Companies Evolve...So Do Brands

One of the core responsibilities for a Marketing team is to be the champion and chief advocate/ambassador of a company's brand. Oftentimes this occurs because this team is at the "tip of spear" in terms of understanding the Market dynamics for a target buyer or industry, and sometimes it is because brand is viewed as the "pretty image" and the domain of graphic and visual design artists. What is often referred to singularly as "brand" is more accurately a combination of several important aspects, including symbol, logotype, color, typography, iconography, photography, messaging, and most importantly, the core values and promise to the Market and your Clients.

Here at the Dude, we were fortunate that our Founders created an iconic brand back in 1999 that was both memorable and meaningful to our target audience, and a differentiator as we advanced from scrappy, self-funded start-up to high-growth SaaS company. Our brand started as the embodiment of our initial target buyer, the facilities professional within an organization (at that time, a public school district) who always fixes things but is never thanked -- or even called by name. They were just the dude -- that guy or gal someone called when a sink overflowed, or the heat went out - and they always came when you needed them to fix the problem. Contrary to many an urban legend, Kent and Lee didn't settle on 'the Dude' after watching The Big Lebowski.

With growth, came evolution. We branched out from our initial target buyer and started to develop software solutions that mapped to other important functions and decision-makers, including transportation, events, energy, technology and even business operations. We expanded from our original public K-12 district "roots" and became the largest SaaS operations management company to serve colleges and universities and then private and independent schools. We even briefly debated creating "CollegeDude" to brand our solutions for the specific needs of the higher education vertical.

All the while, the market pains and problems our solutions were solving, had resonance in other important industries. Government entities (cities, towns, local and county governments) had some of the same work and asset management challenges as their peers in education. Invariably, when the operations team from city or county government would chat with their counterpart at their local school district, our Clients kept telling them about this "Dude.com stuff" that was saving their lives. Given the close relationship between these public sector entities, it was no surprise that government entities wanted to use the same efficient, affordable and market leading solution as their education peers. We created a wholly owned subsidiary and a new public facing brand, FacilityDude, specifically for the Government sector, and just like that, Client demand and growth fueled our complexity of multiple brands to manage. The story largely played out the same when it came to acute hospitals and other anchor institutions in our communities (YMCAs) -- each conversation amplified by a Dude Client advocate who was sharing the successes and results they had achieved in their organization. And each time, the company and the go-to-market engine trying to finesse the awkward positioning of company vs. brand vs. product.

Iconic Brands All Evolve

Iconic brands have always evolved to adapt to a changing Market and market dynamics, with one of the most recognizable being Apple. And our inflection point came in 2014. With the financial resources of our partner Warburg Pincus, we were positioned for even more explosive growth and the ability to acquire technology or companies, that could better solve the needs and problems our Clients were facing. We proceeded to acquire a company focused on senior living institutions, and technology for GIS/mapping, event scheduling, energy, and then ultimately, an asset management platform. These rapid business and IP acquisitions required us to examine the question -- who are we -- and more importantly -- what problems do we now solve for Clients and how do we communicate that brand promise and value proposition.

We started a multi-year journey to activate a new, unified Brand for our company. We were joined in the effort by our partner New Kind, who helped us think about our brand, and our brand promise, within the important context of the Market and the Employees. We studied each of these groups to examine what our current brand is, what it says about us, what are the perceptions about us – and ultimately, what we want it to say about us in the future for the next several years. The process included:

1) Quantitative research and surveys of Clients, prospects and partners in 2014 and again in 2017;

2) Phone and in-person interviews with Clients, prospects, and partners, as well as Dude employees and leadership;

3) A community engagement event at our annual Client conference (Dude University) where we invited attendees and employees to answer that question of what do we want the brand to be in the future; and

4) We involved a cross-section of Dude team members in this project, to hear a diversity of voices.

Evolution Not Revolution

Our overall guiding principle in creating a new Master Brand was “evolution” not “revolution.” We have tremendous brand equity in the Dude name, with a high NPS score and a recognizable identity in the Market. So, you are probably asking the same question as others, why evolve the brand?

