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Four years ago the private investment house Bay Grove Capital acquired the Seattle-based Seafreeze Cold Storage, the first in a succession of  regional acquisitions of similar companies who serve food industry needs for refrigerated and freezer warehousing.  This is a case of creative, hands-on investors, who see growth in combining independent, mostly family-owned entities into one much bigger and newly branded contender, usefully leveraging scale efficiencies in performance and marketing .

To create the needed master brand, the Bay Grove partners chose consultants Marshall Strategy and designer Jerry Kuyper. 

Strategy discussions clarified the need to celebrate the heritage and retain the regional equities of the acquired companies (both past and future), while absorbing them in the new, larger whole.  This "heritage" idea is reflected in the borrowed-word name "Lineage," the best survivor in a full-blown naming exercise. Addition of the formal-name extension "Logistics" communicates the industry context.  As Forste puts it, "Our name pays homage to heritage, yet points to the way forward, and suggests the connectivity at the core of our logistics business."

Kuyper's logo design combines a symbol with a wordmark.  "The symbol conveys the movement, control and precision inherent in logistics," he wrote for the standards manual. "It also shows different elements coming together to make a stronger whole. The wordmark reinforces the concept of movement and connection"

Brand architecture will be monolithic. Though the old logos are to disappear, the consultants proposed that for a transition period, local unit names retain their previous initials as well as their place name. Thus
Flint River Services will sign itself Lineage/FRS Savannah or FRS Albany, and Richmond Cold Storage will be Lineage/RCS Richmond or RCS Norfolk. (This is a migration strategy; the initials will soon become expendable.)

A few days before public launch, employees  convened in 'town halls' at each facility for a dramatic unveiling; key customers also got a preview.  The investors report that "The reception has been terrific. The rebranding required considerable forethought and planning, but has quickly become one of the most impactful events since we started acquiring."

Marshall Strategy and Kuyper Partners

Submitted by: Tony Spaeth, 24/04/2012
Status: Estimated by Tony Spaeth
Category: Logistics
Country (HQ): United States