Mercedes-Benz, Lexus, Porsche, Volvo, Jaguar, Land Rover. You’ve heard of ‘em. The dealer who sells them? Not so much. But research showed that the long-term ownership experience far outweighs the time you spend buying a car. And Park Place creates an experience second to none.

Measuring the value of a brand can be difficult but it became crystal clear in 2020 when Ken Schnitzer, the founder of Park Place, sold eight of his dealerships, and the Park Place brand to Asbury Automotive Group for $735 million—a multiple of approximately 10x annual earnings. After the sale, we were tasked with strengthening and evolving the brand through the pandemic and beyond by connecting with the next generation of luxury car buyer.

In order to transform Park Place’s external brand, we started with the core — its people. First, we developed a brand identity just for their associates that leveraged the letter “X” to represent its core expression and beliefs. Then, we brought the “X” into consumer-facing materials like the “Experts in Excellence” tagline to represent how members are the “X factor” that sets Park Place apart.