Winnebago Industries, with more than six decades catering to the outdoor recreation industry, has decided it is time for an update.
The company is introducing a refreshed corporate enterprise brand. It said that the new brand identity “will harness the company’s core strengths and common values across its product lines, while accommodating the strength and individuality of its growing portfolio of brands. Winnebago Industries’ products, used primarily in leisure travel and outdoor recreation activities, include motorhomes, travel trailers, fifth-wheel products and boats. Its expanding collection of premium outdoor lifestyle brands include Winnebago, Grand Design, Chris-Craft and Newmar.”
“As our business has evolved, we’ve become a company of many brands, but we’ve always stayed true to our roots – our core company values and foundational strengths,” said Michael Happe, Winnebago Industries president and CEO. “Leading with a refreshed, focused corporate enterprise brand demonstrates that, collectively, Winnebago Industries is stronger than the sum of its parts or products and committed, as an enterprise, to enabling extraordinary outdoor experiences to a widening range of consumers. We believe every product and brand will benefit from that core strength.”
The refreshed corporate enterprise brand identity, which includes a new visual identity system, wordmark and tagline – “Be Great, Outdoors” – is debuting on a new website.
The rebranding comes at a time “when Americans are falling in love with the outdoors again, in spite of – or perhaps because of – the pandemic,” the company said. “It’s a trend borne out by the record-breaking number of visits to state and national parks and echoed by the recent passage of the Great American Outdoors Act. The legislation will enable national parks to fund improvements that will increase access for all, while protecting natural resources.”
Winnebago Industries commissioned a survey to gain insights into Americans’ renewed interest in outdoor experiences. A Padilla Spotlight Survey asked consumers across the U.S. about their outdoor activity level over the past year and their outdoor plans going into 2021. For 2020, the survey found that 68 percent of consumers under the age of 55 participated in an outdoor activity such as camping, hiking at a location away from their home, boating or visiting a state or national park. Overall, 60 percent of the U.S. population pursued an outdoor activity in 2020; for 31 percent of those consumers, it was their first time participating in an outdoor activity.
A Nov. 10 report by the Bureau of Economic Analysis showed multiyear growth in the outdoor recreation sector having a positive impact on the U.S. GDP. The sector generated $788 billion in gross output in 2019 and supported 5.2 million jobs. The five largest conventional outdoor recreation activities are boating/fishing, RVs, hunting, motorcycles and ATVs, and equestrian sports.
“We are thrilled to be introducing a refreshed corporate enterprise brand at a time when people are increasingly turning to the outdoors to pursue extraordinary experiences with family and friends,” said Happe. “We expect our refreshed enterprise brand to galvanize our business across our product brands. It’s much more than a new look. I believe our corporate enterprise brand identity will inspire and unite us around a common spirit of delivering extraordinary experiences to everyone we serve.”
