CASE STUDY
AtlasMasland
m+ services provided
M&A Strategy and Consulting
Brand Strategy and Development
Marketing Strategy and Development
Identity/Logo Design and Development
Brand Standards Design and Development
Staff Photography Standards
Product Photography Standards
Product Photoshoot and Rendering Consulting
Digital Renderings
Graphic Design
Print and Digital Collateral
Print and Digital Advertisements
Product Packaging
Product Brochures
Product Binder Design
Product Marketing
Copywriting
Public Relations
Advertising Strategy
Advertising Copywriting
Press Releases
eBlasts
Digital Marketing Promotions
Logo Animation
Social Media Strategy
Sales Training Presentations
Website Design Consulting
Showroom Design
Exhibit Design
Product Display
business, marketing, and brand strategy work
marquardt+ was retained by AltasMasland to help redefine their two commercial flooring divisions as one organization as part of their M&A strategy and create a new brand.
Left: Flight to Saraland, AL; Middle: Review of marketing materials during work session; Right: Carpet detailing shot
The first step was to define both companies’ benefits and pain points. This process revealed strengths and weaknesses as well as overlaps and gaps between them. From that discovery we then helped the AtlasMasland to focus on their aspirations for each area of operation including product development, marketing, sales, manufacturing, customer services, and operations. As with most companies, it was revealed that it is the human capital, the people who make up a company, that defines the internal brand. Without the people, and investing in understanding their perceptions nothing else really exists but empty real estate, equipment, and financial data.
To extract this information we met with employees from all areas of the company. Utilizing online and live interviews, questionnaires, and informal discussions we gathered both the intuitive and pragmatic points of view, and data. These exercises help the employees integrate themselves into the merger process, and also step outside the existing company cultures and look back in and see it all from an outsider point of view. There is no better way to understand external brand perception than perspective exercises. This work helps us elicit more honest and realistic observations and self-evaluations, critical to highlighting the differences between what the company believes they are presenting versus what is actually being experienced by their customers.
This led us to defining a clearer understanding of the existing legacy brands and the research data and positioning work for merging Atlas Carpet Mills and Masland Contract. We were then able to apply a hierarchy to the overlapping attributes, pain points, aspirations, external observations, and data with the leadership team. We also were able to authentically determine and mirror any disconnects between evaluations, creating documents to discuss and finalize their business marketing/brand strategies and to outline goals moving forward.
From this information we then proceeded with a competitive analysis of the flooring industry and A&D manufacturing, as well as companies well outside their market segment. This helped to define and refine who they are relative to their competition also to open up to solutions from beyond the market they occupy.
It is through the process of discovery that we continued to evolve an authentic AtlasMasland internal and external tone of voice, brand statement, and viewpoint that helped the companies redefine themselves as one entity and move forward with a unified focus.
Internal company-wide legacy eBlast summaries prior to brand launch
merger branding - logo and identity
Taking the results of the discovery, we developed and defined a new voice and aspiration for the resulting single company. This included mission, position, and values that defined the company internal mission statement bridging to a new external company statement and messaging.
The next step was developing a company logo and identity that defined the depth and authenticity of the company and brand in the most simple way possible. Otherwise the logo and identity become complicated, gratuitous, superficial, literal, and generic. The goal was not to reflect marquardt+ aesthetics thinking, but instead to be representative of the individual culture of this company and their aspirations.
Logo identity development working process
To help focus this critical component, we provided AtlasMasland, with concepts that supported the discovery work, from the most conservative derivative of the existing brands, to completely new naming options. From our options and work session with the team, it was apparent that the brand equity of both legacy brands was a critical benchmark to maintain for the client. It was very important to respect and celebrate the past brands as the foundation for the future brand.
The end result became a logotype symbol representing the legacies coming together as one, with the best attributes of both looking forward not back, to expand from a unified product and brand experience. The logo is at once modern, fresh, and forward thinking while purposely timeless. It was also designed to transcend current on trend graphic devices and gimmicks by not looking at other brand icons and symbols. The logo needed to be as differentiated as the new single company entity; who they are and what they aspired to become.
