THE PROBLEM
After recognizing a need for temporary seating at at golf events in the 1980s, Robbie Robertson and his team at Colonnade Group spent the next two decades growing their business and expanding their offerings in venues across the country. In 2018, with a massive warehouse full of millions of dollars in assets, offices at universities across the US, and a presence at premiere horse and auto racing facilities, Colonnade Group approached our team at FRED with a project of redefining itself.
Essentially, Colonnade Group was having something of an identity crisis. Not in a bad way. In a short time, they had grown from a small company where a handful of dedicated employees were all touching every part of the business into a behemoth of the premium events entertainment space with countless moving parts.
THE FIX
THE COLONNADE DIVISIONS
The first task was in understanding the many offerings Colonnade brings to the table and drawing clear distinctions for potential clients. This was work Colonnade had done internally, but it was our job to put hard borders, language, and branding around each division while keeping them clearly under the Colonnade Group umbrella.
THE FANGINEERS GUIDEBOOK
We identified one of Colonnade’s most interesting and distinguishing offerings in their army of Division I campus ambassadors called the FANgineers. These are paid positions for college students, and the responsibilities range widely from taking out trash to manning the intimate setting of the VIP box. We created a bible for the FANgineers—designed to fit snugly into a back pocket, written to make premium hospitality service a no-brainer, and relatively cheap to produce. According to Robbie, it’s one of the best, most successful moves Colonnade ever made.
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