This summer, SpotHero turns 5. In startup years, that’s actually pretty significant, and it’s true that a lot has happened in that time.
For starters, thanks to the world’s greatest customers, we’ve parked more than 3 million cars. During the last 6 months alone, our team has nearly doubled in size.
Between now and Labor Day, another million people will park with SpotHero. And when they do, we want to make sure that we deliver the heroic experience we’re known for, while also taking it up a notch. That’s why we’ve invested in a major facelift for our brand.
Of course, our brand is about much more than design. It’s the combined effect of our entire team working together to deliver on our promise: Easy Parking for All. SpotHero strives to make every interaction one that exceeds our customers’ expectations. Upgrading our visuals is an important step in that direction.
Design Strategy
With a rebrand, we were solving for two major imperatives:
- Parkers First: Accurately reflecting and resonating with our core customer base
- Easy Parking for All: Visually communicating our brand promise
Parkers First
We center the SpotHero experience around our parkers, taking feedback and suggestions and translating them into actionable improvements to our products and services. In the process, we’ve learned a lot about who they are and what makes them tick.
And while SpotHero customers are by no means one-size-fits-all, there are some commonalities they seem to share. Our drivers are smart and savvy. They search for tools that make life easier. They rely on shortcuts, apps and tech solutions to manage and optimize everyday life.
It’s a sophisticated audience that’s grown to expect good design that doesn’t distract—or worse, detract—from even better products. We needed to better resonate with them.
The SpotHero Promise
Our brand promise is simple: Easy Parking for All. We deliver against it in three ways, and we’ve defined these as our brand pillars:
- Empower Parking
We give you the tools you need to control your parking destiny—choice and convenience, without any trade-off. You’re the hero when you park with us: strong and in charge.
- Instill Confidence
We’re not food delivery or a photo sharing app—our drivers trust us with one of their most valuable assets! That means our brand must always reflect dependability and accountability. We work hard to earn and maintain that level of faith.
- Drive Value
Value can mean a lot of things…and we mean all of them. The magical combination of the right price, best location, and exceptional customer service is unique to us, and we consider it our responsibility to deliver. Every time.
The Drawing Board
With our target audience and brand promise top of mind, we got to work on design. Partnering with top design studio Focus Lab, we iterated rapidly, testing typefaces, colors, and shapes. As we narrowed our list of favorites, and shopped them around cross-departmentally, we nixed any concepts that didn’t hit the aesthetic bar of our audience or effectively convey our company promise.
The Results
Logotype
It took months, but we found home in a new logo that’s strong, bold, and stands out confidently amongst the crowd. Importantly, it also exudes the lighthearted, friendly SpotHero personality we’re known for. An updated palette of blues loans energy and flair, while the fun curve and sleek sense of motion place an emphasis on the hero innate to every empowered parker.
The Spot Signal
This decorative element references our original logo, and acts as a symbolic homing beacon as well as an abstract, dynamic design touch. You’ll see it used in lots of different ways across the SpotHero experience. Think of it as a sign that you’re in good hands.
The Car
Paying serious homage to our roots, our updated car is an iconic, differentiating mark with an upbeat, friendly twist. Hovering cheerfully (you might say super-heroically), it’s not a P—nor a cliched pin—yet a signature destined to become a recognizable symbol for parking.
#HeroNow
Indeed, we’ve grown up quite a bit these past 5 years. Today, we’re thrilled to be offering a better design experience, and excited about so much more we have on the horizon for you. The design process demanded of us deep reflection on the core of our brand, and what we mean to drivers. We take none of it for granted.
Thanks for being part of our journey.
