Strategy | Digital | SEO

A brand and website refresh emulates straight-talking IT and tech

Axon is an IT and tech transformation company based in Cheshire, South Manchester. Not your average tech company, Axon is raising the bar in managed IT services.

Challenge

Traditionally Axon used to be more of a break/fix type business. Their IT support services were largely focused on clients calling them when they had an issue, and they would fix it for them. They used to spend quite a bit of time on their client’s sites fixing their machines and servers.

That’s all changed now. The development of the cloud moved Axon more towards being an IT managed service provider. Today, Axon largely doesn’t fix issues anymore, they are a strategic partner, offering their advice and helping implement cutting-edge tech to improve business processes and efficiencies.

Axon has a fantastic 20-year heritage and is an innovative Microsoft partner and tech company. However, their original branding, messaging and visual identity didn’t match the business they are today and their goals for their future. Their original identity was corporate and lacked differentiation to compete in a busy marketplace.

Solution

Brand workshop and strategy

Embrace Marketing facilitated a branding workshop to uncover Axon’s short and long-term goals, purpose, unique point of differentiation, key benefits and hierarchy of services being offered. We also completed client empathy maps to understand what their clients truly wanted and needed. This was combined with a competitor review in terms of messaging and visual identity.

    Axon Brand guidelines

    Following the workshop, Embrace developed a brand value proposition which led with their why and new tagline – ‘Transformational Technology – Just the way you need it’, their differentiated approach and what they do. The ‘why’ and tagline represent:

     

    • Transformational Technology’ – Axon is a tech partner who is ahead of game on the latest tech and Microsoft updates to help continuously transform their clients’ tech
    • Just the way you need it’ – how they innovate and create solutions to suit their SME client needs e.g. the Microsoft Dynamics CRM example mentioned in the background section
      Axon Brand guidelines

      Brand visual identity and collateral 

      The bold visual identity moved away from their traditional orange to a powerful, creative and ambitious purple. The bold shift was to mark the shift in their company positioning from break-fix to a tech partner.

      The new visual identity utilises unique and individually designed 3D gradient and moving shapes – showing their evolution, progressiveness and innovative attributes. The iconography created a distinctive style for Axon and the team photography pulled through authenticity and the personality of their team.

      Their refreshed tone of voice is to the point and straight talking to reflect Axon’s personality. They are honest, transparent and act with integrity. Messaging examples include: ‘No-nonsense IT support’ and ‘Hassle-free CRM’.

      Let's talk tech magazine

      Brand deliverables

      The rebrand consisted of a new website including copywriting, SEO, UX, design and build in WordPress. Embrace developed a full brand launch campaign including: animation, photography, emailers, press release, social media activity, Let’s Talk Tech Axon thought leadership magazine, podcasts, PowerPoint and Word templates and email signatures. We continue to work with Axon as a full service creative and marketing partner.  

      Axon Website

      Outcome

      The brand is no longer corporate. There is a living and breathing brand visual identity that can be creatively executed for different campaigns and media to maintain an engaging and exciting feel.

      • The refreshed brand has provided a fantastic platform to drive Axon’s marketing efforts forward due to a clear brand strategy. A new campaign promoting their Dynamics CRM demo webinar shortly after the launch gained positive traction and warm leads.
      • Since the website launched, organic search has become the number one source of traffic to the website reflecting the in-depth SEO work and content on the site.
      • During the launch month there was an increase of 21% in page views and 35% in unique visitors on LinkedIn, their primary social media platform. 82% of referral traffic from their website also comes from LinkedIn.
      Axon Linkedin social

      “The technology world evolves so quickly, and we have to be ahead of the consumer curve for our clients. Our knowledge, advice and solutions keep them at the fore of the latest innovations to meet their objectives and the end game – better efficiencies and more profit. The refreshed Axon brand represents the business we are today and our switch from service-led to client-led. It’s also a much better reflection of our team’s personality and culture.”

      Tim Mears, Managing Director, Axon

      About Axon

      Axon is an established IT managed service and technology solutions provider based in Macclesfield Cheshire.  Established for over 20 years, the company has a team of 22 experts and is a Microsoft Gold partner.

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