WDA have just completed a major rebrand of the MER car care brand. Intended to put the famous range back on the map, the big changeover happened last month with an online reveal to existing MER customers and the launch of an all new website: www.merproducts.com

As we publish this post, major retail partner Halfords will have completed stock replacement and merchandising, and the all new packs and brand blocked retail display systems should be in your local store with roll out amongst the independent retailers following on throughout Q1.

In addition to the repositioning, new visual brand identity, packaging and POS, WDA have devised a national on and offline integrated advertising campaign, plus a whole range of new campaign collateral and are currently finalising specific advertising executions and producing a range of viral and instructional videos.

Blue sky thinking

It’s often true that the best ideas come to us in the shower. With MER, the idea for the brand positioning was actually drafted on an iphone whilst sat in the grounds of a Derbyshire castle one Sunday morning last summer! Based around the history of the MER brand and its German roots, WDA discovered a heritage which was simply not being used, and a whole back story waiting to be told surrounding the inventor of the original formulations – Franz Billich. This German positioning enabled an alignment with many other prestige German marques and a reputation for automotive excellence through the appliance of technology. To learn exactly how we did it read the case study here.

What’s being said

Since acquiring the MER brand in 2008, we had been searching for an agency who could help us to extract the true potential for the brand that we believed existed. WDA conducted an intensive grass roots review of the brand, identifying a unique position for the brand and an ownable route to mind with the consumer. WDA tuned in to the commercial challenges that we faced and created not only an outstanding brand design and integrated consumer awareness campaign, but immediately understood and supported our internal infrastructure and demands of our retailers. WDA are an exciting agency who challenge the norm and deliver outstanding value for money. Lee and his team are a pleasure to work with and on top of supporting us to launch on time an outstanding brand, WDA have helped us improve our marketing skills and thought processes. I would have no hesitation in recommending WDA, they are an exceptional agency!
Donna Howard Business Manager – Retail, Farécla Products Ltd (MER)

A huge thank you to all the team at WDA for their obscene amount of hard work in making the MER re-launch a reality. From detailed category research to striking design work, everything you have touched has been first rate. The whole team are a pleasure to work with and I have been particularly impressed with how brand focussed everyone has been. WDA are not like other agencies, I can only describe them as an extended part of the marketing team and I would have no reservations whatsoever in wholeheartedly recommending them.
Victoria Dringer Retail Brand Manager, Farécla Products Ltd (MER)

@wdaautomotive Thanks guys for the great research, striking creative and marketing knowledge. We wholeheartedly recommend your dynamic team.
Official MerCarCare 11th Jan via twitter

New packaging looks very smart Already sent off for my free sample, looking forward to trying it out.
Natalie North detailingworld forum 14-01-2013

Loving the New Packaging looks very classy with the Black Bottles with black and white labels. They Do look very striking and have a quality look to them….the German Flag should help distinguish the difference to the old especially moving away from the blue bottles. Amazing how a logo and colour change alters ones perception on an item.
James detailingworld forum 09-01-2013

These look great in the flesh really classy and very slick. The Gold and Black go very well together giving the product much more appeal imo – really great new design yet to try the re formulations but looking forward to it.
‘Whizzer’ detailingworld forum 14-01-2013

45% sales uplift

“WDA are proud to have given MER a story to tell, and we are looking forward to helping deliver that story over the coming launch year by building a strong, consistent campaign centred around the new positioning platform we have created.

With the packaging and POS already fully implemented and on the shelves, we have to say the packs look superb and create the desired level of differentiation and stand-out to hopefully drive sales beyond target. Early signs are good with very positive year on year figures being reported after just a few short weeks on sale – one product up 45% which given the snow has to be encouraging!

I would like to give praise to the WDA team involved with this ongoing project, and also thank MER’s marketing team for being so open to new ideas and having the faith to test  – and subsequently implement – such a radical solution. Watch this space because WDA plan to put the MER rebrand up for an industry award in the near future so that everyone involved can share official recognition for what we have achieved.

Lee Waterhouse, Managing Director WDA

Is your brand really doing the business?
Contact WDA for a free consultation at: lee@wda-automotive.com

Last month we told you we had embarked on a re-build of our own website, and today we officially GO LIVE! – right on schedule. We hope you like it – take a quick look around and let us know what you think.

Apart from being due a refresh, the new site was created as part of a wider rebranding of WDA, including an updating of information site-wide to reflect WDA’s new processes and approach. From a visual perspective the new identity has been designed with a cleaner layout and minimalist colour scheme, reflective of a simplification of our service offering.

The new site launches WDA’s ‘ideas agency’ approach, created in response to the increasing number of exciting new media options available to brand owners today. This separates our services into ‘Route to mind’ (the ‘Killer Ideas’ which underpin everything we do), and ‘Route to market’ (the execution of those ideas utilising whichever media will give our clients maximum ROI). The site has been built on a new platform and features several functionality improvements to allow more rapid distribution of dynamic content. Both the case studies section and news blog have also been updated and revamped.

Thinking of a re-fresh yourself?

Your website is typically the most visible component of your brand, and as your business evolves to meet market needs, so should your site. Whilst content needs updating frequently to improve search and visitor retention, and incremental design or layout changes will keep your site fresh; sometimes more fundamental changes are necessary – especially if the visual impact of your site no longer represents your business, or if you are getting left behind your competition. Sometimes it is just a case of updating the back end to simplify and streamline content control, or to allow you to fully leverage the growing number of online and social media channels which your target customers are using.

