For years, Speedy Signs had built strong brand recognition through a memorable 15-second animated television commercial. The campaign had become familiar to audiences across New Zealand and helped reinforce Speedy Signs as a nationwide signage provider with broad capabilities.
But over time, the market began to shift.
Research revealed that women, particularly those working in marketing, office management, and administrative roles, were becoming increasingly influential in signage purchasing decisions. In many businesses, these were the people coordinating branding projects, organising premises upgrades, arranging events, managing vehicle signage, and sourcing suppliers.
The problem was that much of the signage industry, including existing advertising, still largely spoke to a traditionally male audience.
Speedy Signs recognised the need to evolve its messaging and creative approach without losing the recognisable animated style that had already become strongly associated with the brand.
The challenge for Brand IQ was to create a new television commercial that would appeal to this growing female audience while still communicating the wide range of signage products and services Speedy Signs offers nationwide.
And we had just 30 seconds to do it.
Rather than abandoning the established creative platform, we expanded it.
The original animated “Speedy Signs van journey” concept was extended into a larger, more dynamic story that travelled further through the town environment, showcasing a broader range of signage solutions along the way. The extended format allowed us to feature more of the products franchisees provide every day, from shop signage and vehicle graphics through to large-format outdoor displays and event signage.
But the key shift was emotional.
To better connect with the emerging female buyer audience, we introduced a narrative moment centred around Jane, a young woman who unexpectedly receives a marriage proposal displayed through one of Speedy Signs’ outdoor signage solutions at a packed rugby stadium.
The proposal scene transformed the commercial from simply a product showcase into a story people could emotionally engage with. It demonstrated signage not just as a functional business tool, but as something capable of creating excitement, emotion, visibility, and memorable public moments.
That human element helped broaden the appeal of the campaign considerably.
The animation style remained playful and recognisable, preserving continuity with the existing Speedy Signs brand identity, while the expanded storytelling introduced more warmth, personality, and relatability into the campaign.
Media placement also became part of the strategy.
The new commercial was scheduled not only within sport programming, where Speedy Signs already had strong visibility, but also within programmes attracting a higher female viewership. This helped ensure the refreshed messaging reached the audience increasingly influencing signage purchasing decisions within businesses across New Zealand.
The result was a campaign that successfully modernised the brand without losing the familiarity and consistency built through earlier advertising. Franchisees across the country embraced the longer-format TV commercial because it gave them a stronger platform to communicate the breadth of their offering while also connecting with a broader and increasingly important customer base.
More importantly, the campaign reflected a deeper strategic insight: sometimes the growth opportunity is not changing what you sell, but recognising who is really making the decisions.
