FreightCar America Rebranding
How do you re-ignite an over 100-year-old brand to once again instill pride and confidence?
The Situation
FreightCar America is a long-established rail car company that had undergone numerous name changes and leadership changes over its century of existence. It had no identity, and morale had slumped throughout the enterprise from the headquarters to the factory. It was facing increasing competition, as well as product quality and delivery challenges. The company’s brand was losing strength and relevance despite its century-long track record.
The Strategy
LABOV implemented its proprietary Brand Re-Engineering process, beginning with an assessment of company leadership, employees, the sales team and customers. In addition to the assessment, LABOV’s Technical Immersion team took a deep dive into FreightCar’s processes and products, taking plant tours and meeting with product and sales specialists. The results helped identify FreightCar’s core differentiators and values, as well as drove the development of inspired brand messaging.
The Finished Product
Armed with the learnings from the assessment and the messaging, LABOV set out to re-invigorate the brand and entire enterprise. We uncovered the powerful advantages that FreightCar America had and showcased them in all communications, internally and externally. We designed a new logo that tells the story of the U.S.-based company. Proud, relevant marketing materials, including a website, brand video, ads and sales materials, were created, showcasing a strength of the brand—its people. The brand was launched from the inside out, first engaging over 1000 employees nationwide, then revealing it to customers and the industry. We also branded the company’s one-mile production facility in Shoals, Alabama, naming it the Toughest Mile, and developing a video and ads to promote it.
The Results
By identifying all the unique steps FreightCar takes to ensure the quality of its railcars and connecting employees and customers with these differentiators, LABOV elevated the brand and its perception among its stakeholders. LABOV equipped the internal staff at the company to use our branding guidelines and assets to produce outbound marketing and communications on a daily basis to leverage this investment further. The brand is once again fresh, relevant and engaging, ready to take this storied brand into another century of success.