“New year, new me,” isn’t just a phrase to Viking Spas. The Wyoming, Michigan-based, spa dealership started 2023 with a revamped logo and a new marketing approach.
Melinda Scheble arrived at Viking Spas as director of marketing in October of 2021. After reviewing the company’s logo, branding and marketing materials, she met with management and recommended an updated logo as well as a refresh of the branding and marketing direction.
“I, along with many of the staff here, felt that the logo was very dated and needed to be refined to look more modern and more in line with the direction the company is going,” Scheble says.
She got to work and partnered with a local agency to develop the new logo and branding. The agency surveyed Viking Spas’ internal staff and sales team to garner feedback on ideas.
They asked questions like: What is the difference between what is important to dealers versus what is important to the consumer? What makes you different from the competition? If Viking Spas was a car, what make and model would it be?
The agency also researched other spa manufacturers in the industry to see what their logos looked like and what their marketing angles were. After that, they came up with a few logo designs for the Viking Spas team to review. “The decision to change the logo was an easy one,” Scheble says. “There wasn’t anyone who had to think twice about making the change … We narrowed the choices down to three, looked at some slight iterations of each and then made the final call. It was pretty unanimous.”
Scheble shares that the response to Viking Spas’ new logo thus far has been overwhelmingly positive.
“It’s just what we were hoping for,” she says. “Everyone loves the clean, modern look.”
Scheble adds that the logo is symbolic of deeper changes happening at Viking Spas.
“We’re revamping our entire look and feel,” she says. “The dealer- and consumer-facing messaging is changing as well. For the dealers, our focus is on quality, service and marketing. While to the consumers, it’s more about incorporating the benefits of a hot tub into their lifestyle and how it will make all the different moments in their life better.”
For the dealers, our focus is on quality, service and marketing. While to the consumers, it’s more about incorporating the benefits of a hot tub into their lifestyle and how it will make all the different moments in their life better.”
Melinda Scheble, Viking Spas
The addition of new team members is also helping them achieve this goal, Scheble says.
“I’m excited to see the changes throughout our organization,” Sheble says. “We’re sort of following the ‘clean, modern’ look of the new logo. We’ve been cleaning up processes and procedures and bringing in more modern ways of doing business.”
As for how Viking Spas’ branding has evolved over the years, Scheble shares that it’s been more focused on product-specific features and benefits as well as the value aspect of what the company offers. “All of which are good things to bring to the table,” Scheble explains. “But what we’ll be doing going forward is highlighting these aspects through a different lens — one that showcases how our product enriches everyday life for hot tub owners and provides a solid product offering for dealers with quality they can rely on and price points that support a thriving business.”