Repositioning a Trusted Brand for the Next 50 Years

Food & Beverage • Healthcare • Higher Education/Training Centers • Hospitality/Retail • Manufacturing/Industrial • Multi-Family/Senior Living • Recreational/Religious • R&D Laboratory/Mission Critical • Warehouse/Distribution

As Krusinski Construction Company (KCC) looked ahead to its 50th anniversary, the leadership team anticipated an extraordinary opportunity. The Krusinski family was excited to celebrate the past 50 years by thanking customers and employees, acknowledging industry partnerships, and repositioning the company’s brand to attract new business opportunities.

Tactically, the anniversary inspired a wish list of campaign deliverables that included a video, a special anniversary logo, a tagline, and updated brand standards, all of which would be implemented across all digital platforms, print assets, inside the Oak Brook corporate office, on each job site, and throughout the communities Krusinski served.

The strategic focus, though, was to refresh and reposition the well-known company’s public-facing brand and actively engage every group of stakeholders in celebrating its historic anniversary.

We organized a Value Proposition Workshop on-site with the entire leadership team to launch campaigns that authentically paid tribute to the 50-year-old KCC brand and aimed the narrative forward.

We asked each person in the boardroom to describe what the company does, what it makes possible for customers, how it differentiates itself, and why customers continue to choose them. We asked how KCC is relevant today and what value or benefit it delivers to customers. Then, we asked their customers and longtime employees to do the same.

That insight, recorded by hand on small pads of paper and gathered in one-on-one conversations, laid the groundwork for the entire anniversary campaign and the company’s repositioning.

From a visual standpoint, we built upon the existing brand that has served KCC well since 1973 and updated its appearance for its future. That work included a bold anniversary mark that utilized the already recognizable “k” mark followed by “50″ for a year of “k50” celebrations.

We refined and simplified the usage of their primary logo for today’s variety of digital and print media and infused new life into their color palette. And, to help tell a story that highlights the strong relationships the company has built, we brought people to the forefront of many visual assets with a new library of human-centric photography.

A subtle teaser gave the 50th-anniversary campaign a soft launch during the week of Thanksgiving (2022). A network of several thousand people received holiday cards in the mail, including a heartfelt letter of thanks from the company’s founder. The card’s arrival complemented a similarly messaged email and social media post expressing the company’s appreciation and humble gratitude for the past five decades of support.

The anniversary campaign launched officially in January (2023) with the first installment in a three-part video series. The 90-second video introduced The Krusinski Way, a key cornerstone of the new messaging strategy. It was published on the KCC website, promoted on social media, and delivered to over 1,500 contacts via email.

In conjunction with the campaign launch, KCC rolled out the dynamic new K50 logo and branded graphics across its website, social media accounts, print materials, business cards, and on-site signage.

This engagement has been a success because KCC’s leadership team has been aligned with its marketing department and highly engaged in long-term strategic planning from the beginning. The company is now positioned to move confidently into its next 50 years, and we are honored to have been a part of the process.

The Highlights

• Documented Value Proposition and Strategic Positioning
• Year-long multi-channel campaign engaging a variety of stakeholder groups
• Refreshed, comprehensive brand standards guide including visual guidelines, brand tone, and voice.