Overview

Rock/Creek is an independent outdoor retailer founded by former instructors with passion for outdoor sports. Their dedicated staff of enthusiasts and experts offers only the very best apparel and equipment to ensure that customers are comfortable and safe in the outdoors. With a rich 20 year history in Chattanooga, Tennessee and with its online shops (RockCreek.com and ClimbingGear.com), Rock/Creek provides quality outdoor clothing and gear for a host of activities including kayaking, rock climbing, camping, hiking, trail running, travel, and adventure racing.

Rock/Creek uses outdoor retail growth not as end in itself, but as a means to benefit the company and community it serves: to encourage outdoor recreation, environmental stewardship and to improve access to the backcountry. As part of this mission, Rock/Creek is a proud member of the Grassroots Outdoor Alliance, a group of independent outdoor shops dedicated to the sustainability of the specialty outdoor channel and the quality of the outdoor enthusiast's experience.

The Opportunity

Rock/Creek understood that its past is part of its future. Although the logo of 20 years (pictured above) had served them well, it was time for a new identity that would communicate all they are and all they bring to the outdoor experience across multiple brand applications. A new brand identity that would communicate:

/ a company that is established, strong and grounded

/ products that are solid and safe

/ focus that is centered around active sport yet is fashion-savvy

/ a love of simple beauty

Rock/Creek needed an identity design that could lead the company's future growth.

The Strategy

Walking through the research process with long-time collaborator Caleb Ludwick, Widgets & Stone was able to discover Rock/Creek's brand personality and articulate it this way:

"Rock/Creek is committed to taking people into the outdoors. You enable people to move out into the world in new ways, discovering pathless trails and open roads, with all the promise they hold. You help people to find themselves, get lost in the experience, and find themselves all over again. Good products and good advice.

"The good empowers. the good is powerful."

Realizing that Rock/Creek's strength rests not primarily in the apparel and equipment they sell, but in the human experiences that surround these products, the goal of the brand design was to:

/ draw out the way Rock/Creek improves customer's lives

/ highlight customer experience and participation

/ be inspirational without being intimidating

/ remain true to the 20 year brick-and-mortar heritage

/ connect all of the part s in a brand that can grow with the company

Because of the richness of the Rock/Creek name, and because of the variety of audiences, sports and skill levels they speak to, Widgets & Stone decided that they are better served by a "tagline engine" than a single, constant tagline. Utilizing the slash ( / ) element in the logo, a pair of positive appealing words would be matched to fit with the "both/and" zen appeal of many outdoor activites.

The photography chosen to accompany the various headlines should be both aspirational and accessible. It should embody a moment that is almost superhuman / a moment that is very human. A moment that feels far from everyday life / a moment that is within reach.

To continue to differentiate from other outdoor brands, Widgets & Stone directed that all photographs should be of high professional quality, yet have a look that feels effortless -- the magic of capturing a fleeting moment forever. Any image that seems overly polished or staged will undermine the immediacy and integrity of the brand. Instead, each image should strike the viewer as 'untouched', 'unprocessed' and 'natural' in its technical treatment, as well as in the setting and activities shown.

Because Rock/Creek is a company that cares about great performance with reduced environmental impact, Widgets & Stone recommended that materials and packaging choices be made to reduce, recycle, reuse and dematerialize whenever possible. With all this in mind, the Widgets & Stone team created a wide array of brand materials for Rock/Creek: logo, stationery, company materials, packaging, signage, e-blast templates, clothing and more.

The Results

Even though it has only been 8 months (at the time of this entry) since the rebrand implementation started, Rock/Creek has already seen positive results from the design strategy. The company is being recognized as a leader in specialty outdoor retail and has been featured in national publications (like Outdoor Business) for their savvy brand development. Inside the industry, vendors recognize the quality of the brand and are responding favorably to Rock/Creek's leadership. And despite economic challenges and slowing growth industry-wide, Rock/Creek has seen consistent double-digit growth since the rebrand.

"All of the feedback we've had on the identity has been positive.The reaction within our vendor community has been the biggest source of validation for me personally-- we have been told by several vendors that there simply are no other specialty retailers doing anything like this. The standard identities [for specialty retailers in our industry] often look like watered-down imitations of major national brands.

"By contrast, our brand is bold, forward-thinking and fresh. It is uniquely 'Rock/Creek.' Widgets & Stone has captured the core of how we understand ourselves as retailers and has incorporated our heritage into a new, exciting brand that we love.

"More than just the final product, however, Widgets & Stone's process of discovery has enormous value. The team's method and the thoughtful nature of their work has reinvigorated our own sense of direction and has given us a valuable focus for future growth."

Mark McKnight

Marketing and Creative Director, Rock/Creek

Creative Direction: Paul Rustand; Designers: Brad Dicharry, Matt Greenwell, Joseph Shipp.
Strategy and Writing: Caleb Ludwick.