1) We want to tell a consistent story about the one company we all work for, regardless of the industry or vertical focus we might have when we come into the building each day.

2) We want to illustrate and take credit for the tremendous growth and impact we are having on 11,000 Client organizations and lives.

3) We needed to consolidate the many disparate brands and value propositions that are under Dude Solutions, some from former operating companies (SchoolDude and FacilityDude) and others as a result of product acquisitions. This consolidation would help us present a unified message to market, position us to absorb future acquisitions, and scale more efficiently to increase enterprise value.

4 ) It was important to remove confusion, both in the Market and among Dude Employees, and rally around 1 company, 1 set of goals, and 1 identity.

We started the unveil earlier in March with a great new website, followed by a brand activation event at our annual Client Conference, Dude University, and then public promotion began with public relations and industry-specific brand awareness campaigns.

The New Dude = The Same Dude

Most inspiring about the Marketing team's work with New Kind is how we used data, and fresh perspectives, to examine the values that are core to our company, and our value and service promise to our Clients. What appeared from the outside to be a daunting challenge of serving multiple disparate verticals and industries that share little in common, quickly proved incorrect. The DNA of our Clients is all the same, regardless of the profession or organization they come from. And so was born the central theme of our new brand story:

No one knows this better than you: You power the most important places in our lives that we all depend on. Your work is sometime unseen and unsung. And without you, our school safety suffers, our patient care is compromised, our technology systems fail, our manufacturing systems grind to a halt, and our public buildings crumble.

Caring for our schools and hospitals - So teachers can focus on students, and doctors can safely treat patients.

Fixing failures before they happen - So manufacturers can keep production running, help desks stay helpful and every valuable asset is accounted for.

Improving our public spaces - So citizens can enjoy well-run cities.

And that is why The Dude is beside you. With community-powered knowledge to help you make better decisions, with software to solve every challenge that comes your way, with personal service that’s got your back no matter what -- all built for the business you’re in. Our goal is to help you achieve success and own your operations. To provide you the insights to see your work so you can make sense of it, compare your data so you can benchmark it, share your success so you can prove it, and predict the future so you can change it.

Better Work. Better Lives.

Possibly most exciting was our new brand activation video, where we capture the essence of the new Dude, honoring the operational heroes who work in these critical institutions that we all depend on, and also reinforcing the qualities and values that were true to our corporate culture in 1999 and remain constant today.

The Evolution Continues

Our Marketing team has done a yeoman's job to launch this new brand -- a challenge, responsibility and honor few Marketers get to experience in their lives. However, this will likely not be our last evolution. As a market responsive company, we will likely evolve our messaging and value proposition in several years as conditions in our Markets change. We may even evolve messaging sooner as we seek to capture mindshare of new decision-makers and influencers within our target markets.

As mentioned, we are fortunate to work with a dedicated team of Marketers who are passionate about their craft and this company. Dean Smith, legendary UNC-CH Men's Basketball Coach, had a well known principle that his players should "point to the passer" after they made a bucket on their way back down the court on defense. It was a simple reminder that teams do not succeed based on the actions of an individual, they succeed based on the effort of the those who work together.

And in that spirit, it's important we point to the passer and recognize the collective, collaborative team efforts of nearly 30 dedicated Marketers who helped this story become a reality. Several special thanks include members of our Agency and Digital Marketing teams, including:

Kelley Crawford

Katy Burgwyn

Grace Flack

Lauren Clapper

Gray West

Jessica Wimmer

Kristina Walsh

Kristin Winterhalter

Anna Carpenter

Lindsay Garland

John Hawthorne

Brian McDonald

David Kornegay

Nosika Fisher

In a moment of self reflection this week, I realized that our new tag line of Better Work, Better Lives accurately captured the Marketing team's effort and success on this project. The team exemplified the core values of service to one another, integrity and ingenuity for their work, and collaborating together as a team. It is heart warming when the impact you hope to have on your Clients, also has an impact on the people you work closest with. An awesome experience that I hope we get to do again!