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Author: Mike Duman, EVP Co-Creative Director

Mike directs Smith Kroeger’s timely development and execution of high-quality print, digital and multimedia campaigns that are innovative, memorable and persuasive. He has extensive industry and agency experience and has been with Smith Kroeger for over 30 years.

Lake Cunningham Debuts New Brand & Park Improvements

Posted on by Mike Duman, EVP Co-Creative Director

We’re so excited to share the rebranding project for Lake Cunningham!

The 390-acre lake surrounded by a 1,050-acre park in north central Omaha has been closed for several years and just reopened on Aug. 5. Check out some of the creative branding we were able to work on with the Lake Cunningham Development Trust.

CREATIVE:

We worked closely with the Lake Cunningham team to put together a new logo that represented the history of Lake Cunningham with its iconic lighthouse while incorporating modern touches to truly refresh their brand identity.

The color palette for the brand includes a forest and kelly green (to represent the flora of the area), cool blue (to represent water) and a crisp, nautical white (to represent the lighthouse).

Tagline: “Explore The C!” evokes excitement and shares a play on words with “C” and “sea” – but also the C for “Cunningham.” Encouraging people to come out and explore all the new improvements and updates to this beloved Omaha gem is something we wanted to reinforce as much as possible.

Unique logos: We had fun creating various logos to depict each important activity that Lake Cunningham provides.

Photography & videography: Our in-house photographers and videographers did a beautiful job depicting the updates to the area. Footage shot with a drone gives online viewers and potential future visitors a feel for the excitement.

WEBSITE:One of our talented web designers, Angela Snodgrass, worked to bring the new Lake Cunningham website to life. Uniting all of the parts together – drone footage on the homepage, campsite reservation images, lake information, policies and more – was no easy feat. The website is clean and informative while showcasing the excitement the community feels to get back outdoors at Lake Cunningham.

News Articles Regarding the Rebrand: 

Check out the following news articles by local stations regarding the lake opening and their rebrand. 

https://www.3newsnow.com/news/local-news/lake-cunningham-reopens-following-23-million-in-improvements-celebration-event-being-held-tonight

https://www.wowt.com/2021/07/27/new-improved-exclusive-look-lake-cunningham/

When Is It Time for a Rebrand? Signs From the Pros

Posted on by Mike Duman, EVP Co-Creative Director

First thing’s first: What is a brand? In reality, it can be one or more of the following:

  • A promise
  • A logo
  • A reputation

Really, a brand is the sum of what comes to mind when people think of you. It’s the culmination of thoughts and images that enter a consumer’s mind when encountering your brand.

We know – it sounds ambiguous. And it can be! But at Smith Kroeger, we have a formula to help our clients decide if it’s time for a rebrand. Often it comes down to a multitude of different reasons.

There are also different types of branding. Some rebrands might require only a few updates, as opposed to an entire rebranding effort that could call for a total overhaul of assets. Below are four examples of each type of rebrand – including Google’s latest rebranding effort changing their icon visuals from the former G Suite into what is now Google Workspace:

1. Brand Alignment

2. Brand Update

3. Brand Evolution

4. Brand Revolution

So, how do you know if it’s time to rebrand? Here are a few key indicators:

  • Brands need to be merged so that multiple products can be marketed together
  • The overall look and feel of the brand is outdated
  • A major merger or acquisition has taken place
  • Significant growth, change or service expansion has occurred

When thinking about the logo, ask yourself:

  • What emotions does it evoke?
  • What do you think about the color?
  • What do you think about the elements that make up the graphic?
  • What do you think about the font?
  • What do you think about the tagline?
  • Overall, what does it say about our brand?

These are the things we considered when Community National Bank Retirement Plans Division came to us with a rebranding project. In addition to these foundational questions, Smith Kroeger implemented a research process that included an assessment of the competitive landscape, distribution of an online survey to customers and phone interviews with employees and select customers.

The new logo chosen used the bank’s original burgundy color and a slightly updated crescent “C,” which were unique and important to the brand, but added orange for a dynamic highlight. The shortened name CNB Custody and the tagline both resulted from our customer research. They defined and differentiated the organization and positioned it as a premier partner.

So where do you go from here? Start at the heart of your brand. Remind yourself “why.” Then, reach out to our team so we can help do the heavy lifting, from the website redesign to the digital and traditional media buys.

Alisa Suntken
Digital Content Designer

Alisa adores the outdoors and spends as much time as she can hiking and camping. She’s a creative at heart, which accounts for her moustache tattoo. She also spent two years in the events industry managing venues (sadly, all of them indoors).

1 year at sk

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Robbie Owens
Web Designer & Email Specialist

Family, music, autos and websites are Robbie’s passions. On weekends you’ll find him with his wife and daughters at a car show or other community event. If there was such a thing as a model-car-building convention, you’d find them there, too.

4 years at SK

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