Hannibal Industries was ready for a rebrand. The company had determined that with recent modernization of its manufacturing process and the expansion of its service offering, it was a good time to modernize the branding. With more than a decade of working with MPC, both teams determined what needed to be done to update the logo, color scheme, website and existing video assets. The project was set to take about 90 days.

MPC worked with management at Hannibal to complete the following steps of the rebrand:

• Create a mood board to help establish the new look and feel of the company
• Create several logo options and work with executive team to make a final choice
• Finalize branding and implement it throughout all internal and external communication points
• Build a new website from the ground up that would reflect the company’s breadth of services it is now offering its customers
• Secure new product photography for product lines
• Write and distribute a news release that introduces the new company to the material handling industry and beyond
• Help communicate the changes to internal staff

Unforeseen issues:
During the new branding exercise, executive staff at Hannibal confided in MPC that they were in negotiations to sell the company to steel giant Nucor.  Once the timing of the sale was made known, MPC made a pivot on the branding and updated the logo to include the new affiliation with its parent company. MPC was able to update the logo, implement it into the new website and launch on time.

The initial goal to rebrand the look and feel of Hannibal, including new logo, website and a full library of digital assets was very successful. Of note was the lightning bolt design that incorporated a subtle nod to its manufacturing process using robotic arms, became the icon that would be used extensively across internal and external audiences.

The acquisition of Hannibal Industries by Nucor was a secondary but highly confidential and important tactic during this project. MPC aligned with Hannibal executives on an end-to-end communications strategy leading up to the sale, including internal and external audiences.  This included a video, shot in a secret location, featuring top executives announcing the sale of the company to its employee-owners.

MPC worked with the Nucor Corporate PR team on the acquisition announcement and led the Material Handling Trade Media outreach, resulting in interviews with the top material handling media outlets and the Wall Street Journal.  The positive press on the acquisition was extensive and led to additional editorial opportunities throughout the year.