Adventure’s First StopGear up for a journey that will take you from a simple country store to one of the most celebrated brands in C-store history.

No C-store understands the importance of branding better than MaverikWith the assistance of Next Door and the strong implementation of the Next Door Brand Transformation methodology, Maverik has realized significant success in

achieving their branding objectives.

Next Door has been working with Maverik since 1999 to develop a brand that converts

customers into “raving fans.”

These customers are so loyal that they drive out of their way to visit a Maverik store

for gas and goodies, and support Maverik’s social and environmental causes.

This is a brand where customers name their children “Maverik” (a true story!) and a

brand that connects to the local culture with the statement, “We know what you like.

We know who you are and what’s important to you.”

This brand focuses the core message of every advertising message and promotional

activity. Next Door has reinforced the Maverik brand with powerful advertising campaigns

focused on one thing: getting people in stores buying fuel and stuff.

1920sHistory

It all began in the late 1920s, when “Grandpa” Reuel Call would drive his loaded fuel truck across the rustic landscape of Star Valley, Wyoming, selling and delivering the much-needed fuel to farmers. His efforts were successful and in a very short time he was able to start his own convenience store business. To keep customer costs down, he was one of the first visionaries to adopt a self-service business model. Gasoline supply was not plentiful at the time, so Grandpa Call built two refineries of his own and developed his own independent brand– Maverik.

Inspired by the rich cowboy heritage of Wyoming and his love of C. M.

Russell’s Western paintings, Grandpa Call forged a strong Western

brand for his convenience store business – Maverik Country Stores.

This was apropos for a guy whose business was located in a

part of the country that epitomized the rugged and fearless West.

The Maverik brand told a story about old-fashioned values,

independent thinking, and honest hard work through the use of

Old West design and cowboy characters. Consistent brand messaging

and advertising earned Maverik a strong, loyal following that leaned

toward the country western psychographic profile and developed

a reputation for good food and inexpensive fuel.

Maverik’s competition was generic by comparison. Whether you love

‘em or hate ‘em, Maverik was an independent, powerful brand and a

force to be reckoned with!

Through good old-fashioned hard work and honest business practices,

the business grew from 1 store to 120 stores in 30 years.

Part I - The Old WestA True Maverick Brand 1970 -2000

Architecture Maverik Stores were easy to spot with their signature Western architecture and orange and brown accents.

Maverik Mug The 32 oz. Maverik Mug helped increase customer loyalty with refills that cost just 25 cents.

The Tankers Logos on fuel tankers were meticulously hand painted.

MAVERIKPaint your wagon

The old store interiors were clean, plain and simple. Maverik’s focus was on high value without the frills.

Even before the term “branding” was introduced in the United States, Grandpa Call felt the need to expand upon Maverik’s image so customers would have an emotional connection to Maverik besides just great deals and cheap fuel.

Characters were introduced over a period of time and eventually became the face of Maverik.

“The Maverik” character was used on almost every printed piece of advertising and marketing. He symbolized an independent spirit and character.

Framed oil painted scenes of “The Maverik” coming to the rescue adorned the walls of the corporate office.

Leopold, the lovable and quirky deli mascot, was a symbol of hearty food at a great price.

The End of the TrailGrandpa Call’s Old West Maverik Country Store brand with its quaint

characters began to run out of steam at the end of the 20th century.

Its appeal focused on a narrowing psychographic. A change in brand

direction was imminent...

In 1999, the reins of Maverik’s branding were handed to the new

VP of Marketing, Brad Call, who saw the old-west cowboy brand

fading like sun-bleached paint. Though the brand image needed

a serious overhaul, he did not want to deviate from the exuberant

spirit and honest values that made Maverik such a respected brand.

He envisioned an exciting outdoor action-adventure brand and a

customer experience like no other. His own vitality and enthusiasm

was destined to influence the new Maverik brand.

Part II - The Adventure BeginsFrom Old West to Outdoor High Adventure 2000 - Current

MAVERIKAdventure’s First Stop

Brad quickly established a relationship with a local media buyer to place TV ads, but the media buyer lacked the creative and production experience to produce ads that would generate the desired response and results.

The media buyer then referred Brad to Ernie Harker, then president of 8fish and current Marketing Director of Maverik, and Tim White, former Vice-president of 8fish and principle of Next Door, a branding company that builds brand leaders. Next Door had the ability to execute and produce significant results by implementing creative marketing elements using in-house design, video production, animation, and illustration. What started as a request for TV commercial production would turn into a partnership lasting more than a decade.

