Brand Makeovers: Rich McClellan of Clearcover On The 5 Things You Should Do To Upgrade and Re-Energize Your Brand and Image
An Interview With Fotis Georgiadis
Identify who you’re talking to: When upgrading and re-energizing your brand and image, you’ll want to ask yourself, “Has your audience actually changed? Are you just bored with your brand?” Before embarking on anything, make sure you answer those questions and have a strategy for why you’re doing what you’re doing. The output depends on the quality of the strategy versus how talented your creative team is. If you know who you’re talking to and what they want, you can truly deliver. If you don’t, you’re wasting time. It’s about defining your target and questioning, “Do we really need to do this?”
As part of our series about “Brand Makeovers” I had the pleasure to interview Rich McClellan.
Rich McClellan is the Vice President of Brand and Creative Director at Clearcover. He’s passionate about delivering breakthrough strategy and creative solutions, building and inspiring teams and scaling brands from start-ups to mergers, acquisitions and IPOs. Rich built his career in Chicago’s advertising agency world with positions at FCB, Y&R/Wunderman, Tracy Locke and others. He then transitioned to the client side at startups including GrubHub, Wyzant, Parkwhiz and Arrive Mobility. Rich specializes in bringing agency capabilities in-house and making early-stage and small brands look big.
Thank you so much for doing this with us! Before we dig in, our readers would love to “get to know you” a bit more. Can you tell us a story about what brought you to this specific career path?
I think of my career in two phases. I started out as an art director in Chicago’s agency world with an internship in college that led to a full-time position. The whole ad agency scene is very transient by nature; meaning I moved around every few years while working on a wide variety of brands, products and services. The last agency I worked for had a large reduction in workforce. I had dodged layoffs my entire career, but it finally caught up with me and my entire team. Though I enjoyed and thrived in the agency environment, I found myself at a point where I was reluctant to jump back into that world. I took some time to figure out what I wanted to do next, and while investigating my options I was contacted by a recruiter from Grubhub which was an up-and-coming startup in Chicago at the time. Although I usually passed on client-side opportunities (due to the agency stigma that they’re not terribly creative or exciting) this one seemed different. I took a leap and accepted the position as Creative Director, putting me on the path to work with early to mid-stage startups that are poised for growth. In retrospect, getting let go turned out to be the best thing that could have happened to me in my career.
The rocket ship ride of working on a small brand from launch through IPO, for lack of a better word, was addicting. You’re on a mission to create the next big consumer brand and experience as opposed to just executing against a brief. I loved that environment. Late last year, I was approached by Clearcover’s SVP of Marketing, Elliot Schad, about an open role. I knew very little about insurance, other than it was critical, necessary and I had a lot of it. However, the opportunity sounded amazing and paralleled the Grubhub feel and trajectory; a brand that has a great foundation, is poised for massive growth and wants to do all the right things to make it happen. The combination of the opportunity, the category’s reputation for creativity and the potential to contribute to a high-growth brand pulled me in, but the people and the quality of the conversations at Clearcover sealed the deal.
Can you share a story about the funniest marketing or branding mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?
Thankfully, I found it hard to make a critical mistake in a big agency because there are so many protective systems in place with account teams, strategy, proofreaders and planners providing checks and balances. You’re more likely to make a questionable judgement than a mistake. However, when you’re new to the startup world, it’s easy to let the speed of growth and wealth of opportunities dominate your time and attention. In one case, my team and I were excited about “going big” in a couple of new markets and wanted to appeal to local populations by using their town’s name, language and vernacular. There was a city on the outskirts of Philadelphia that had an unusual name that we were all trying to figure out how to pronounce, and then put it on a billboard with our pithy POV. We ended up spelling the name wrong and the local population was relentless in its critique. The lesson learned is that it takes years to build a brand and only seconds to tear it down. It’s important to move fast, but you need to be aware of absolutely everything as it goes out the door and not allow a small mistake to become your defining moment.
Are you able to identify a “tipping point” in your career when you started to see success? Did you start doing anything different? Is there a takeaway or lesson that others can learn from that?
