From a parts company to a performance brand with attitude.
Hawk Performance
The opportunity wasn't simply to promote high-performance brake components. It was to give Hawk Performance a stronger identity within the culture of the people who demanded them.
Hawk Performance had established itself in the high-performance braking category, but its brand communications had become more representative of a parts company than a performance leader.
My assignment was to lead a refreshed positioning and identity that would bring greater attitude, energy, and relevance to the brand, particularly among the tuner, street-performance, and motorsports communities.
The initiative encompassed brand strategy, creative development, integrated communications, and a major motorsports event activation.
Hawk Performance produced components designed for demanding driving environments. Yet its communications weren't fully connecting that capability to the culture and attitudes of the enthusiasts it wanted to reach.
The performance aftermarket is driven by more than technical specifications. Drivers and tuners identify with brands that understand their passion, reflect their mindset, and demonstrate credibility where performance actually matters.
Hawk needed to move beyond conventional product marketing and establish a more recognizable personality within street-performance and motorsports culture.
The challenge wasn't changing what Hawk Performance made. It was changing how people perceived the brand and what it represented to them.
The Challenge.
When performance needed a stronger identity.
Strategic Approach.
01 | Reposition the brand.
I began by shifting the brand conversation away from a purely product-driven identity toward the mindset of the performance enthusiast.
The opportunity was to make Hawk relevant to the people who lived for modifying, tuning, and pushing their vehicles further, connecting the brand to their passion rather than simply describing its components.
02 | Build an attitude.
I developed an overarching positioning strategy supported by multiple messaging platforms, giving Hawk a more aggressive, confident, and recognizable voice.
Bold creative direction, stronger visual identity, and performance-oriented communications helped establish the street credibility the brand needed to connect with its target audience.
03 | Bring that brand to life.
The newly acquired Hawk sponsorship at Road America, alongside Brian Redman, created an opportunity to take the refreshed identity directly into the motorsports environment.
I developed an integrated activation approach connecting campaign communications, sponsorship visibility, trackside branding, promotional materials, and public relations into one coordinated brand experience.
Creative Execution / Brand Rollout
A new attitude. On the street and on the track.
The refreshed Hawk Performance identity took shape through a series of bold advertising, consumer communications, and promotional initiatives designed to reflect the energy of the performance aftermarket.
The creative moved away from conventional parts-company messaging, adopting a more aggressive visual and verbal personality that spoke directly to enthusiasts who valued speed, control, and the driving experience.
A major component of the relaunch was the Hawk presence at Road America in Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin.
Working around the event's sponsorship opportunities, I coordinated a comprehensive program that extended the brand across the racing environment. From track signage and point-of-purchase materials to collateral, public relations, photography, and sponsorship integration, the objective was to ensure Hawk's refreshed identity was experienced consistently throughout the event.
The result was a brand platform that could communicate with the same confidence in an advertisement, at a promotional display, or in the middle of a motorsports event.
Key Applications
Brand positioning and identity refresh
Integrated campaign and messaging platforms
Consumer and enthusiast advertising
Promotional and marketing collateral
Road America sponsorship activation
Trackside signage and event branding
Public relations and media coordination
Photography and event production
Outcome / Impact
More than a refresh.
A performance brand with purpose.
STRONGER BRAND POSITIONING
A clearer identity that shifted the conversation from brake components alone to the performance culture and driving experiences those products supported.
INTEGRATED MOTORSPORTS PRESENCE
A coordinated Road America activation that connected sponsorship, creative communications, environmental branding, and promotional activity into a consistent brand experience.
A DISTINCTIVE BRAND VOICE
A more aggressive and recognizable communications platform that reflected the attitude, interests, and expectations of tuner and performance enthusiasts.
GREATER ENTHUSIAST RELEVANCE
A repositioning that helped move Hawk beyond its traditional parts-company identity toward greater recognition as a performance resource within the enthusiast community.