If you would like WDA to evaluate your existing website to see if we can improve your customers experience, increase reach, improve functionality, and drive more enquiries and sales, then get in touch.

WDA are never happier than when we’re immersed in a sea of web code, and this month we’re putting the final touches to our own site, which will replace the one you are viewing now very soon.

The re-build will bring the home of WDA fully in-line with our new brand visual identity, and has been created utilising a more flexible platform to allow us to better showcase our digital media work including motion graphics, video and animation. Social integration will also be much improved in this update.

Much like WDA’s ideas agency approach focusses on the message before media delivery, the new platform is designed to allow us to focus on rapid content creation and distribution, without technical factors getting in the way. Along with this increase in productivity, the site will be better optimised and have a more robust back end with better security and backups.

As we write, Ricardo and Kevin are refining a new intro animation sequence which we are creating to convey our ideas agency concept and explain our refreshingly different approach to brand marketing. The making of this sequence has also seen Patrick Chapman christen the new sound studio and make his debut as a voiceover artist!

For web, digital and motion graphics enquiries please email here.

“Create extra demand for KBC products, and increase sales by streamlining the online to in-store customer journey”

This top line objective is just the kind of challenge WDA relishes as it gives us the opportunity to create something with a very focussed commercial goal.

With KBC we set about creating a visually stunning site to give the the brand an edge over its competition; whilst a complete overhaul of the user interface makes browsing and product selection easy and enjoyable for the viewer.

Additionally we have introduced a whole range of increased functionality over the outgoing site aimed at streamlining certain processes which were previously handled manually off line, including consolidation of the global dealer listings.

The site is built around an all new easy to search range selector hub, with online registration and a comprehensive support section for owners. Additionally there is a new blog which posts out to KBCs social networks, and a twitter feed coming back into the site. Video content is streamed onto the home page and media area, which also has downloadable screen savers taken from the new advertising suite.

Putting KBC’s global dealer network in control

The dealer locator component of the site created by WDA’s developer team is bespoke and gives nearly 30 global distributors administrator access to manage their own country specific dealer listings. Assigning control to the distributors aims to streamline the management process and ensure lists are accurate and up to date, ultimately making the customer experience as smooth as possible from website to point of purchase.

The new site is the first of a whole range of planned promotional material to leverage KBC’s new Design Edge brand positioning and visual identity (also devised by WDA).

Visit the new KBC website  www.kbchelmets.co.uk
Read more about the KBC rebrand here

WDA are pleased to announce the launch of Scorpion Exhausts all new website – the first key component of a planned extensive integrated marketing campaign which will start to roll out over coming months. The engaging new site marks the dawn of a new era for Scorpion who have a mission to re-establish the brand as a global leader in both 2 and 4 wheel categories within 5 years.

The new website has been re-built from the ground up, with design, copywriting, photography, coding, and search all completed by WDA. Packed with many exciting new products (including a whole new lineup of flagship ‘Red Power’ systems), the site has been designed to be simple to navigate with a nice clean interface in keeping with the new brand identity which was also created by WDA and revealed to the world last year.

The site has been created with future development and added content population very much in mind, and WDA plan to keep the site sticky by introducing a whole host of extra features and incentives over the coming months. Fans can already sign up to keep abreast of Scorpions various motorsport programs, and will soon be able to track their new mobile exhibition unit via the online calendar which will plot the movements of the new Scorpion roadshow, set to launch soon.

Connecting with customers

One of the most important aspects of the site was to convey to the customer what it means to own a Scorpion system. Positioning Scorpion in such a way that todays brand savvy riders and drivers could make an emotional connection was critical in re-igniting demand for the products. Adding the ‘brand’ page allowed us to directly communicate all that Scorpion ownership stands for; additionally we re-defined all the product categories so that customers understood individual range benefits and differences to make purchase decisions as clear and easy as possible.

Visit Scorpions new website www.scorpion-exhausts.com

Read more about the Scorpion rebrand here

At WDA we’re not known for clinging to history. Which is a good thing as todays digital media landscape is changing daily, which means WDA is constantly changing to ensure we always deliver our clients ‘Big Ideas’ through the most effective channels. And since most of WDAs creative thinking now finds its way online, an update of our website was timely.

It’s all part of a recent brand review where we took a long, honest look at what we do, what we’re good at and where our clients need us to go next.

Whilst the results lead us to a process which is visually more evolution than revolution; the refresh hopefully builds on our existing reputation and makes WDA even more relevant to our clients needs.

The new website has been designed around the visitor with the objective being to give a broad overview of WDA as quickly as possible. As such we have been quite ruthless in pruning back the content!

Search was a major consideration so an overhaul of the SEO was also carried out, and we took the decision to move any work examples onto the new blog for speed of update to keep content fresh.

We have also added in new service offerings (and a link to our new portfolio) which expands upon our online work including social media, viral video and email marketing.

The website also introduces WDA’s unique ROI (return on idea) process which revolves around our ongoing commitment to accountability and return on investment.

In addition WDA’s brand management wheel is also published which illustrates our Ideas based marketing philosophy which ensures creativity is at the heart of everything we do but fully supported by sound strategy and methodology.

Why not click here to take a look and see what WDA could potentially deliver for you.