INSIDE OUR COMPANY REBRAND
Samantha Thomas & James Ewing | Feb. 10, ‘22 | 3 minute read
We’re more than just a lighting company. We’re a team of dedicated, thoughtful people whose mission is to make life better for all the people touched by our work. And if you’re familiar with the lighting industry, you know that’s a lot of folks, and there are problems lurking everywhere. It’s important to us that every aspect of Valet reflects our mission, which is why we’ve spent the last year doing a meticulous company rebrand. Today, we’re sharing what we uncovered during our rebranding process, how we’re moving forward as a company, and what impact we intend to have on our customers and the lighting industry.
Since our beginning in 2013, we have been committed to building better ways of doing lighting. Our new tagline, “lighting the way”, speaks to this most fundamental aim of our business. We refuse to accept that lighting has to feel like being hit in the ass with a canoe paddle for everyone involved. On the contrary, our vision is that lighting can be both beautiful and uncomplicated — streamlined, organized, and convenient — so that everyone’s life is easier.
Like any rebranding procedure, we upgraded the look of our company materials, as seen in our new logo and website. But what’s not necessarily visible to the eye is what inspired these surface-level changes, which was a series of deep-dive exercises that preceded the physical brand design process. Exercises included the Business Model Canvas, numerous SWOT analyses, and a brand personality exercise that helped identify our strengths, weaknesses, unique value and offerings.
But the most important exercise was related to better understanding our identity – who we are, what we stand for, and what our story is. We deemed what we uncovered through this exercise our “raison d’être”. If French isn’t your forte, that translates to “reason for being”, which sounds fancier en français (and sometimes we’re fancy), so we’ve run with it.
This brand identity exercise consisted of extensive dialogue centered on Simon Sinek’s Start With Why Golden Circle concept, which helped us to get crystal clear on our why (our raison d’être/purpose); our how (how we create meaning within our company and thus for our stakeholders); and our what (what value and expertise we offer toward achieving our purpose). Here’s what that looks like, fleshed out:
Why - use business to inspire people to lead meaningful lives
How - break the status quo and strive for excellence in all that we do
What - provide innovative lighting supply, design and education along with technologies that enable faster, better service
The revelation of this exercise was a deeper understanding of who we are, and why we’ve chosen to embark on the journey of lighting supply and design — to connect with others, be engaged in inspiring projects, and embrace challenges that teach us both what we are capable of and that we can always get better. As we set out to achieve this, our work will be relentlessly grounded in our desire to understand different perspectives, our sincere commitment to the growth and care of our customers, and our willingness as leaders to jump first — to break industry norms in order to elevate the way lighting is done.
We’re the same company with the same mission, only now more aligned with our purpose, vision, and values. We feel proud of the clarity we’ve gained and how we are evolving, and are more excited than ever to share what we have to offer toward making our customer’s lighting experience an exceptional one. In future blog posts, we will be sharing what our combined thirty-six years experience has taught us – and continues to teach us – about lighting problems and innovative methods for solving them.
Through a variety of new product and service offerings supported by technologies that enable a more streamlined, organized, and convenient experience, we are working diligently to raise expectations that lighting can be both beautiful and uncomplicated, so together we can thrive. As we grow into this next evolution of our brand, we look forward to the next chapter in our relationship with all the people our work touches — and that very well could be you.