Ernest Packaging Solutions

Practice

Employee experience

Industry

Industrial

Services

Campaign strategy and planning
Internal brand launch plan
Brand strategy
Internal brand launch campaign
Leadership training
Media buying and stewardship
Brand campaign management
Campaign asset production
Brand messaging
Visual identity
Brand activation

Ernest is a 77-year-old family-owned packaging solutions company. Dedicated to cost-effective, innovative approaches, they specialize in industrial supply, production, and packaging. Each of their 14 coast-to-coast regional divisions are committed to working side-by-side with their clients to transform challenges into possibilities.

Challenge

Since the 2008 rebrand with Liquid, Ernest had grown from 150 to almost 600 employees, and their operations expanded from 9 to 14 divisions. Business was up 165%—a testament to the power of strategic branding.

In the midst of this growth, Ernest has become more solutions-driven. While they still offer commodities like boxes and tape, today they function more like consultants to solve business challenges, bring products to market, and boost the bottom line. The packaging solutions brand had served them well for over 10 years, but now they are beyond the “packaging” category.

The stage was set for a brand refresh—a reimagining of Ernest’s identity in alignment with its new aspirations. How could we keep a 78-year-old company feeling fresh while maintaining its legacy?

Approach

This time around, we took a deep dive into Ernest’s culture and commitment to client success.

We saw them consistently investing in relationships with clients and understanding their clients’ plans for growth—whether or not it involved packaging. With that insight, we understood that the new brand would focus on Ernest’s unique commitment to fostering relationships—partnering for their clients’ success.

For the brand refresh, we went all out. From brand strategy, to a new visual identity, to an internal and external launch campaign, we set a plan in motion to transform the brand. Our goal was to mirror what Ernest was becoming as a company: a partner to solve the unsolvable, fostering human connections, while making a positive impact in the process.

It started with strategy.

The brand platform defines what a brand stands for and how it is expressed in all aspects—through story, customer experience and look, feel, and sound. It’s the foundation of the brand strategy.

For Ernest, this meant conveying that they always say no to the status quo. It also marked a bold shift for the company. They went from focusing on how they delivered to clients, to a bold commitment to positioning themselves as facilitators of human connection. At Liquid, we needed to convey this drive to establish and maintain relationships.

Pioneers of packaging.

When it comes to solving unexpected packaging problems, Ernest is fearless. They partner with companies large or small to tackle any business challenge, whether it’s bringing products to market, growing revenue, or building their brand. In other words, Ernest is much more than a vendor or another link in the supply chain. They pride themselves in helping their clients blaze new trails. In fact, Ernest has a name for these fearless folks, “The Pioneers of Packaging.”

A refreshed brand identity.

We shortened the name from “Ernest Packaging Solutions” to simply “Ernest” to encompass their broad business solutions focus beyond packaging, as well as to honor the legacy of Ernest Wilson, a co-founder. That legacy lives on through his brother, Charles, who still serves as Chairman and CEO, and his nephew, Tim, who is President of Ernest.

A new brand language.

Ernest has always been fun, thoughtful and a little avant-garde. “Where’s the Ernest quirk?” is a frequent discussion around the company. Knowing the “quirk” was an asset, we turned up the volume across the entire brand language through unique patterns, collages, and chevrons.

A fresh, localized website update.

We helped Ernest develop a new digital presence with 15 versions of their website landing page— one national site with 14 divisional microsites. The website recognizes users’ locations to serve them relevant local content and branded elements. We also make sure that local client stories and employee profiles come up first, and all content is tailored to the specific regions.

Curating the video experience.

On Ernest’s new video platform, Ernest+, users can enjoy an extensive library of over 75 videos with a seamless, user-friendly experience. Like Netflix or Disney+, it’s easy to sort by video type to find exactly what you’re looking for. From client stories, to heritage videos, to our Cardboard Chaos series, it’s all here. And unlike YouTube, Ernest+ offers a no cost controlled, ad-free environment.

The new brand out in the world.

For a company to succeed, brand-culture alignment must run through the entire organization. So we created content, experiences, and tools built specifically for Ernest employees. E-Teamers, to understand and embrace the new brand.

With the external launch, we used a mix of paid marketing, owned media channels, and 1-on-1 customer interactions. The launch campaign, dubbed “Witness the Freshness,” features Dudley—a three-day-old stale donut mascot from the brand anthem video who embodies the transformation and freshness that Ernest delivers.

New brand launch success.

The Ernest brand reflects the evolved business model, unique way of serving its clients, and ambitious plans for growth. After a successful launch, Dudley the Donut lives on to remind everyone of the brand’s fresh and innovative approach.

Ernest business success since partnering with Liquid.

We set out to build a very unique brand in an industrial business vertical where the bar for marketing and branding is very low. With an Ernest brand vision to always challenge convention it is clear they are committed to do so by the unique approach to brand and marketing that are by far the most progressive in the industry. Cheers to Ernest for their success!