Our first order of business was to create a new look and feel. But it was bigger than just picking new fonts and colors. It was more of an all-new approach, attitude and tone for the brand. Celebrating the grit and grime of working on cars, and the satisfaction that brings, was a central theme throughout the work. Below is a snapshot of the new visual design system we created. Think of this brand book as the bible for the new brand.
Once we had our new foundation set, everything else was built around it. A new photography library. New TV spots. New ads. New posters. New in-store signage. New swag. New email. New loyalty program. New social media content. Pretty much new everything. It was a total rebuild, from the ground up.
Our entire photography library was shot by the uber talented Bill Phelps. I love the visual poetry and emotion he brought while maintaining an authentic, workmanlike quality. Black and white? Yes, please!
Advance Auto Parts was already the nation's largest auto parts retailer when we started working with them. But as they expanded into more and more markets, they needed our help showing up in fun, yet authentic ways. We created these out-of-home campaigns for Dallas, Portland, Salt Lake City and other major markets around the country.
Historically speaking, any TV work in this category was pretty awful. Think loud, obnoxious auto parts jingles. Or fake store clerks helping fake customers where everyone is fake smiling. None of it was real. So we zagged. Our spots were quiet. Emotional. Reverent. We wanted to create the type of authentic work that car guys would say "Yeah, they get me."
Not all of our TV work was overly serious and moody. We did have some fun with it, too. After all, car guys are just normal dudes who like beer, burgers and a good time. They don't take themselves too seriously, so we didn't want to take ourselves too seriously either. The spots below take a few lighthearted jabs at non car-guys.
One of the things I'm most proud of from this body of work was a documentary we went out and shot on our own time (and our own dime). We wanted to capture the true soul/essence of life inside the garage and tell genuine stories that car guys could relate to. To a true car guy, the garage is more like church.
To keep pace with other retailers, Advance Auto Parts launched their own version of a loyalty program called Speed Perks. We helped them go from nothing to 10 million registered users in less than 1 year.
I spent the better part of 4 years of my life rebuilding this brand from the ground up. After plenty of tinkering and tuning, we created something Car Guys could connect with. Watch the full case study below.
Agency: Mono Role: Creative Director, Art Director Designer: Tony Buckland Writer: Chris Yocum, Arthur Tanimoto
