Rebranding Florida Man's survival brand

Deliverables

Brand Strategy

Visual Identity

Content Strategy

Marketing Collateral

Brand Guidelines

Photography

The Survival Outpost is a YouTube channel about wilderness and urban survival run by channel operator, Blitz.

Initially, Blitz wanted to test some merch designs, but soon realized this wouldn't meet his larger goals.

Faced with this realization, we helped Blitz redefine his strategy.

Merely surviving wasn't enough. The tinder was lit but the firewood was damp. It was time to pour gas on the fire.

And pour gas we did.

After our brand transformation, Blitz doubled his subscriber base from 30,000 to 60,000 in 2023.

Discovery

When Blitz first came to us, his channel boasted an impressive 30,000 subscribers—a testament to his content's appeal.

However, our initial discussions and design explorations revealed key challenges:

  • Overall, the identity was not cohesive, making standing out and being memorable more difficult.
  • The logo was complex and didn’t read well at smaller sizes.
  • Thumbnails were inconsistent and time-consuming.
  • The audience was vaguely defined.

These issues highlighted the need for a more cohesive and scalable brand identity and strategy to take guesswork out of the equation.

Pages from the brand strategy document for The Survival Outpost.
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Process

As we got into strategy, we learned:

  • A traditional look & feel in a modern context matched his content (wilderness & urban survival).
  • Bugout bag guides were his most popular content by a country mile.
  • No competitors owned the color orange.

For the logo mark, Blitz requested exploration of a sigil created from Norse runes. This way, he could imbue meaning into his logo and be more distinct from the competition.

Blitz chose a stylescape and we began building the identity.

The stylescape direction chosen for The Survival Outpost, created before any final assets were made.
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Pieces of The Survival Outpost logo from the creation process.
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Outcome

Our rebranding efforts led to significant developments:

  • Defined Target Audience: We focused on engaging adventurous 20-somethings and blue-collar family men seeking practical survival skills.
  • Cohesive Visual Identity: Introduced a flexible, earthy color palette and a meaningful sigil logo, enhancing brand recognition and differentiation.
  • Merchandise Expansion: Developed merchandise designs incorporating the 5 Cs of Survival, aligning products with popular content and providing additional revenue streams.
  • Lead Magnet Creation: Proposed and designed a comprehensive bugout bag guide as a free resource to attract newsletter signups, offering value and establishing authority.
  • Affiliate Integration: Included both Amazon affiliate and direct manufacturer links in the guide, creating convenient purchasing options and additional income avenues.

These outcomes addressed the identity inconsistency and positioned The Survival Outpost for scalable growth and deeper audience engagement.

Various logo lockups for The Survival Outpost, including a primary lockup, badge lockup, logotype, and icon/logo mark.
The color palette for The Survival Outpost.
A color-graded image of Blitz holding one of his bugout bags.
Channel art and thumbnails for The Survival Outpost.
Lifestyle photography and examples of pins for The Survival Outpost.
Colorful merchandise examples for The Survival Outpost including hats, mugs, shirts, patches, and other assorted items.
Colorful merchandise examples for The Survival Outpost including hats, water bottles, beanies, patches, and other assorted items.
Colorful merchandise examples for The Survival Outpost including hats, water bottles, beanies, patches, and other assorted items.
The cover from The Survival Outpost's bugout bag guide
Spreads from The Survival Outpost's bugout bag guide
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Impact

The strategic rebranding and marketing efforts had a profound impact:

  • Subscriber Growth: Increased visibility and engagement lead to subscribers doubling from 30,000 to 60,000 in 2023.
  • Enhanced Visual Consistency: New channel art and thumbnail templates streamlined content presentation. This saved time and made the content instantly recognizable.
  • Successful Lead Generation: The bugout bag guide effectively attracted 300+ newsletter subscribers, fostering a community around his brand and boosting trust.
  • Strategic Partnerships: Leveraging his strengthened brand, Blitz successfully launched a Kickstarter campaign for a custom bushcraft knife in collaboration with a knifemaker.
  • Focused Content Strategy: With a clearer understanding of his target audience, Blitz honed his content to better resonate with viewers, driving further engagement.

Overall, the rebranding empowered Blitz to not only enhance his current offerings but also to explore new opportunities for growth and monetization.

2x
Subscriber growth

300+
Newsletter subscribers

A SocialBlade chart showing the monthly subscriber growth for The Survival Outpost.
A SocialBlade chart showing the weekly subscriber growth for The Survival Outpost.
An infographic for The Survival Outpost's Atlas S-1 knife.
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Testimonial

I knew my YouTube channel had potential, but no clue on how to move forward. I didn’t know my customer base and I had no brand identity or logo.

All of that changed in just a few short months working with Nick. He was patient and understanding, taking the time to listen and understand my goals and plans for the future.

I highly recommend working with Nick, whether you’re launching a new business or revamping an existing one.

Blitz

Owner/Content Creator

@

The Survival Outpost

I knew my YouTube channel had potential, but no clue on how to move forward. I didn’t know my customer base and I had no brand identity or logo.

All of that changed in just a few short months working with Nick. He was patient and understanding, taking the time to listen and understand my goals and plans for the future.

I highly recommend working with Nick, whether you’re launching a new business or revamping an existing one.

Blitz

Owner/Content Creator

@

The Survival Outpost

Nick’s ability to extrapolate information from my unorganized brainstorms is absolutely amazing.

He was able to clearly and concisely explain every step of the process so that I understood everything, and was very patient any time I had trouble grasping things.

The process really helped me understand what specific things I want my business to and how to make it happen.

Michael Wood

Co-Owner/Instructor

@

AFMO BJJ

Working with Nick was very easy.

The knowledge and experience he brought to our situation was invaluable. He was able to enhance our brand and make starting our business much easier.

People at farmer’s markets have said they thought we were some kind of franchise!

Tyler Beall

Co-Owner/Beekeeper

@

Beohyll Apiary

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