do that. The end-user doesn’t need to know about Access, but they need to have the utmost confidence in our products and in the company that is coming into their house to sell, install and maintain a major piece of kit, so dealers who build a strong and trusted brand in their locality are the ones who will thrive.”
Check out the new Access BDD advert in the December issue of THIIS. If you would like to receive a free, monthly print copy of THIIS Magazine, subscribe today.
