Avail Car Sharing
THE ADVENTURE OF SHARED MOBILITY
Avail is a P2P car-sharing challenger in partnership with Allstate. This project represents the ground–up creation of a new brand: from strategy, positioning and naming to physical and digital customer experiences, environments and collateral to culture and values.
Sincere storytelling — showing ride–sharing as an adventure, rather than a transaction, brought this P2P brand to market during unprecedented social changes.
Creative Direction
Strategy
Naming
Positioning
Identity / Collateral
Environments / Experience
Culture & Values
Marketing & Campaign
“Nothing behind me, everything ahead of me, as is ever so on the road.”
Who We Are
Avail is a car-sharing service protected by Allstate. We connect people who have cars with people who need to borrow them — saving and making money for people like you. But deep down, we’re adventurers and doers, excited about exploring new places, trying new things, and redefining the way people see car ownership.
We're adventurers and doers
Our Promises
FUNCTIONAL PROMISE
Avail products will always be:
• Locally–relevant
• Easy to use
• Customer–focused
• Protected by Allstate
EMOTIONAL PROMISE
Avail gives people uplifting, thoughtful experiences. In everything we do, we aim to make people feel safe, happy and welcomed.
It's about creating moments that connect people to each other, to the community, and to our brand.
Brand Voice
We put people first. Hospitality is at the heart of our business, and we serve our customers in an honest, human way, with the grace and sincerity of a true friend.
We all live together in this community. We’re sharing spaces, places and conversations. We’re raising the expectations of our journeys and destinations, and how we treat each other along the way.
An Antidote to Isolation
BRAND ARCHETYPE
We’re pioneers in a new category, humbly venturing out into the world to try something new...yet as old as time: freedom of movement.
We seek to join local communities together across great distances: food desserts, cultural valleys, and economic gaps—to connect with our customers, learn how to serve them best, and shrink the distances between us all.
We are more than a car sharing company: We are an antidote to isolation.
Our Audience is at
the center of
everything we do
Identity
THE AVAIL LOGO IS DESIGNED TO FEEL HUMAN, INVITING, AND HISTORIC
The letterforms of our main mark reflect the kinetic energy of our brand, while calling back to a familiar Americana, while the soft curves harken back to the winding road.
THE A ICON
The "A." icon is our shorthand for many of the brand ideals we put forward: motion, playfulness, friendliness. Like the main mark, it takes its inspiration from historic signage, and makes for a useful animated property.
Before
After
WE’RE COMMUNICATING FEELINGS OF LIBERTY, MOVEMENT, SAFETY AND ACCESSIBILITY
A crowded logo would communicate counter to this mood. Keep it free and clear so our customers feel that way, too. Always maintain a buffer of half-the-height of the capital “A”around the whole logo and lockup.
Typography
ANDES ROUNDED / GT WALSHEIM
Like the main mark, our headline Andes is reminiscent of the road. For body copy and smaller information carrying type, we use the more structured GT Walsheim.
Color Palette
After collaborating and battling with several outsider agencies — including Allstate's original AOR Leo Burnett — I managed to push truly unique ID through the final board approval, which in turn opened a new age of in-house work for both companies. I fought equally hard to keep the logo from being muted by corporate colors, but in the end we have a beautiful mark that must bow to the organizational hierarchy. These are the trials and compromises that all executive-level creatives must confront. This palette was not a hill I wanted to die on.
PRIMARY COLORS
SECONDARY COLORS
Form Factors
ID can and should inform user experiences across key digital touch–points, print, environments, and anywhere the brand shows up. The brand should both lead and serve the product, while any cognitive divide can completely break the experience.
Environments
A connector needs to be a good host and create a cohesive experience so everyone has a good time. We’re a social organizer bringing the community together. We are welcoming, smart, and sunny. Every part of our airport and residential experience lives into these personality traits.
SAN FRANCISCO HQ
Summation
AMERICAN MOBILITY
During the course of creating this brand, I worked with multiple external agencies, Allstate stakeholders, and Avail leadership — a big machine. Through it all, I adhered to a simple brand differentiator: a nostalgia for the American road, and the value of free movement that we preserve perhaps better than any other tradition.
As the Head of Brand, traveling to open new locations really clarified this story for me: seeing cities I would never have gone to, and meeting people I now understand make up the heart of the country.
At a time when the country felt estranged from itself, I was able to see just how alike we are — our intrinsic need to move. When we venture out into the world, we see the best of each other, and things get simpler, while the things we hear second-hand lose their impact. Our shared values outnumber our differences by so much. This is what I wanted Avail to be about: moving and changing together.
This is the intersection of functional and emotional promises that make up the heart of Avail...and any meaningful brand today.