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CLIENT: |
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MARTIN
MARIETTA MATERIALS - MILEX®
HOUSTON, TEXAS - USA |
PROJECT: |
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BRAND
DEVELOPMENT
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SERVICES: |
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VERBAL
BRAND NAME CREATION
– MILEX® / PAVETEK™ / VISIMAX™
BRAND IDENTITY DESIGN
POSITIONING TAGLINE CREATION
STRATEGIC BRAND CONSULTING
POSITIONING CONSULTING
MARKETING COLLATERAL DESIGN |
INDUSTRY: |
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CONSTRUCTION
AGGREGATES |
YEAR: |
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2003 |
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SYNOPSIS:
Martin Marietta
Materials® is one of the largest producers
of construction aggregates in the nation. Facing the downturn in the
economy in 2001, they needed to increase their bottom line to raise
stock prices and satisfy shareholders. Through insightful tactical
decisions during the recession, Martin Marietta Materials’ top
management team feverishly acquired many of their competitor's production
facilities. The result was a vastly increased logistical network combined
with an increase in total aggregate production due to the acquisition
of additional facilities. In 2002, the message from top management
was "find new revenue streams" to help them increase profitability.
Two years earlier, the Houston office had started a new project, but
were unable to pursue this new revenue stream because they had a branding
problem. They simply could not develop a brand name and identity that
was powerful enough for this extremely important product launch.
This crucial project, a new paving system, involved a innovative new
product called "Strata®." "Strata"
is a one inch think, highly elastic asphalt-based interlayer that
adds up to 10 years to the life of an existing pavement structure.
The Strata® technology was the key to increasing
the lifetime of roads and highways. It was the solution to one of
the paving industry's most pervasive problems – reflective cracking.
Reflective cracking is a condition that prematurely degrades the quality
of roads and highways. Reflective cracking is caused from extreme
weather conditions and heavy traffic – both of which are exacerbated
in congested cities with increasingly worsening traffic problems.
Reflective cracking costs states hundreds of millions of dollars annually
and heightens traffic congestion due to the need to continually repair
or repave roads and highways. A comprehensive study in Texas revealed
that Harris County, the city that Houston resides in, exemplified
all of the conditions that increased the onset of reflective cracking.
Heavy rains; a blazing summer climate with heat indices reaching 120
degrees; a vast highway system and ongoing traffic construction made
this the perfect location to test this new paving process and introduce
Martin Marietta Materials’ new brand.
The Strata technology, licensed from Koch Industries, represents a
monumental leap in technology that will revolutionize the paving industry.
Martin Marietta’s strategy was to implement this technology
into their traditional HMA (Hot Mix Asphalt) paving system. Because
they were paying Koch Industries® a monthly
licensing fee for almost two years, the pressure to show a return
on investment was very high. This is when Martin Marietta Materials
approached Mindcandy Studios™ to help them develop their new
brand.
CHALLENGE: The
development of the Milex paving system was extremely challenging because
it presented Mindcandy Studios with a wide range of strategic considerations
and branding scenarios. The first challenge involved a co-branding
issue with Koch Industries’ sibling brand – Koch Pavement
Solutions®. This involved an exhaustive
and intense market research study on Koch Industries, it's sibling;
Koch Pavement Solutions; and its family of six brands. Second, was
the fact that Martin Marietta Materials was introducing a new sibling
into their brand mix. Mindcandy Studios needed to consider both the
parent brand as well as their other sibling brands, namely; Duraspan®,
Flowmag™, and Cellguard™.
Third, we had to consider which would be the best division for this
new sibling. Milex was part aggregate and part technology; part product
and part process. We felt that it would not fit comfortably under
either the aggregates division nor the composites division. Because
of our vast experience in brand development, we saw this seemingly
complex issue as a potential strategic asset. Knowing that creating
a new category is the ideal situation for any branding endeavor, we
advised Martin Marietta Materials that the best branding strategy
was to create a new category. When you create a new category –
by definition – you become the leader in that product category.
SOLUTION:
Mindcandy
Studios provided a multi-faceted brand development solution, including:
strategic marketing consultations, brand name creation, brand identity
design, positioning tag line creation and marketing communication
design and consultations. We started with an intensely focused discovery
period to determine the best strategy. First, we asked, "what
are Martin Marietta Materials short-term and long-term strategic goals
and objectives?" Second, we performed a complete competitive
landscape analysis to study the competition's strengths and weaknesses;
their core competencies and product lines; and the legal status of
their existing and developing brand names and trademarks. Third, we
segmented our audience by defining the following three categories:
specifiers, purchasers and influencers.
