Rebranding a 38-Year-Old Damage Prevention Service
We’re so close to the BIG REVEAL, but I have to tell you, we’ve all got the jitters! Rebranding a 38-year-old name that has been woven into the provincial damage prevention vernacular is scary! But, our new name and brand is the perfect vessel to collectively unify and transport Alberta One-Call, the Alberta Common Ground Alliance and Where’s the Line into the future.
The name “Alberta One-Call Corporation won’t be extinct”, says AOC President, Mike Sullivan. “It will remain the registered corporate name for a variety of reasons but mainly to protect it. We don’t want someone to swoop it up for their own purposes and capitalize on the equity that has been built over almost 40 years.” In that respect, AOC’s new name and brand will be a trade name. Think of Coca-Cola Corporation and all the brands like Fanta, 7up and Powerade that reside beneath it – the association between AOC and its new brand will be just like that.
“The new name will be in the forefront,” continues Sullivan. “It’ll be our new Team logo. Our brand colours will change, our Damage Prevention Ambassador vehicles will be re-wrapped, our website will be updated and the AOC, the ABCGA and WTL social media profiles will align. The old social media profiles won’t disappear either, for the same reasons we won’t dissolve the AOC name, but awareness will be re-routed to the new profile and brand.”
“Shifting attention away from the AOC name is daunting” continues AOC Operations Director, Sher Kirk, “but we’ve already done that to a large degree. Almost ten years ago, we began promoting ClickBeforeYouDig and now, there’s a whole new generation of ground disturber who knows us by that call-to-action. It has become the name, action and brand Albertans think about whenever someone mentions digging, safety and buried utilities.”
While the new trade name and branding is completed, some work remains before it can be rolled out later this summer. “It’s evolution in the making” says Sullivan. “It’s a tremendous honour to be entrusted to align these three safety brands and services into one and we can’t wait to unveil it!”
Kassi Zaba