The tipping point where I started to see true success was the culmination of all my previous experience colliding with the opportunity to use it in an integrated marketing ecosystem. At an agency, you’re constantly asking for more information and more context to try to fill the gaps as you search for the creative solution. Moving to in-house marketing gave me a new level of understanding, control and influence to really create that cohesive brand experience, versus executing against projects that oftentimes require involvement from multiple stakeholders outside of the company. One of the big differences moving from agency to client side is there was absolute accountability for creative decisions. At an agency, you could always point your finger at the client for choosing your non-preferred creative execution or micromanaging to mediocrity, whereas when you’re in-house, it’s all up to you. There’s nowhere to hide. Overall, it felt like a tipping point in the sense that you don’t experience little successes. You either experienced massive ones or none at all.
Are you working on any exciting new projects now? How do you think that will help people?
Clearcover recently completed a six-month rebrand. It was a massive undertaking that started on my first day at the company. We developed new positioning as well as a dramatic visual refresh to amplify what we stand for, what makes us different and why anybody should pay attention in a category that’s inundated with high-spending competitor messages. To be frank, Clearcover’s rebrand went off flawlessly and I believe that’s because we involved every department and gave everybody a chance to weigh in, as well as direct how this rebrand would affect their portion of the business. Soliciting input from multiple teams and deeply involving them in the process gives you great feedback and unique insights that makes for a brand that can truly scale. This is my fourth rebrand and I’ve noticed that when it’s done right, it energizes the entire company. People get excited when you reveal that final logo, strategy and tagline — and that excitement tends to accelerate the integration of the work across departments.
What advice would you give to other marketers to thrive and avoid burnout?
It’s a constant challenge to balance working from home with company growth. One of the challenges with any new or emerging brand is the amount of opportunities available to you. There are so many areas worthy of your time and attention, with new trends, technology, media outlets and cultural moments that you can be a part of. It’s so easy to fragment your time and efforts to the extent that you’re doing a lot of things “okay” or “pretty good”, but nothing brilliantly. I think all opportunities are worth exploring, but it’s critical to identify the ones that bring the most value, results or change. Sometimes this means saying no to a lot of great ideas and a lot of great people who contact you, but the flip side is deeper engagement from employees, better results and definitely happier employees. Being able to concentrate and do something extremely well is incredibly satisfying — and there’s nothing more unsatisfying than juggling 15 balls in the air and not doing your best work against any of them.
Ok, let’s now jump to the core part of our interview. In a nutshell, how would you define the difference between brand marketing (branding) and product marketing (advertising)? Can you explain?
They’re two sides of the same coin. Brand Marketing is all about highlighting the emotional value of the brand while promoting the product or service, while Product Marketing is more about the features and how they can make an impact on the customer’s life. They’re intrinsically linked and I don’t think you can have one without the other. You need to create an emotional connection between the two.
Can you explain to our readers why it is important to invest resources and energy into building a brand, in addition to the general marketing and advertising efforts?
Building a brand is all about finding and sharpening your competitive edge, no matter what industry you’re in. New companies are stacked up against tough competition from existing players and products as their target markets and audiences are similar — and especially in our category, very much commoditized. A strong brand can help distinguish your company by not only highlighting your product, but also your unique point of view on who you are and what you’re solving for the customer. A lot of times with startups or early-stage companies, brand can be an afterthought when it should be a founding principle. Sure, you can always retrofit your brand, but in a perfect world your product emerges from your brand’s point of differentiation, foundation and values.
Let’s now talk about rebranding. What are a few reasons why a company would consider rebranding?
There are a handful of reasons why a company would consider rebranding. One example is when it’s acquired or merges with another company. Oftentimes, the company will take on the identity of the one that bought it. However, sometimes you need to maintain your brand equity to an audience that already loves you by finding a happy medium. Another reason a company would consider rebranding is when its company mission or vision changes. Brands are the emblem of everything that you stand for. So if what you stand for changes, your brand identity needs to change with that. A rebrand can help you better communicate who you are. When you realize there’s a need to change or expand your target customer, to welcome new opportunities and new people — your brand needs to change along with that too. Lastly, when your identity doesn’t position you shoulder-to-shoulder with your competitors, or even peripheral products or services, it could be time to rebrand. You want to look and sound like you belong in the realm of a customer’s life and lifestyle, but also be unique in what you offer and how you position your identity and value.
Are there downsides of rebranding? Are there companies that you would advise against doing a “Brand Makeover”? Why?
