The Decking Crew are a Nashville based building team who specialize in residential landscape architecture and indoor/outdoor environmental design. ‘The Crew’ curates outdoor experiences with custom hardwood decking and patio features as well as creative cultivation solutions for urban growers and homesteaders. Their passion for elevating backyard lifestyle is on full display through both their work, and the way in which they carry themselves. However, their concept of who they were as a brand was painfully underdeveloped, and while discussing what an identity package might offer them it became clear The Crew needed more robust brand direction. We jumped off with some exercises to determine character strengths, isolate unique selling points, and identify core brand principles. This process whittled the direction down to three key characteristics: Bespoke Craftsmanship, Outdoor Lifestyle, and Minimal Aesthetics.
From this launching point we started mapping their consumer touchpoints, analyzing social media presence, and auditing lead sources. Upwards of 80% of their business came from direct referrals, so we reached out to past clients and started mapping the keywords and recurring phrases in the responses they recieved. What became abundantly clear was that The Decking Crew won hearts and minds with neighbourly customer service - invites to family barbeques, summer concerts performed on their personal back porches, and late nights around fire pits The Crew had built themselves. As we looked back over their existing marketing collateral this was as all lacking, and we set off bring that personal touch to the brand moving forward.
After breaking down what The Crew was doing right, and where their marketing had gone wrong, we started sketching out an identity and a plan for them to leverage it. Our first explorations leaned heavily into the minimal aesthetics they prioritized in their work, conveying the contemporary approach they brought to landscaping and architecture. Their responses to each iteration were positive, but when asked what was lacking it took time to narrow down to a few must have elements: tree iconography, strong color palettes, and a wordmark which read well while embroidered or on marketing collateral. Ultimately we decided on this third option above, the cypress tree being emblematic of their shared childhoods in the Pacific Northwest - and the palette carrying a strong primary presence across multiple mediums.
From here we packaged the identity with assets for a new social calendar, merch for their work crews, and renderings of a full wrap on their company vehicles. With these rolled out a launch event was planned for the summer of 2023 where a backyard concert will be held in a Decking Crew designed environment. A content plan was created to capture both the event itself, as well as the construction of the space through spring of 2023.