In print and marketing the company name was always to be spelled as one word “AtlasMasland”; with the A and M capitalized. The only exception is the subline of the actual logo mark itself where we intentionally kept the Atlas and Masland spaced. The goal of this discrepancy is to clearly reference and honor the legacies and equity of each previous brand, which then visually supports the unified logo mark. The long term intent was that over time, the subline would be dropped as the logomark built brand equity and the brand could transition to AM.
Final logo mark with color palette
Visual narrative of two companies becoming one
merger branding - supporting brand elements
Digital and print business stationery
Brand standards guide
branding - ongoing marketing, PR and brand support
As elements are rolled out, we continued to work with the AtlasMasland team to evolve the brand and provide marketing, PR services and sales strategy support with continued adjustments and refinements, and reviews of best practices for evolving recommendations for approaches to expand media platforms. marquardt+ continued to design and provide strategy, presentation materials and decks, email blasts, video, social media strategies, info graphics, industry announcements, competition support, new product introductions, and articles.
Press release featuring Revealed Collection
Product Live with Interior Design Magazine
m+ also led brand guard rail training and presentations for employees and sales teams. We helped the company establish image, presentation deck and component resource archives for employee reference and use. As the AtlasMasland team became more adept at their own marketing materials and work, we continued to provide review support to keep all independent and integrated marketing efforts on brand. In essence marquardt+ became the agency providing marketing and advertising development and support, from strategy to implementation.
Advertisement for Floor Focus Magazine
Social media posts
We have also designed and developed new tradeshow exhibit systems and showroom design renovations and presentations to establish continuity with the experiences of the other brand touchpoints in preparation for post-pandemic in person public engagement opportunities and product experiences.
The AtlasMasland tradeshow experiences below, were designed to bring a permanent showroom experience to temporary presentations. The design is semi enclosed to control lighting impact and color rendition on products, providing product and brand engagement both inside and outside the exhibit into the aisles, with an adjustable height identity tower, to accommodate a variety of venues, with an internally illuminated rotating logo eliminating the additional expenditures for a separate hanging identity sign.
We also incorporated changeable product display panels up the tower to connect the product to the brand from afar.
The showroom was redeveloped so that the product is hero first, drawing the specifiers into the space with highly impactful and unexpected flooring product installations from the entry back, and wall to wall. Our intent was that the showroom design and interior architecture itself falls away and becomes secondary to the AtlasMasland design experience and product organization with more flexible lighting and functional infrastructure support.
Both the showroom and tradeshow designs were developed to target new and more effective sales and marketing strategies, and elevate the new brand and identity experience.
Product Marketing Video Design & Production
marquardt+ Wittfini (http://www.wittefini.com/aboutwittefini) partnered again, to conceptualize, storyboard, creative direct and produce this video launch of a product in development last year by AtlasMasland, as part of our recent marketing and brand strategy work for AM via their parent company TDG, Inc. Executive Director, Design & Product Development Elena Cordoba and Product Development Designer Mac Bydalek are featured playing with this product concept.
marquardt+ assisted AtlasMasland in directing various rendering consultants, developed image and environment direction based on market segments, product attributes, product applications, and A&D industry expectations for use. This included product combinations, color and materials, viewpoint, and context.
We are proud to have been a part of the former AtlasMasland team, extending our 25 year relationship with Atlas Carpet Mills and their M&A process with Masland Contract two more years until their acquisition by Mannington flooring in August of 2021. To understand the history of our experience go to the Atlas Carpet Mills case study.
design team, marquardt+
+ Tom Marquardt
+ Billie Knipfer
+ Jennifer J Fondrevay
+ Vince Gammino
+ Kaitlyn Daniluk
+ Jeremy Witteveen
+ Tina Serafini
+ Matthew Crofoot
Photography: marquardt+