EXTENSIV

As with many industries, the world of ecommerce has changed beyond all recognition over the last few years. The “Amazon effect” has heightened consumer expectations and next-day has become the new normal. Traditional fulfillment models are under great pressure.

It was against this background of disruption and opportunity that 3PL Central, a cloud-based warehouse management solution provider, came to BrandingBusiness with a unique branding challenge.

Backed by Mainsail Partners, a growth equity firm, 3PL Central was making a series of acquisitions as part of a visionary strategy to weave together an entirely new fulfillment company. This company was intended to displace the outdated models of the past and replace them with a dynamic, distributed, hybrid fulfillment solution from the shopping cart to the warehouse floor.

The new, as yet unnamed company needed a brand strategy to create a compelling and tangible vision of the future and a positioning that would place the new company as the unquestioned leader in a market it was helping to create.

The first of the acquisitions – Skubana – was already in place as we started work. Two others – Scout, and Cart Rover – followed in quick succession.

After an extensive research program and intensive strategy workshops with the executive team, we developed an over-arching positioning strategy based on a core brand driver: creating the future of omnichannel fulfillment. The company was going to challenge the me-too brands in the market and outdated logistic models of the past with a new solution designed for the future and able to fulfill demand anywhere, anytime, with superior flexibility and ability to scale.

The new story needed a new name, further complicated by the desire to have a dot com that exactly matched the name, the executive team enthusiastically selected a recommended candidate: Extensiv.

As the word suggests, Extensiv communicates breadth, scale, and impact. It is both functionally descriptive of the capabilities of the new business as well as emotionally representative of the ambitions and value delivered. A perfect balance, made even better by a perfect dot com match.

A brand architecture and migration strategy were developed to ensure the acquired brands were transitioned out in a clear manner to both internal audiences and customers.

The challenger brand needed an equally powerful set of visual and digital assets. The new logo, with an origami-influenced design conveying limitless potential and mobility, along with the bold new visual identity system break the mold in an industry dominated by very transactional imagery and a high degree of sameness.

These elements enabled us to develop the look and feel and key messaging for the Extensiv website—one that would appeal to Extensiv’s multiple audiences’ mindsets, from the traditional and pragmatic (typical of 3PLs) to the modern and entrepreneurial (brands).

To ensure that this new brand was properly communicated across audiences, BrandingBusiness conducted training workshops with Extensiv’s leaders and managers. We also helped the organization devise a multi-phased brand introduction approach that was coordinated at the top level and yet sensitive to each brand’s current situation, with rebranding milestones falling into place at the proper cadence.

In the end, BrandingBusiness enabled Extensiv to express its bold vision of a new age in fulfillment technology—and to continue their forward momentum while confidently embarking upon a new journey.