We don't create brands.
Your customers do.
We just tell them what to think.

Hoffman Auto Group is widely regarded as the Greater Hartford area's and Connecticut's top auto dealer, and among New England's biggest at annual revenues over $300 million. They engaged with The Worx Group to "standardize" their marketing communications across all media.

In the initial strategic and research work around brand standardization, it became apparent that there might be an opportunity to alter the 87-year old brand more significantly – including the famous Hoffman script logo and recognizable slogans of "First Family of Cars" and "Whatever Road You Travel."

The Worx Group constructed a comprehensive brand activation plan that set out to maintain Hoffman's market leader position while elevating the brand from simply a top car dealer to a new status level – an "auto brand" – one that separates from the dealer pack and looks, acts and performs more like the premier car brands they represent.

The new Hoffman brand was unveiled at an all-employee event on April 14, 2009, at Renstschler Field in East Hartford, home of the University of Connecticut football team.

The Worx Group was brought in by Advantage Human Resourcing – a $212 million consultative workforce management firm – to rehaul the way they market their business, both internally and externally. The Worx Group embarked on an exhaustive brand evolution process, covering everything from marketplace analysis to internal surveying to brand measurement and acquisition strategies to global communications.

The Worx Group helped rename the firm Advantage, and redefine its core competencies into three lines of business (Advantage Associates, Advantage Global and Advantage Compliance) that align with a comprehensive reorganization of the firm. The strategy allows for a more modular and scalable business model that can be activated globally, as Advantage plans to do in the UK, Japan, Australia and Africa.

As part of the exhaustive brand evolution, The Worx Group has spearheaded development of corporate brand guidelines, identity systems, web and interactive vehicles, print collateral, advertising and environmental design.

"Well, what can I say? We [at Advantage] are all very excited about the value the new brand brings. It's extremely comprehensive branding that will serve so many purposes, laying the foundation for the entire organization. [The work is a] brand encyclopedia, brimming with invaluable content."

- Laura McGarrity,
Director of Marketing, Americas

UTC Power, a global division of United Technologies, was looking for a communications firm who could not only help build a stronger positioning for their fuel cell division, but a marketing partner who understood the intensive technicalities of their products and the benefits to the end user.

A flexible brand platform was developed to allow UTC groups at different marketing touchpoints to build consistent but unique brand messages. In addition to standardizing the identity system, new brand elements were implemented – including the Return On Energy stamp and Productive, Secure & Clean positioning icons.

The positioning work extends into marketing collateral, sales presentations, advertising and online. Because the brand platform features modular parts, each piece could leverage the media space at hand without encountering brand limitations.

The new brand positioning also dovetails with existing campaigns and team marketing goals. For example, the Return On Energy microsite meshes new branding with existing videos, podcasts, technical information and application guides.

Agavue (or NewCo as it was called when The Worx Group was engaged) is a new Internet Service Provider in the southwestern United States. Based in Albuquerque, New Mexico, the company provides broadband and high-speed internet services through a next-generation meshed wireless network.

The Worx Group was engaged by Hartford-based Woodside Capital Management, a leading investor in the company, to build the brand from the ground up – including business naming, brand development, customer communications, advertising and online. The client was in an odd position for a "new" company: it was servicing thousands of existing customers from a previous company in the area, while trying to connect with potential customers as a new provider.

The name (pronounced ah•gah•vyoo) is a combination of three words - "agave," "view" and "you." The words reference the three pillars of the company's philosophy. Agave promotes the company's roots in the Southwest; View promotes what the product gives customers and emphasizes personal vision; You promotes the company's selflessness and emphasis on customer individuality.

Due to the sensitivity of maintaining and existing customer base and avoiding any consumer confusion around the new company, the brand was developed and activated within two months, saving thousands of dollars potentially lost to consumers changing providers.

Providing world-class, personal care since 1921, New Milford Hospital is a member of the NewYork-Presbyterian Healthcare System that includes the medical schools at Columbia and Cornell Universities. It is a not-for-profit, full-service community hospital that provides acute care in a broad range of medical, surgical and diagnostic specialties to patients in western Connecticut and eastern New York State.

