APak is a packaging company that provides both packaging and ligistical solutions and products. The company – though relatively new – has roots going back many years.

When Buddy was first asked by aPak to work on their re-branding, aPak did not yet exist. We began working with the two then existing companies, Bröderna Ljunquist and A-förpackning  in 2013, as the two firms were preparing to join their operations. In our conversations with management, we proposed creating a new, joint company instead of merely merging the two older ones. Buddy was then tasked with creating a new company name, a cohesive profile for the new company, and a common communications platform for all the joined operations.  The target groups covered were all of the company’s current customers and partners as well as a list of potential prospects and new business areas, which Buddy helped the company to define and develop. As such, targets included both B2B and B2C areas as well as press and media partners.

Both of the existing companies’s profiles were out of date and no longer represented the modern, dynamic activities of the present company or its business segment. Buddy helped the company to create an entirely new identity, including a new name for the combined company and an entirely new visual and graphic expression.

Creating an entirely new corporate profile and name is a challenge in itself; to revise and combine the existing profiles of two already successful companies poses even more challenges. The difficulty was to create an entirely new identity that would not leave existing customers behind, one that would encapsulate the best characteristics of the ‘old’ companies as well as encompass the direction that the new company was heading.

We began by doing research and analysis into the packaging and logistics segment in general, examining how the global market leaders were communicating with their targets. We then followed this with workshops with sales staff and production facilities, identifying problem areas and possibilities. The result was a new, shorter name that would be easy to say and remember and that would place high in search results. This was followed by a stylish, clean graphic design and new logo that spoke to the company’s Scandinavian heritage, while symbolizing a modern, forward thinking company.

We added a tagline – “The Packaging Company” that would help connect aPak in the minds of customers with all things packaging, as well as staking out a rather confident claim that aPak was THE company to turn to for all your packaging and associated needs.

We produced a new website and webshop as well as a series of launch materials and press materials for various print and digital channels to help communicate and promote the re-branding. We also designed fair materials and convention booths for use at various industry fairs. In addition, we created a range of marketing and advertising templates designed so the client could produce as much in-house in the future as possible, while still adhering to the new profile.

The process was not a simple one (among other things involving the handing over of a cash envelope in a truck stop parking lot to secure a web domain), but that is a story for another time.

The end result – a modern, fresh graphic approach, an easy to remember name that summons to mind the company’s core business, and a face outwards that will help this expanding business be seen as the modern, forward thinking company it is.

Both the client and its customers were thrilled with the results. Reactions to the new profile were overwhelmingly positive. Website traffic increased dramatically, visits to the fair booths likewise, and the company is going great guns!

We reached and exceeded the goals set, creating a profile for this west Swedish company that is one of the best in the entire industry.

Beyond the challenging strategic work, the execution of this project entailed all stages from creative concept to profiling, from layout to the production of a wide range of materials. A selection of those is presented here.