Ready to Roll
07.08.19 · Sonia Greteman
Satisfied customers lead to all kinds of good outcomes. In Jeff Arensdorf’s case, it led to a new name and brand for Village Tours & Travel. His 39-year old charter coach and tour company is one of the Midwest’s largest and most respected with offices in Kansas, Oklahoma and Arkansas. After my parents experienced the hassle-free fun, camaraderie and excellence of Jeff’s company firsthand, I sent him a handwritten letter of thanks. I also said if he was ever looking for a marketing partner, we’d welcome coming onboard. Well, he did. And we did.
The Path to Good Creative
Jeff proved to have an attribute we prize: an open mind. Even though when we initially met about a rebranding, he didn’t want to change the name or the logo, Jeff didn’t take them off the table. He wanted and valued our recommendations. We started by taking Jeff and members of his management team through a condensed discovery workshop. This helped us better understand their business, target customers and competitors.
When we came back later with the results of a high-level competitive audit, Jeff agreed his logo was not as distinctive as he’d hoped. Once we shared our logo explorations and his team gave its feedback, Jeff seized on one as the clear winner. Seeing it play out on his multi-colored fleet of 100-plus charter coaches further sealed the deal.
An Umbrella Name for a Diverse Company
Also, the wisdom of simplifying the name to Village Travel was not lost on Jeff. “Travel” is broad enough to effectively cover the company’s tour and charter divisions as well as its travel agency. Now Jeff has a big, bold brand, new bus graphics, and brand standards to guide materials moving forward. You might say, they’ve packed their brand bag, have mapped their course and are good to go.