A rebrand is disruptive to all areas of an organization. It touches every aspect of a company’s products, its marketing, its interactions. It’s never as simple as a logo swap or a color palette change, but a shift of the entire company’s persona and visual ecosystem. It’s also important not to underestimate the power of the familiarity with your existing brand. It can be disruptive to your consumer to radically change, and while a rebrand may attract new attention and new customers, it can alienate and confuse your brand loyalists. For instance, if your app icon suddenly changes, consumers have no idea why and they can’t quickly locate it. There can be a bit of a pain point stage in there. Also, you should never underestimate how long a brand makeover is going to take or how deep it’s going to go. It really is a whole company effort.
Ok, here is the main question of our discussion. Can you share 5 strategies that a company can do to upgrade and re-energize their brand and image”? Please tell us a story or an example for each.
- Identify who you’re talking to: When upgrading and re-energizing your brand and image, you’ll want to ask yourself, “Has your audience actually changed? Are you just bored with your brand?” Before embarking on anything, make sure you answer those questions and have a strategy for why you’re doing what you’re doing. The output depends on the quality of the strategy versus how talented your creative team is. If you know who you’re talking to and what they want, you can truly deliver. If you don’t, you’re wasting time. It’s about defining your target and questioning, “Do we really need to do this?” For example, Grubhub grew from a niche brand for savvy urban dwellers to suburbanites who were ordering more upscale meals. The brand identity was skewed towards humor and irreverence to that first crowd and was not embraced by the second. The brand had to “grow up” to appeal to this broader demographic.
- Carving out a unique position in your category: You’ll want to carve out a unique Brand Position and distinguished identity within your category, and then test that concept so you’re not just talking to yourself. It’s easy to point to something and say, “that’s it” versus testing and proving it. Starting with a clear, single-minded positioning paves the way for a smooth process and strong work. The Brand Position acts as the guiding light for all future communication, as well as an objective measure by which to evaluate work and make decisions.
- Strive for simplicity: There’s an agency that puts out a brand simplicity index every year — highlighting brands that are simple in their positioning, visual and message approach, are easy to understand, and easy to see how it fits into a consumer’s life. This may sound like you’re diluting the attributes of your brand and product, but if anything it’s distilling them and making your message easy to understand, memorable and ownable without a lot of clutter. People are bombarded with 6,000 to 10,000 ads every single day. You need to identify a way to break through that with something that stands out. That’s where simplicity comes in. Don’t try to say too much.
- Execute consistently and everywhere: You’ll need to anchor the new brand to customer expectations, and pull that new identity through each and every interaction point. Consistency in both your new visual representation as well as your voice, tone and perspective will give the customer confidence in your ability to deliver on your brand promise. Consumers should feel like they are talking to the same person to forge that personal connection and build a relationship.
- Adaptability: Be open to some flexibility with your brand. Once you do the heavy work of creating something new, it’s tempting to stay within the safety and comfort of the new established boundaries. But with so many different media channels, moments, and interaction points, your brand needs to be malleable to different situations. This one’s tough because at the same time you’re policing all efforts against your brand and making sure it’s within compliance. You’ll need to execute outside of those boundaries occasionally, like on TikTok, where a traditional brand message isn’t going to stand out and the need to develop branded content native to that platform that is still on brand.
In your opinion, what is an example of a company that has done a fantastic job doing a “Brand Makeover”. What specifically impresses you? What can one do to replicate that?
Airbnb is a good example. They had a very public rebrand several years ago, even going so far as creating a mini-documentary about it. I think Airbnb did a great job of merging a dramatic visual refresh with a redefined position. If you look at the company’s old identity, it gave off a “startup” feel. They went from being this kind of fly by the seat of your pants, disruptor brand — to redefining and owning a moment. Airbnb went from sleeping on couches in people’s homes to merging this new identity with their proposition of belonging anywhere. It all worked incredibly well together.
Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?
One of my go-to quotes is Alan Shepard’s “Please, dear God, don’t let me f*** up.” We are all familiar with the famous quote by astronaut Neil Armstrong about a small step for man and a leap for mankind. The eloquence with which Armstrong described the wonder and grace of his moon landing is beautifully juxtaposed by this concise prayer, uttered by Shepard before launch. Sometimes we get through our trials with grace. Sometimes it’s enough to get through without f… well… it’s enough to get through.
How can our readers follow you online?
Admittedly, our brand pages are likely more entertaining than my personal social media, but you can find me on LinkedIn and keep up with our new work at Clearcover.com.
Thank you so much for joining us. This was very inspirational.
Brand Makeovers: Rich McClellan of Clearcover On The 5 Things You Should Do To Upgrade and… was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.
