A few years ago, I was talking to one of my good friends and longtime TKG partners, Bryan Rice, about the update we were executing for his brand. He said, "This process is not for the faint of heart, but neither is business." He was right.
After wrapping up our 25th year in business, we decided it was time to put a little time and energy into our own brand. It's so easy to keep it on the back burner when you're doing your best to take care of clients. It's also hard to fall in love with something very different for a brand that’s so personal.
Today, I couldn't be happier to show off the great work our creative team has done in executing the first real brand overhaul to our company in over 25 years. Yeah, we've "updated" our logo, changed some colors and tweaked some things over the years, but in truth, we've never really re-branded.
I can't tell you for sure if it was concern for damaging our brand, fear of the unknown or just reluctance to spend the kind of money we would tell a client to spend to launch a new brand. But here we are – finally launching and trying damn hard to take our own advice.
It had to happen.
We’ve grown way beyond my name
For a number of years now, I've wanted to de-emphasize my name in the brand, but my team counseled me not to because so many of our friends and clients referred to us "Karcher” or "Karcher Group." Finally, after a few years of concerted effort, we have reached a point where "TKG," which also happens to be the domain we secured about a dozen years ago, is how our clients most often refer to us.
I'm thankful for that for this reason: In the early days, a mentor encouraged me to put my name, my real name, on the business because startup and rapid failure was so common in the industry. I listened, and I'm glad I did. But for several years now, this business and its impact have become so much more than me or my name. We are fortunate to have several strong leaders who do great work both in our walls and in the community. I believe that this update does a better job of reflecting those realities.
It was hard, and it was worth it
Bryan was right. It was hard. I was picky and difficult to deal with for my team, I’m sure. But I could not be more excited about the result. Our team carried forward a lot of the things that make TKG what it is – our values for instance did not change. We kept some visual elements but used them in a different way.
In this launch, we have tried to take our own advice, so we aren't waiting for perfect. We do have a plan and strategy, but we still have a lot of work to do on our own digital footprint. We are committing to continually enhancing the experience we provide on our website and our social footprint, so please don't make this your last visit.
If you’re interested in connecting about our rebranding process, reach out to start a conversation. It’s not for the faint of heart, but it is worth it.
