As AccuTec grew its brand portfolio across multiple industries, we worked right alongside them to establish a visual identity and create a marketing program that lived up to their motto: “Engineered to Perform”.
A legacy blade manufacturing company enters a new era
AccuTec Blades designs and engineers precision blades in global partnerships with manufacturers and distributors of material processing equipment. The company is recognized as a leader in innovative surgical, histology, food, fiber, glass, flooring, and DIY blades and bladed solutions.
AccuTec's portfolio includes established brands in the blade industry such as American Line, Personna, and GEM. Headquartered in Verona, Virginia, AccuTec has a second manufacturing facility in Obregon, Mexico.
AccuTec Blades has a history that goes back to 1875 when the company was founded as American Safety Razor. Throughout its long history, despite multiple changes in ownership, the commitment to quality has remained at the core of the company’s culture.
Rebranding a “new” company with a long history
When Ivy Group came on board in 2015, the company had been acquired by an investment firm and had recently shifted to a new corporate name, “Accutec Blades”, after splitting from Edgewell Blades.
The company put together a quick logo when it reintroduced itself as AccuTec but leadership knew the visual identity and messaging could be furthered. They came to Ivy Group knowing that partnering with a local marketing firm would advance the brand beyond what could be accomplished in-house.
The updated logo, introduced in 2016, features the clean edges of a high-quality blade. The redesigned logo combines the concept of accuracy and precision with a techy, industrial look. While blue remains the primary color, Ivy Group designer Stephen Burden introduced a more vibrant version from the color wheel, pairing it with a cool steel grey and, in some designed pieces, a metallic silver ink.
With the sharp, steely logo as the basis of the corporate brand look, we developed stationery, office signage, tradeshow displays, and other collateral. With visual standards and an editorial style guide, we next turned our attention to developing the marketing strategy for the corporate company and its portfolio of brands.
GEM Runner product logo and microsite support sales process
The most immediate objective was to promote AccuTec's newest product release, the Gem Runner, a reloadable single-edge blade safety dispenser. We sub-branded the product with a clean yet spirited typeface treatment, complementing it with a custom microsite.
The Gem Runner microsite, gempopup.com, highlights the product through imagery, video, and product specification. In addition to being a helpful sales tool, it served as a strong landing page for print and digital advertising.
New website offers easy access to information for prospective customers
The old site was not content manageable, not responsive, not user-friendly, and on top of it all, not in line with the new brand.
So, we helped AccuTec Blades tune up their digital toolbox by designing, writing, translating, programming, and launching AccuTec’s new sister sites: atblades.com (English) and navajasaccutec.com.mx (Spanish).
The responsive sites offer smooth access to the information AccuTec's customers need to make informed purchase decisions, even on the go.
For over 140 years AccuTec has epitomized the American can-do spirit of enterprise and invention. This new site is one of many new initiatives that AccuTec is actively implementing to highlight our company brands, quality, and product performance.
Larry Baab, Vice President of Sales and Marketing
The new website provides a user experience that engages visitors no matter their objective. Some people like to get right to the point. Some like to learn everything they can and then request more information. Website visitors are no different; after all, they are people (most of them, anyway—dang those spambots).
Perhaps users want to browse the company’s capabilities and engage with a variety of applications such as dermatology, carpet, roofing, and automotive. Maybe they want to read about the company’s commitment to safety (a must when it comes to razor blades), or learn about different edges, coatings, and materials.
Or, in many cases, users head straight to the products page, which offers a product-only search bar and filtering system to complement the site-wide search. AccuTec Blades’ new sites more accurately reflect the blade manufacturer's expertise and commitment to precision engineering and product quality.
Press release: AccuTec Blades Launches Redesigned Website
Unifying the brand presence across all marketing mediums
As AccuTec’s agency of record, we offered strategic recommendations and developed annual marketing and media plans based on AccuTec's key products. We supported the AccuTec team by managing all advertising aspects for key product campaigns, such as designing print and digital ads—including Google Ads—media buying and placement, and budget tracking.
Public videos, such as Why AccuTec and GEM Runner product overview, helped the sales team to show off the products and AccuTec’s company culture. Additional videos, such as a series featuring individual long-time employees, were produced for internal use on the website, trade shows, and sales meetings.
Last but not least, we kept AccuTec's communications program sharp with regular e-blasts, blogs, social media posts, and press releases.
Objectives
Good-bye rustbelt. Hello tomorrow. We were tasked with injecting new life into this circa 1875 Shenandoah Valley blade manufacturer.
Activities
Logo, brand standards, signage, tradeshow displays, package design, digital ads, email templates, video production, social media training and management, media planning and management, microsite, website
Results
- Streamlined communications with cohesive branding and messaging across platforms
- Increased visibility with dynamic market-centric promotions
- Achieved greater market profile and profitability
