From a regional driving school, to a brand, to franchising

Lindemann Group Branding

The challenge

Back in 2019, Holger, an entrepreneur and friend, approached me with a simple request to help him create marketing materials for one of his driving schools. Together we discovered that the real challenge to more customer engagement, however, lay in a partially wrong and often missing brand perception.

The project

Redevelopment of a brand to excite new customers

In just two years, the scattered design efforts have evolved into a holistic brand strategy that has played a key role in turning the three initial driving schools into a national franchise system. Since we began working together, the Lindemann Group companies have gained massive recognition and trust. In different phases, we have sharpened a brand image that has become known nationwide. To this end, we defined a brand identity; transferred processes, advertising and communication to the digital world, and thus created a basis for more than doubling the size, sales and number of the groups customers in just two years.

My Role

Project Lead

Brand Strategy

Corporate Design

UX-Design

Content Creation

Strategy

Start small and make it big

After a short time, when I was asked to take overall responsibility for brand development, we defined three phases in which I was to work with content producers, developers and other partners to help the group of companies gain more loyal customers.

Phase 01

Standardization of existing (brand) approaches

We started by bringing together the driving schools of the different regions with a single brand. United under the umbrella brand Lindemann Group, the regional branches can continue to operate independently and at the same time rely on the recognition and quality of the umbrella brand. To do this, I identified a foundation of values, designed the visual identity and summarized it in brand guidelines that would help the client anchor a brand understanding in all areas of the company.

Phase 02

Digitize business areas

Accelerated by the Corona pandemic, we transferred processes to digital in order to decentralize the service offering. To meet customer needs in times of home office and home schooling, we established a digital registration process. In combination with in-house produced digital educational content, the Lindemann Group was thus one of the first driving school companies in Germany to continue its classes online and generate further growth, despite lock-downs.

Phase 03

Maximize enthusiasm along the entire customer journey

With the excitement created for the brand and its digital service offering, the logical next step was to transfer this reputation to the entire customer journey. In collaboration with the assigned architecture firm, a concept was developed for the second most important touchpoint, the classrooms. This involved transferring the brand not only visually but also strategically into the three-dimensional space to enrich the layout of the stores with a user-centric design.

Design

The foundation of exciting, emotional brand experiences

Over the course of the collaboration, the different problems also presented individual requirements for the design and creation of the brand assets. In order to be able to react quickly and flexibly to the frequently changing requirements, I developed a design system at the beginning of our collaboration that makes it possible to create a wide variety of analog and digital assets at short notice.

With the newly designed corporate identity, I developed a visual appearance that could convey the previously defined values. Striking and yet clear, the look and feel creates a distinction from market competitors. As an integral part of the brand, the awareness of the future of driving that can be electric as well as autonomous found expression in dynamic, energetic visual elements.

Driving schools have a relatively short customer life cycle. Customers often interact with the company only once and in a short period of their lives. In order to generate any enthusiasm for the brand and its services in this short span, we increased the density of touchpoints a customer experiences during their time with the company. As a result, I created countless advertising and communication materials for different formats and mediums to reach customers where they are receptive to the brand’s promotional efforts.

However, not only the brand development alone was important for the rapid success of the company, but also the closely coordinated interaction with marketing activities. Especially for the presentation of the company on social networks, I therefore expanded the corporate identity with motion design guidelines, which also added rules for the implementation and usage of moving images for the publication of content on YouTube or Instagram.

Holger Lindemann - Managing Director

"What we have achieved in such a short time is and remains impressive. Working closely with Joosten has helped us reposition the Lindemann Group to be even more competitive... Best of all, the results are already visible."

Effect

Quality and passion made visible

For me, this project is a perfect example of how design can help companies use times of change as an opportunity for innovation and growth. The client’s openness created the space to fundamentally rethink processes, structures and ultimately the brand image. The outstanding results, with new customer growth of more than 30% in the year following publication, or increased referrals to 90% of all customers, show that the quality of the services is successfully grasped by customers and passed on. It remains exciting to observe how the company makes brand communication the core of its activities and thus pursues a course to successfully anchor its franchise concept in countless driving schools throughout Germany.