Phase 1- Brand Analysis Next Door and Maverik took a very candid and revealing look at the Maverik brand. It was a discovery process that asked the questions, “What makes the Maverik brand unique? Who is the true customer? What attracts or repels someone from stepping foot inside a Maverik store?”

Every aspect of the brand was put under close scrutiny. Everyone knew the brand was in distress, but the challenge to Next Door was to find out what could be done to re-establish Maverik’s leadership status.

In close collaboration with Brad, 8fish surveyed both customers and employees and reviewed the competition. Maverik’s identity across all touch points – from signage to coffee cups – was investigated and evaluated.

New Corporate IdentityNext Door replaced the references to “Country Store & Bakery” with an updated logo, outdoor theme, and the “Adventure’s First Stop” tag line.

Maverik’s AudiencesWhile acknowledging and maintaining their core audience of blue collar workers, Maverik also expanded their brand positioning to appeal to the “adventure” crowd.

Blue Collar Workers

Action Sport Participants & Followers

Outdoor Enthusiasts

Phase II- Brand Strategy Next Door recommended developing a completely new and adventurous brand position for the company.

This new positioning was to attract a more diverse customer base without alienating their core customers. It was agreed upon that Maverik should evolve from the Old West to high action outdoor adventure.

Brad simply stated this objective, “Appeal to the soccer moms without losing our blue collar base.”

However, not all of Maverik’s customer base were outdoor enthusiasts or even soccer moms, for that matter. Keeping this in mind and through Next Door’s keen insight and remarkable innovation, the creative team developed a story that would focus Maverik’s branding and marketing efforts on revealing the adventurous spirit in everyone.

The brand story suggests that Maverik views life’s everyday events as adventures. Maverik is the first place to stop for fuel and food for the road whether you’re headed for a vacation to Yosemite, soccer practice in the park, or on your way to work.

A trip to Maverik should be your first stop before embarking upon your next adventure.

In Next Door’s first presentation with Maverik, the tag line “Adventure’s First Stop” was presented and it has been a part of Maverik’s signature ever since.

MAVERIKThe Adventure Lens

The Brand Lens A highly defined and focused element in the Next Door Brand Transformation that ensures brand coherency. All ideas, proposed objectives and intitatives are evalutated and must pass through the lens before any implementation and production takes place.

MAVERIKAdventure Brand Elements Maverik Land

Knowing that there is more to a brand than just a tag line, Next Door introduced and formalized with Maverik an element of the Phase II process known as “grinding the lens.” The brand “lens” is the over-arching and defining element of the approved strategy formulated in Phase II. All ideas for advertising, marketing or themeing initiatives must pass through the lens to ensure brand continuity and strength. If it doesn’t, it’s not considered.

To bring a cohesive whole to all of these various elements pertaining to Maverik’s story and to maintain its dynamic personality, Next Door developed the Adventure Lens.

Brad, in strong collaboration with Next Door, has defined the Adventure Lens as, “Outdoor adventure with lots of energy.”

By viewing all opportunities through the Adventure Lens, Maverik has created an environment where the customer is immersed in the Maverik adventure brand for a truly unique experience.

Phase III - Execution Perhaps one of the most ambitious and higher profile projects for Next Door was realizing Brad’s vision of creating an outdoor adventure atmosphere inside the stores. Next Door artists directed the creation of life-sized action figures and illustrated a 360-degree mural of Maverik’s idealized landscape. Products and enhanced outdoor experiences appear larger than life in a rugged, exciting environment.

“The style of our illustrations are a major part of the new Maverik brand. A customer

could see one of our illustrations without any logos or design elements and identify

it as a Maverik piece. Having a partner that has the in-house capability to produce a

unique style of illustration was key to our success.” – Brad Call

MAVERIKHaulin’ Adventure

These in-store murals and three-dimensional design elements pull the customer into “Maverik Land” for an experience rivaled by no one. It’s visually inspiring, yet the design elements also serve as informative indicators to assist customers in finding products by transforming often overlooked in-store areas.

For instance, the typically generic, often purely functional beer cooler has been converted to “The Tavern Cavern” with a floor-to-ceiling icy cold mural. And the very sweet, but visually bland, candy aisle has become “Candy Canyon,” complete with signage constructed out of simulated hand-hewn wood.

The soda fountain is located beneath “Fountain Falls” where a life-sized, three- dimensional kayaker is suspended above a mural of a cascading soda waterfall. The coffee service is found below the “Bodacious Bean Mountain Coffees” mural, which features steaming coffee rivers and geysers of milk and cream. These vignettes enhance the customer experience like no other C-store.

Now, it only stands to reason that the Maverik outdoor adventure wouldn’t be much of one if it was contained solely inside the stores. Thus, the need was immediately recognized to propagate the Maverik brand to all of the multiple touch points that current and potential customers may experience.