Based on our in-depth brand analysis of both Martin Marietta Materials
and Koch Industries, we noticed some striking similarities between
the privately-owned giant – Koch Industries – and the
publicly-held corporation – Martin Marietta Materials. Our brand
evolution study showed that Martin Marietta mirrored both Koch Industries'
commitment to research and development and their investment into technology
as a method to improve quality, enhance efficiency and define their
distribution channels.
As one of the industry’s earlier manufacturers of airplanes
and missile systems, technology had played an important role in Martin
Marietta's success. As such a pervasive part of their brand, we saw
Martin Marietta as evolving into a materials-based technology company
– much like Koch Industries some twenty years earlier. It was
this analogous discovery that helped us prepare our strategic marketing
consultation.
Mindcandy Studios' strategy involved redefining Martin Marietta Materials
existing product offerings by adding a new division, simply named
"technologies." Within this new division would reside all
of Martin Marietta's technology-driven products and services, including
both composite materials and magnesia chemicals. Knowing that innovation
and obsolescence are inseparable, we advised Martin Marietta to create
a new product category beneath the technologies division, which we
appropriately named Pavetek™; a truncated name for "pavement
technologies."
The logic behind these strategic recommendations is as straightforward
as it is simple.
First, we reposition the parent brand – Martin Marietta Materials
– from simply a producer of construction aggregates to a technology-based
materials company; thereby leveraging their existing brand equity,
altering public perceptions, increasing shareholder interest and raising
the price of common stock – increasing the parent brand's net
equity.
Second, we consolidate Martin Marietta's existing technology-based
brands under one newly defined division; thereby increasing awareness
of the parent brand's commitment to producing improved materials through
innovation.
Third, we create a new product category. The creation of the Pavetek™
category of products would benefit the parent brand in three ways.
First, and most importantly, it would insulate them from the inevitable
technological obsolescence of the new brand – Milex Paving System.
Second, it would allow Martin Marietta Materials to license additional
pavement technologies from Koch Pavement Solutions, thereby nurturing
their strategic relationship. Finally, by creating a new line of technology-based
paving products it would allow Martin Marietta Materials to fulfill
its long-term goals of creating new revenue streams and increased
net profits.
During the brand development process, Martin Marietta Materials decided
that they needed to brand their proprietary asphalt binder. Mindcandy
Studios created the brand name "visimax". The Visimax™
binder is a specially produced HMA binder that reduces water back
spray, increases visibility and improves traction, resulting in a
superior experience for the driving community.
Mindcandy's final strategic contribution to Martin Marietta Materials
branding problem was to help support the parent brand's position –
"possibilities." Although wordy, Martin Marietta's existing
positioning tagline – "It's not what we make, its what
we make possible" – does a good job of positioning the
company. In keeping with the parent brand's position, Mindcandy Studios
created a tagline for the newly created product category, Pavetek™.
We positioned Pavetek™ with the tagline "A World of Paveabilities™."
RESULTS: After extensive
market research and exhaustive brand name exploration, Mindcandy Studios
and Martin Marietta Materials® made a final decision on the brand
name – Milex® paving system. The word "milex"
is short, is phonetically easy to pronounce and it is easy to spell.
It contains the word "mile" and connotes the words extension
and expertise. Linguistically, it has a high-tech auditory tone. The
brand identity is extremely strong both visually and conceptually.
The implementation of the highway graphic captures the essence of
the brand. The curvature and layers of the cross-section of the road
symbolizes the elasticity of Strata® and the flexibility of the
paving system; specifically the utilization of locally available aggregates
to improve material quality and reduce construction costs.
Additionally, the importance and location of the Strata interlayer
is prominently displayed in the identity, thereby satisfying Koch
Pavement Solutions co--branding requirements.
Finally, the transition of the road into the brand name "milex"
visually translates the systems multi-tiered pavement process. The
concrete structure is first covered with the Milex interlayer. Next,
it is topped with the Visimax™ binder, which is clearly displayed
in the brand identity as the top layer in the word "milex."
The black "line" that transitions from the brand identity
into the word "milex" visually shows the actual Milex interlayer.
Because this is a highly specialized product with a narrowly defined
audience, we advised Martin Marietta’s management team to retain
the services of one of the best public relations firms in Houston.
CONCLUSION: Mindcandy's
strategy was to create a new category; become the leader in the category;
utilize public relations to create a news story; issue press releases
and stage a news event for local new agencies. This strategy will
save tens of thousands of dollars in advertising expenses while ensuring
a successful product launch. The creation of a new category is an
extremely rare and desirable position to be in. Martin Marietta Materials
is poised for a successful product launch.
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