ACC Construction continues to stay strong despite the economy: New image, same attention to clients

At ACC Construction, we have been reading the news right along with the rest of you that the economy is in deep trouble. And yet we made a decision in the last quarter of 2008 to go forward with something slightly radical: we committed, full steam ahead, to a corporate redesign, fully knowing that it would add discretionary cost to our marketing and sales budgets. On a superficial level I think many would question the decision. Spending thousands on new collateral materials, brochures, business cards, hard hats and job signage? Why not continue to use the old - and known - identity, which has served us well enough up to this point? Here's why. We know full well that our company isn't the same old firm. We all know strongly that we are operating on a different level, with higher standards, even better performance and consistently outstanding results. And this is exactly the time to send that message to our clients and potential clients. It's exactly the time to get peoples' attention. We want to communicate not just that we are in business, but that we are a leader and a premiere firm in our industry. While we have been upgrading our graphics and identity, we are also revisiting our investment in our own portfolio through photography. We have decided not to be content with basic technology and are going about photography at the most professional level. Working with an architectural photographer has enhanced all of our photography, again sending a message via our marketing materials that we are careful, thoughtful, detail oriented and deliberate about our work. The preliminary design work we had commissioned in the summer of 2008 turned into a fully realized identity program by the fall. It includes a logo and new version of the ACC name that appears in a bright orange against a dark grey background. It includes a proposal format with very strong graphics and colors. Most immediately, it also includes business cards printed on extremely heavy card stock, which sends a message, even subliminally, to everyone who holds our business card that our firm is strong, solid and stable. There are intangibles. The new design is sophisticated in a way that the old one wasn't; the font, layout and use of color are powerful in a milieu that relates to what is happening right now in graphic design, advertising and cultural clues. This is an important message that we want to send, and something we want clients to understand: we are not just here, but we are here and seeing the larger picture, our eyes and ears are open, we are part of trends in design and corporate communications the same way our retail clients, and our banking and corporate clients are - and have to be. The feedback has been phenomenal. People can't believe that a 25 year old construction firm could look and be so sophisticated, so professional and so cutting edge. Our sales are holding strong. Of course it's not only the redesign; we understand that the work and service have to support our message: Client first. Service, service, service, we can never say it enough. The same details we discuss constantly - reports to clients, schedules that we meet, budgets we deliver, work we're proud of - this and our new image are the reality of ACC. Michele Medaglia is the president of ACC Construction, New York, N.Y.