Jun 22, 2005: Late last fall, a new client came to us with an interesting marketing challenge: “Help us re-invent our business’ image and give us a fresh new look that will help us stand out in our market place.”

The client was HAMCO, a leading supplier of heating and air conditioning services to homes and businesses in our region. Established in the 1950’s, this family run service business was now breaking in its third generation of family partners – the grandchildren of the original founder.

Over the years, HAMCO had established a longstanding reputation for excellent service and were well-known in the region with a loyal customer base. Many of their customers have been with them since the beginning and their children were now using HAMCO as they moved out and established their own homes and families.

Sounds like a local success…and it is! However, the real success of this company is based as much on their business vision and understanding of their market, as it is on their commitment and dedication to excellent personal service.

They realized that their market place had changed greatly over the years. The region had experienced phenomenal growth over the years and they had to keep pace. Also, there was now more competition than ever and larger national companies (ie: the gas company) were also becoming competitors in their market. All this meant that it was time to revitalize and update their image in the market. To help their business face these new challenges, HAMCO chose TL Services as their marketing communications partner.

The first step, as on all TL Services projects was to listen and learn and get to know the client, their business, their market and their customers. We rolled up our sleeves and worked together with the family partners at HAMCO and came up with a new, updated logo and brand image that was in keeping with the times, yet built on the solid tradition and value of the brand. Hey, don’t throw out the baby with the bathwater!

Our initial challenge was to revitalize the image and build on the value that was by nearly fifty years of delivering high quality service in this region.

The new look was then rolled out across their business cards, stationary, billing forms, Yellow Pages ads (as the books renew) and even their signage and company trucks. What better form of advertising is there than having neighbours see your truck in their area providing services to the people next door or down their street. We redesigned the look of the trucks to not only carry the logo and brand image but to be a rolling billboard advertising their wide range of services. Hey, don’t by shy about being proud of what you do if you do it well… let the people know!
The new look is already getting positive comments and feedback from long-time customers… and the phone is ringing from new customers ‘who saw the trucks’.

Now to keep pace with today’s marketing trends, TL Services is revamping and redesigning the HAMCO website. The new site, to launch in July, will feature details on products, the company, helpful tips on getting the most out of heating and air conditioning systems and most importantly, it will be easy for customers to find.

Tara, our President, is a Search Engine Optimization (SEO) expert and will be working diligently to place HAMCO at the top of search engine rankings and then working with HAMCO over time to monitor results and ensure consistently high rankings. (TL Services is one of the few communications agencies to have a full time SEO expert on staff to help clients maximize their website investment). Watch this news section for details of the launch and updates on the search engine rankings in the next few months. (remember, it takes about three months to establish the rankings). Stay tuned as we tackle new multi-media projects for HAMCO as the year progresses!