Maverik’s fleet of tanker trucks are wrapped with murals depicting outdoor adventures

“Creating our illustrations of Maverik Land digitally allowed us to work quickly and make

frequent updates. It also gave us the flexibility to produce artwork for different sizes and

shapes for varying store footprints by adjusting the illustrated elements in Photoshop.

It’s a huge service to Maverik.” – Ernie Harker

Recruiting PosterRon Duncombe, Kick Start’s host, with a show participant.

MAVERIKMaverik Land and Beyond

at extreme in-your-face angles illustrated by Next Door artists. The action elements of each illustration were painted in such a way so as to pull the action to the viewer.

Those same tanker illustrations were re-purposed for the fuel pumps and canopy supports.

One could say that Maverik literally fuels your adventure.

With all of the brand identity in place, it was time to take the adventure message to the masses. It was time for Kick Start. Brad, his Maverik team and Next Door were collectively frustrated with traditional advertising – the costs, the saturation of outlets, and the audience’s general lack of response, which is typical in conventional advertising mediums. Next Door was challenged to find a better way.

Next Door proposed teaming up with Maverik vendors to finance a half-hour reality show named Kick Start, a television

“The Maverik brand is all about extreme

adventure. Instead of just telling our audience

about the Maverik brand, we’re involving them

by taking them on adventures and picking up

some Maverik goodies along the way. If we

can inspire people to get out and enjoy the

amazing local adventure resources and pick up

something from Maverik en route, we’ve met

our marketing objectives.”

– Ernie Harker, Maverik Marketing Director

and online program where customers are taken on extreme adventures to kick-start their lives.

Up to this point, television advertising has been all about interrupting people with a sales or branding message while they’re watching something entertaining. Kick Start is ‘advertainment’; blending advertising with entertainment by involving brands and products that are congruent with the show. It makes for better advertising because we see the brand or product as part of the entertainment instead of as an interruption.

Maverik is able to promote the vendors who want their products to sell. The TV show acted as a catalyst for an interactive campaign, including a Kick Start tour, web site, pump toppers, soft drink cups, and contests.

SponsorshipMaverik merchandise vendors, like M&M’s/Mars and Red Bull, have offered their brands to produce episodes of Kick Start.

Kick Start’s award-winning web site.

MAVERIKKick Start

MAVERIKKick Start Tour

The Kick Start TV show provides a great reason to go on the road to promote the Maverik brand with customers face to face.

Two or three times a week, the Maverik tour crew pulls a sponsor-branded trailer behind a gnarly red Jeep™ to various Maverik stores, sponsored events, tailgates and other large gatherings that can generate quite a scene.

They set up canopies and a large screen TV to show video segments of Kick Start mixed with sponsor ads. They offer product samples, encourage customers to sign up for their loyalty card program and even audition people for Kick Start participants.

Occasionally, the host of the show is able to make appearances and sign autographs. It makes a huge statement and it’s a lot of fun!

Live-action TV commercials for Adventure’s First Stop.

Illustrated drink cups.

Radio and TV ad campaigns, soft drink cup designs, coffee cup designs, private label packaging, internal marketing, gondola markers… and the list goes on and on. You have your own list of marketing and branding objectives. Let the C-store experts at Next Door check them off one by one.

MAVERIK…and so much more!

Animated TV commercials for the Maverik “Monster” campaign.

MAVERIKThe Adventure Continues

Maverik’s rebranding – with its solid positioning, innovative strategies, and inspired creative – has had a powerful effect on the C-store industry. It has been recognized time and time again in numerous industry publications, such as Convenience Store News and Convenience Store/Petroleum.

During the past decade, the industry has emphasized Maverik as a leader in the C-store sector and, well, for being a true “maverick” by pioneering themed branding in their stores’ architecture, culture and marketing.

Next Door is honored to be an integral part of Maverik’s evolution and success as their partner and confidant from the beginning and ambitiously looks forward to the next 10 years.

Cover story on Maverik’s rebranding in Convenience Store News, March 2008.

“The creative people at Next Doorare top notch and have improved their systems and processes to increase their service to us. They provide us with not only world-class production but their creativity, problem solving and passion have made them a true partner. They are always thinking about our business and how they can help us be more successful. I trust their judgment. They are mindful of ROI and have our best interest at heart. It has been so convenient to have a highly talented and versatile resource in Next Door. But the most important thing for me is that they know who signs the check and they work their tails off for it.”

– Brad Call, VP Marketing, Maverik

Next Door | 801.462.2359 | nextdoorcreative.com