MillerKnoll Certified Dealer
OVERVIEW
Struggling with a dated identity and fragmented messaging, a leading commercial interiors firm needed a brand reset to communicate its MillerKnoll Certified Dealer status during the historic Herman Miller and Knoll merger.
I architected a new, original brand system to reflect the gravitas of their legacy as a modern design authority while ensuring seamless alignment with MillerKnoll’s global graphic standards. The resulting system delivers high visual impact that differentiates MTA from other certified dealers while meeting MillerKnoll's required brand guidelines.
ROLE + SCOPE
Brand Strategy & Positioning: Market entry strategy, competitor analysis, architecture, and messaging frameworks.
Creative Direction, Design, & Copywriting: Visual identity, asset creation systems, fleet graphics, and storytelling.
Brand UI Design & Digital PM: Responsive website user interface brand design, content development, and cross-vendor asset management.
Integrated Marketing Systems: Omnichannel deployment across event and email marketing, social campaigns, and internal communications.
STRATEGY
The historic merger of former rivals Herman Miller and Knoll had a significant impact on the dealers of the two manufacturers. The change meant my client, Miles Treaster Associates (MTA), would be in direct competition with the local Knoll dealer KBM Hogue, selling the same lines for the first time in their 64-year history as of June 1, 2022.
MTA's roots trace back to 1958, when the company opened its doors as Treaster & Green, Sacramento's original Herman Miller dealer and modern interior design firm. In the 1970s, Miles Treaster purchased the business from his father and changed the company's name. Over the next four decades, Miles' passion for design established him as a regional expert. Although he retired and sold the business to employees in 2006, he remained a beloved fixture in the local design community through his retirement and his death in 2012.
In contrast, the competing local Knoll dealer opened in 1974. Their subsequent acquisition by the San Jose Knoll dealership in 2017 made the Sacramento office a satellite for their Bay Area operations. The out-of-market headquarters and fraction of MTA's local market tenure were significant disadvantages to the Sacramento design community, who preferred local connections and served different business sectors than the Bay Area’s technology-based clientele.
Competitive analysis revealed an “onlyness” I leveraged as the core strategy: the client’s tenure as the Sacramento market’s original commercial interiors firm and modern furnishings dealer was their advantage.
This advantage positioned MTA as the local leader, forcing KBM Hogue to compete as the out-of-market dealer in the challenger role.
The client’s value proposition was turned into their tagline:
Sacramento's modern design connection since 1958.
To reinforce this core message, I developed a visual symbol system, featuring iconic images of MillerKnoll design legends (Charles and Ray Eames, George Nelson, Florence Knoll, Eero Saarinen, and Harry Bertoia) paired with MTA's beloved Miles Treaster, alongside line drawings of the two manufacturers' most recognizable furnishings.
The combination of the tagline and visual symbols effectively communicated their unique value proposition and served as a seamless through-line for the entire enterprise system.
SYSTEM
Deployed over a three-month sprint across a new identity, updated brand standards, responsive website, social media, email marketing, showroom experience, merchandise, vehicle fleet, and business communications, the MTA system delivered one cohesive presence across every touchpoint while increasing brand salience, market relevance, and capital efficiency.
RESULTS
+23%
social engagement/
audience salience
+26%
conversion/
market penetration
+41%
unique site traffic/
brand demand
+70%
qualified leads/
capital efficiency