The Worx Group was named agency of record for New Milford Hospital in December 2008, after the Hospital completed an agency review process. In addition to creative responsibilities across all media – including print, out of home, advertising and direct marketing – we were tasked with developing the strategy from which all communications by the Hospital will be built from moving forward. A strategy that would help bring awareness to this great community hospital up against much bigger competitors in a highly-competitive space.

To craft a resolute position, we combined our own brand expertise, healthcare pedigree and competitive analysis with focus groups and open discussions between us and stakeholders at all touch points – internal marketers, staff, clinicians, current patients, community partners and prospectives. In addition, we carefully considered the influence of changes in service offerings, architecture and advancements on our strategy – items like the growing integration of the patient-centric Planetree philosophy into their culture and physical space.

The result of this process is a new positioning and creative platform that New Milford Hospital can "own." It references the high level of personalization at the Hospital, the vibrant artisan culture of the area and the unique topography of the area, in a flexible aesthetic system that can be scaled and varied without losing its identity or appeal.

The new positioning soft-launched in June 2009.

ISG, a regional leader in integrated business security solutions and competitor to more well-known brands like ADT and Brink's, engaged with The Worx Group after having a trying experience with a Massachusetts-based B-to-B branding firm. Their message to us was simple: build our brand bigger and stronger... and deliver such great work that we forget all about our ex.

Employee and audience research revealed that ISG was known and renowned for its "radical" approach to business – that is, honestly telling their audiences the truth behind properly securing space and mixing personal service with high-level consultation.

The Worx Group developed a brand position that ISG can own – that of a nimble group of expert security consultants who give organizations the know how to be secure, and who offer security solutions over selling security products.

The new ISG brand was soft-launched at the Bankworld 2009 trade show.

Patriot Outdoors is a unique shooting and outdoor sports venue in New Mexico, offering facilities, services, equipment and training for firearms, trap and skeet, paintball and rock climbing. In 2006, they engaged The Worx Group to direct the building of their brand from the dirt up.

The Worx Group was responsible for naming, strategy, positioning and identity system development. The challenge was in building a brand that spoke to the target audience (a diverse group ranging from families to military personnel) – not of a place – and build an approachable brand devoid of an elitist presence.

Through competitive research and planning, a brand identity system was constructed including logo, tagline, collateral and brand guideline. The guideline is used as a powerful internal and external communications tool, with content ranging from brand differentiators to tone and messaging to communications examples.

Patriot Outdoors has already seen significant growth since its inception. Because of its signature brand position and business model, it plans to develop Patriot Outdoors franchises nationally.

Van Staal, owned by fishing reel giant Zebco, is the manufacturer of high-end spinning reels, fly reels and pliers that has been referred to as "the Rolls Royce of the industry." For nearly a decade, The Worx Group headed the majority of Van Staal's marketing communications efforts, shaping and creating a brand position and market presence reflective of the products' elite status.

The Worx Group repositioned the brand at all major touchpoints - including brand strategy, advertising, packaging, catalogs and promotions - while supporting Van Staal's internal marketing team.

During The Worx Group's tenure, site activity at vanstaal.com went from 38,000 to over 160,000 per month; public relations efforts landed feature articles in key outlets such as Grey's Sporting Journal, Saltwater Sportsman, Field & Stream, The New York Times and national television programs; overall fishing reel sales increased more than four times over.

"The Worx Group is more than an 'agency.' They have helped shape the entire vision of our brand and how we sell our products."

- Ray More,
Vice President/General Manager,
Van Staal

The Worx Group was tasked with revitalizing the Arga brand, a leading relevant marketing specialist and printer in the greater New Haven area. Research showed that the brand was confusing to the target audience: it looked overly digital, lacked a modern sophistication, and had readability issues when used at smaller scales. Add to this that Arga was evolving the business to focus as much on analysis as printing, and the challenge to bring a new focus was substantial.

The Worx Group developed a strategic brand platform that emphasized Arga's main differentiating position as a high-end analytical marketing company and digital printing specialist. To leverage core competencies of personalized variable data documents and digital die cutting, the unique identity system features rounded diecut edges on all pieces and business cards with custom imagery pertaining to each Arga employee's specific interests.

Arga (who was acquired by Hardy Press in 2008) saw its presence in the printing and data analysis market increase with the new identity, with more qualified and bigger opportunities coming from its target demographic. The identity system also won an American Graphic Design Award in the national juried competition sponsored by Graphic Design USA magazine and Adobe.