Case Study

Roanoke Cooperative

When Roanoke Electric Cooperative wanted to expand its services beyond electricity, GKV created a complete rebranding driven by a seemingly contradictory yet profound insight: to expand, you must contract.

Work Sample

MD Lottery: Hot 7s

GKV’s campaign for the Maryland Lottery Hot 7s Scratch-Off shows how an average day of chores can turn into a ridiculously good day.

Work Sample

Maryland Lottery: Holiday 2022

Maryland Lottery Holiday Scratch-Offs are so lively and fun, they practically give themselves away. Now there’s an interesting campaign idea.

Work Sample

SHEFIT: Finally, a sports bra that does its job.

Our integrated campaign introduced women everywhere to a sports bra that puts boobs in their place–and keeps them there, too.

Work Sample

Maryland Lottery: 2021 Holiday Campaign

Maryland Lottery Holiday Scratch-Offs are fun, festive, and as we see in our latest campaign, a bit distracting.

Article

GKV Challenger Brand Minute: 5 Tangible Ways to Drive Growth

Home services expert Chuck Fischer reveals five tangible ways to stand out from the competition and drive revenue.

Garry Raim

Partner, Executive Vice President

Start the conversation today and find out what GKV can do for your brand.

    Baltimore Branding Agencies

    Category

    Retail & Consumer Services

    Consumer services companies face the daunting task of building relationships with consumers in categories that often lack trust.

    Everyone offers very similar services and says the same things:

    • Lowest price guaranteed!
    • This is our biggest discount ever!
    • Trust me, I am an expert!

    So, creating effective communications can be very challenging.

    To generate awareness and drive sales, you must do things differently than everyone else. You need to think and act like a challenger brand! Check out some of our case studies to see how we have helped clients break through the sea of sameness, and then call us to discuss your challenges.

    BUILD A LIGHTHOUSE IDENTITY

    Just as ships navigate the seas by lighthouses, people navigate life by people and organizations of character and conviction. For any company that GKV works with, we start by understanding and clarifying the consumer insights that drive choices. Our goal is to simplify the choice for the consumer.

    SIMPLIFY AND SACRIFICE

    You can’t afford to be all things to all people. You must focus on a powerful primary message while utilizing the most effective and efficient media vehicles. There are so many stories that a brand could tell about itself, but the strongest brands are usually very single-minded and are willing to sacrifice some secondary messages.

    CREATE SYMBOLS OF REEVALUATION

    Challenger brands want to disrupt the autopilot relationship they may have with the consumer by making visible changes, creating what we call symbols of reevaluation. Maybe a new service or a new logo or a new pricing strategy. Usually, it’s a visible change to the advertising. Whatever the symbols of reevaluation are, the intent is to announce to the consumer that it’s no longer business as usual.

    ESTABLISH AN EMOTIONAL CONNECTION

    Category leaders generally create the expectations of the category with rational benefits…we’re the biggest, we’re the cheapest, we’re the most convenient, etc. So, that territory is taken. Challenger brands need to be thought leaders. They need to create an emotionally-based rather than a rationally-based relationship with the consumer.