The exchange cocktail bar

rebrand | brand identity — Core messaging + tone & voice

The Exchange is a craft cocktail bar with Midwestern roots and an international selection of whiskeys. As a member of the JDA Worldwide Creative team, I served as the dedicated writer for The Exchange brand for 2.5 years. Leveraging audience insights, I helped craft its new brand identity along with a paid rebrand campaign.

To reach its local audiences in Downtown Indianapolis and South Bend, the bar required a rebrand that reflected its cosmopolitan sophistication and Midwestern hospitality. To help inform the brand identity, specifically its messaging, I collaborated with JDA’s VP of brand and the team’s marketing strategist to research its consumer audiences and conducted historical research to develop the creative attributes of its identity. Below, are samples from Core Messaging section of the formal Exchange Brand Identity Guide and various applications of the brand tone and voice — from printed bar coasters to paid social and web.

Brand VP: Kristi Neville // Strategy: Chris McNeely // CD: Jonathan Vessely // Design: Michael Saalman