BIG AGNES: THE MOTHER OF COMFORT
If Big Agnes was a person, I would want to be her friend. I think we’d go on some amazing adventures together. This week I will focus on Big Agnes’s brand and the five key components that have contributed to their marketing success.
Big Agnes is another company to come out of Steamboat Springs, Colorado. Seventeen years young, Big Agnes specializes in outdoor adventure equipment including tents, sleeping bags and pads, apparel, camping furniture and outdoor accessories. With around 80 employees and estimated annual revenue of $13 million, clearly the company is doing something right! At their core, Big Agnes (BA) claims to be motivated by years of sleeping in the dirt and is the mother of comfort.
In my career I have found successful brands to have these five components in common: brand position, brand promise, brand personality, brand story and brand association. Let the games begin…
Brand Position
The brand position describes what the organization does, whom it caters to, the businesses values, what differentiates the brand and what a consumer gains from using a company’s product or service. For Big Agnes, they have established their position extremely well – adventuring outdoors folks who are looking for quality gear that will stand the test of time built by people who know what outdoor enthusiast need because at their core they are their market. From BA’s website, traditional media and social accounts you can tell the brand position has been well thought out. But looking deeper into the brand, BA’s brand position is fundamentally who they are at their core, so their position holds more authenticity and integrity. Creating a brand position with the strength BA has is easy when you look at your core values. With that being said, you can create what BA has but you will need to stay steadfast to the brand position you chose.
Brand Promise
This is the promise your organization gives your consumer and is one of the single most important branding traits. Like many well-known and reputable companies, Big Agnes guarantees the quality of their products and will make it right if something isn’t working for a consumer. The “100% Guarantee” model isn’t new but the safety net given to a consumer is comforting. Big Agnes continues to show their promise to consumers by developing the technology of their products. Over the years BA has changed features in tents and on camping equipment based on feedback given by users of this gear. Receiving consumer feedback gives your business insight that can be used to improve your business, show customer satisfaction and retention, product development, and overall customer experience.
Furthermore Big Agnes cares about the playground their products use and has invested in partnerships with companies making a difference including, Leave No Traces, CAIC, IMBA and the like, and encourages their consumers to the same environmental standards and stewardship. Ethically and morally speaking, this promise makes an impact because it is bigger than the company; it impacts the entire global community.
Brand Personality
Your personality is what your consumer will know you as both within and outside the organization. Ideally a brand will have four to seven personality traits. When online looking at Big Agnes’s digital components you can see their personality comes through in everything they produce. From a surface level I see BA using these traits: sincerity in what they produce, excitement for the outdoors, competence in the reliability in their products, ruggedness in the products they offer and uprightness is at the core of who Big Agnes is.
Brand Story
You will have noticed from my previous posts that I believe storytelling to be a brands lowest lying fruit that can have an amazing impact. Big Agnes has clearly established what its brand is about through its core values, purpose and its mission. BA offers more than just products; they offer an experience you can have which transcends their product offering in addition to hacks and tips for using their products. All marketing pieces created by this team work together to motivate their market to get outside and explore. Big Agnes has done this through crafting content in a way where you want to be outside whether in winter or in summer. You want these experiences with your friends and family. Imagery is playing the biggest part of BA’s story and this works tremendously well for them. My only suggestion for BA would be to diversify the people in their imagery. However BA has excelled in including females in their content.
Brand Associations
These are the nuts and bolts of your brand – logo, name, colors, font, images, tagline, etc. Big Agnes has chosen a circular logo lockup with four principal colors – dark blue, maroon, white and black. I believe Big Agnes went for a circular lock up because these types of logos are easily “stamped” on items. Circular logos are also known to project a positive emotional message and can suggest community, friendship, love, and unity because the design has no strict start or finish which keeps your eye on the lock up a few moments longer than other designs. When we delve deeper into the color palette, BA has chosen two colors synonymous with adventure, stimulation, love, peace and serenity – maroon and dark blue. What a perfect color combination for their brand!
Branding is more than a logo, design, color or typeface. Branding is about knowing what you stand for and how to communicate your values and character to your market. Big Agnes has done a phenomenal job creating their brand and the small details are what set them apart from other companies in the same space. They have put time and effort in to their personality, position, promise, story and associations which is seen in all of their marketing pieces. In today’s marketplace presenting your brand to consumers in a relatable fashion while maintaining integrity is pivotal to a company’s success. Big Agnes has excelled with branding and I give their team props! So, Big Agnes, want to be friends and go adventure together?
*Please note I have not been paid by or sponsored by Big Agnes. All thoughts and opinions are my own based on my own research.