Central City Scale
Rebranding, Strategy & Messaging, Website, Video
Central City Scale Inc. (CCS) is an agricultural technology company working in and adapting to the changing needs in agricultural production since 1974. They work with producers to create efficiency and precision in their operations. They needed a brand refresh and new ideas for how to talk about and position their business.
After initial research and interviews, M2 was able to sum up their competitive advantage into a brief statement:
‘Central City Scale equipment helps producers make informed decisions in the field. Efficiency of time through information and certainty.’
And the tagline:
“Built for producers. Built for the field.”
M2 then built messaging around the concept of, “Don’t guess. Know.” – writing ad copy that related the value of CCS to the producers and reinforcing the ideas of efficiency, knowledge, and support.
Additionally, M2 crafted a visual look and feel. The team created a logo based on the weight bar of the scale systems, symbolizing the three generations of stability and knowledge, and the connection between the hardware, software, and operator. The blue and green symbolize the agriculture and technology sectors, and secondary colors to complement. The brand and messaging were then used to create an ad campaign, and designed and developed a new website.
Website
We redesigned the CCS website with simplicity in mind. Their previous site had been difficult to navigate and was not mobile friendly. The site is essentially an agricultural technology catalog with hardware, software, and service sections. With that in mind we were able to reduce the primary menu from 12 to 5 buttons. We reorganized the content in a way that allowed a user to drill down to find what they are interested in. We also created a site-map to provide a backup and let people see the overall site organization. We implemented a breadcrumb bar and on-page menus to show a user which section they are in, and what options are available. The outcome is a significantly better user experience both on a desktop or a mobile device, with a custom e-commerce quote system.
Website Features: E-Commerce
Video
Central City Scale Inc. wanted to highlight a few of the products they sell through video to show each scale’s and kit’s features on their website.
M2 worked with Central City Scale to go over which products they wanted to feature, how to film a set-up and tear-down sequence for the scales, and important notes that needed to be in the video.
The team went out to Central City and filmed all of their products in a half-day video shoot and created a customized script for each product video. The videos range from 45-seconds to 2-minutes long with a professional voice-over.