We are now in the autumnal equinox, where sultry summer has faded into cosy fall. A time to celebrate the harvest, have the lights on, create heat and build up the business momentum as we look towards a new year.

This might be your last chance to get one more message across or one more marketing campaign out the door before your customers hibernate for Christmas.

Back in 2005 we had an advert in the local business A5 booklet. At the time our brand identity was the word ‘MOO’ with a graphical black and white friesian cow pattern inside. As previously mentioned it had caught the eye of a local Ministry of Defence equipment supplier, this time the Business Development Manager of Warwickshire Fire & Rescue – Vikkii Chamberlain liked the look and gave us a call to come in and discuss their dilemma.

Their plan was to make the victims and offenders in Warwickshire aware of abandoned cars, what to do once they had spotted one and then what would ensue once they had reported it. The scheme was a partnership initiative between Warwickshire Fire & Rescue Service, Warwickshire Police, as well as Warwickshire County, District and Borough Councils. Their aim was to reduce the number of deliberate vehicle fires, their collective time and money spent on the problem.

In this instance we had to come up with an eye-catching, iconic character and sequence of events that best depicted the fate of the abandoned vehicles that were strewn across the roads and neighbourhoods of the county.

‘Car Clear’ was the name of the campaign. ‘The Cruncher’ was the character that evolved and encouraged the public in their investigations to spot an abandoned vehicle and then report it.

“Sketch everything and keep your curiosity fresh.”
John Sargent

At Moo Design once we have understood your challenge we always translate our thoughts and solutions onto paper, with a pen, in the form of a sketch. This project started no differently as we presented hand created visuals to Vikki and her team, before tweaking the design and re-presenting artwork in full colour.

The colours used in this project were like a Dick Tracy comic strip – very few, but striking. Four in total – red, yellow, black, and white – primary and memorable. ‘The Cruncher’ was a menacing yellow beast, with a bucket grabber holding the black silhouette of an abandoned car in it’s teeth. The collaboration between the three county bodies were clearly displayed in black and white at the base of each design piece.

The merchandising material was varied, mainly tactile, as road shows were planned to visit a large proportion of schools and colleges across the area. This included: various sizes of poster, A5 double sided leaflets, beer mats, car stickers, credit card sized prompt cards, pens, pencils, rulers and metal keyrings.

The skill sets required to succeed in this challenge were:
• Patience and listening skills to first understand the requirements of the project, then deliver creative ideas and design solutions
• Imagination to create an iconic cartoon style character
• Illustration skills to draw clear, concise ideas and present these in a ‘storyboard style’
• Copy writing punchy words to draw in the audience and capture the imagination
• Design creativity to merge graphical images and copy together, along with vibrant colour
• Artwork versatility to produce the same coherent message across many different 2D and 3D marketing elements and objects
• Big picture planning to devise and deliver to the client at each stage of the project: credible visuals, precise artwork and delivery of each marketing element on time

The outcome was a highly effective campaign which was bright, vibrant and purposeful. Ten months after the launch in June 2005, the Car Clear campaign and ‘The Cruncher’ hot-line had facilitated the destruction of 362 vehicles.

As a CEO or business owner you may be looking to make an impact in the market or drive sales forward with a campaign in early 2017? If that’s the case, then why not get in touch to see if we can help you out and stamp your mark on the world. Call our hotline today on 01926 770042 and we’ll see if we can ‘crunch down’ your concerns and produce a memorable campaign for you.