Rebranding Legacy Companies

Berkshire Hathaway’s Marmon Brands

Marmon Holdings, Inc., a Berkshire Hathaway company, comprises 11 groups and more than 100 autonomous businesses with total annual revenue of $10 billion. Marmon’s 28,000-plus team members are celebrating the company’s 70th anniversary this year and helping write the next chapter of Marmon’s story.

Within the Industrial Products Group, Marmon owns a number of legacy fastener brands that Kinetic was tasked with revitalizing. In one case, the project required modernizing logos and other branding materials. In another case, Kinetic was asked to upgrade the presentation of the brand on Amazon. These projects were initiated in tandem with an overarching effort to rebrand the group itself to the “Marmon Construction Fastener Group,” with a reset of collateral such as business cards and the brand guide.

Overall Branding: Marmon Construction Fastener Group

One aspect of the work with Marmon involved setting brand standards for the Marmon Construction Fastener Group. Concurrent with the work on select sub brands, Kinetic compiled a comprehensive brand manual for the overall group with all the tools, guidelines and insights needed to effectively represent the parent group. From the visual identity to tone of voice, the guide provides a roadmap to ensure consistency and reinforce the group’s unique brand essence.

The completed brand guide includes detailed specifications, usage guidelines and examples, enabling the group to confidently apply brand elements across various
platforms and materials. Topics covered included:

• Brand persona
• Internal and external messaging
• Voice and tone
• Logos (including what not to do)
• Brand elements
• Typography
• Color palette
• Photography styles / treatment
• Graphics and elements
• Letterhead and business card
• Zoom backgrounds
• Email signatures

Establishing comprehensive brand guidelines for the group from the top down set the stage for effectively implementing additional brand work, including the creation of similar brand guides and collateral, throughout the Marmon Construction Fastener Group portfolio.

Below are details about two of the sub brands, Deerwood and Big Timber Fasteners, that we’ve tackled in the first half of 2023.

Deerwood Fasteners: Modernizing a Legacy Brand

Deerwoord Fasteners can trace its roots all the way back to 1908, when Peter L. Robertson of Canada recognized the need for a better screw recess. He developed a square recess, and patented it as Robertson®, which is the name it is known by to this day.

To introduce this revolutionary screw to the U.S. market, Pan American Screw, which owns the Deerwood Fasteners brand, was founded in 1957 and headquartered in Elkhart, Indiana as a division of Robertson, Inc.

Deerwood Fasteners are used in a variety of industries, but they’re known for professional woodworking fasteners that use a special 1018 modified steel wire to produce the highest breaking torque in the industry.

The Marmon Construction Fastener Group recognized that this legacy brand was in need of a refresh and turned to Kinetic to update the logo and branding collateral. In tackling updates to legacy brands, Kinetic is careful to preserve the equity that has been built over the years by remaining authentic to the core brand values and voice.

“The Deerwood Fasteners has a distinct logo that has been in use for a long time,” said Kinetic Art Director Aimee Lindamood. “Effectively modernizing their logo meant preserving that legacy and recognition factor while carefully bringing it up to date so that it would feel equally at home in traditional print form as well as today’s digital formats such as online stores and social media.”

Big Timber Fasteners: Upping the Amazon Ante

Big Timber Fasteners, another Marmon Group holding, recognized the need to strengthen their digital presence and e-commerce capabilities. They turned to Kinetic to guide them in creating a cutting-edge Amazon Big Timber Fasteners store to redefine the online shopping experience for construction professionals.

Renowned for quality in the construction niche, Big Timber Fasteners sought to upgrade their presence to a more engaging, customer-centric storefront on the Amazon platform.

With the necessary access and resources in place, Kinetic’s strategic, creative and digital teams collaborated closely with Big Timber Fasteners to create new Amazon A+ Store content and graphics. Implementation included strategic content placements, captivating visuals and clear product descriptions that highlighted the brand’s expertise and brought consistency across their product offering listings.

In addition, Kinetic effectively leveraged Amazon’s versatile A+ content manager to tell the Big Timber brand story, creating a compelling brand narrative and product presentation. The store’s design focused on enhancing user engagement through curated content and product descriptions that resonated with construction professionals and DIY enthusiasts alike.

“We benchmarked against some of the top-performing brands on Amazon,” said Kinetic Creative Director Josh Wirth. “And we studied the wealth of information out there on Amazon A+ content best practices to deliver a much more compelling brand experience for Big Timber Fasteners.”

The new Amazon store launch brought a much-enhanced user experience, with curated content, immersive design, intuitive navigation and optimized product descriptions. The project showcases Kinetic’s expertise in retail technology solutions and will empower Big Timber Fasteners to capitalize on Amazon’s vast e-commerce potential, effectively positioning them for sustained growth and success in the competitive market.

What’s Next for the Marmon Construction Fastener Group

Throughout the remainder of 2023, Kinetic will continue to solidify brands in the Marmon Construction Fastener Group through brand exploration, logo refreshes and the creation of formal brand guidelines.

If your brand is in need of a reboot, give us a call! We’d love to offer advice on how to breathe new life into your marketing efforts to help you stand out from the crowd.