Case Study: Revitalizing Berkshire Hathaway’s Marmon Brands

Client Background

Marmon Holdings, Inc., a subsidiary of Berkshire Hathaway, operates as a conglomerate of 11 distinct groups encompassing over 100 independent businesses with a combined annual revenue of $10 billion. Celebrating its 70th anniversary, Marmon Holdings boasts a workforce exceeding 28,000 employees, all contributing to the ongoing evolution of the company’s narrative.

Challenge

Within Marmon’s Industrial Products Group lay several legacy fastener brands in need of rejuvenation. Kinetic undertook the task of revitalizing these brands, including modernizing logos, enhancing branding materials, and upgrading their online presence, particularly on Amazon. This project ran parallel to the overarching initiative of rebranding the group itself as the “Marmon Construction Fastener Group.”

Approach

Overall Branding: Marmon Construction Fastener Group

Kinetic initiated its work with Marmon by establishing comprehensive brand standards for the Marmon Construction Fastener Group. This involved crafting a detailed brand manual encompassing all essential tools, guidelines, and insights necessary to accurately represent the parent group across various platforms and materials.

Brand Focus: Deerwood Fasteners

One of the sub-brands, Deerwood Fasteners, boasts a rich legacy dating back to 1908. Recognizing the need for a modern touch while preserving its historical significance, Kinetic updated the logo and branding collateral, ensuring alignment with the brand’s core values and voice.

Brand Focus: Big Timber Fasteners

Another key sub-brand, Big Timber Fasteners, sought to enhance its digital presence and e-commerce capabilities, particularly on Amazon. Kinetic collaborated closely with the brand to develop a cutting-edge Amazon storefront, leveraging strategic content placements, captivating visuals, and clear product descriptions to redefine the online shopping experience.

Putting the Brands Into Practice: Tenn-Tex / Deerwood Trade Show

Two of Marmon’s brands have already put the revitalized branding to work in developing booths for woodworking trade shows. Historically, the Deerwood and Tenn-Tex brands have hosted separate booths at most industry trade shows. With the new branding, they decided to join forces by sharing large back-to-back booth areas with cross-promotional potential. Deerwood manufactures cabinet and furniture screws and Tenn-Tex provides plastic injection-molded brackets and these complementary products can make a more impactful presentation together.

They turned to Kinetic to create updated trade show booth graphics based on the new brand styles established by Kinetic for both Deerwood and Tenn-Tex for the co-branded space. The brand assets Kinetic created are meant to subtly tie the brands together visually while maintaining the ability to use them separately in stand-alone settings at shows where the joint presence is unnecessary.

Results

The comprehensive brand guidelines established for the Marmon Construction Fastener Group laid a solid foundation for future brand-related endeavors and the co-branded space for trade shows provides a great test case for the new looks.

Updates to legacy brands like Deerwood Fasteners and Tenn-Tex help them retain authenticity while embracing modernity, ensuring continued recognition and relevance. Similarly, the transformation of Big Timber Fasteners’ Amazon storefront resulted in a significantly enhanced user experience, setting the stage for sustained growth and success in the competitive e-commerce landscape.

Future Outlook

Looking ahead, Kinetic remains committed to further solidifying brands within the Marmon Construction Fastener Group through continued brand exploration, logo refreshes, and the creation of formal brand guidelines. The ongoing partnership between Kinetic and Marmon exemplifies a commitment to innovation and excellence in brand management.

Through a strategic blend of creativity, expertise, and collaboration, Kinetic successfully revitalized Berkshire Hathaway’s Marmon brands, setting a precedent for effective brand management within the industrial sector. As businesses seek to adapt and thrive in an ever-evolving marketplace, the importance of brand rejuvenation and strategic positioning cannot be overstated.

If your brand is in need of a reboot, Kinetic stands ready to offer tailored solutions to help you stand out from the crowd and drive sustainable growth. Contact us today! Download the Marmon Amazon Rebrand case study here.