What if we actually enjoyed the experience of parking? And what if mainstream businesses actually benefitted from parking?
Proximity is tackling a triple-threat problem that cities, consumers, and businesses all wish was better. To win over the market, the company needed a brand and message that would create excitement in a space that’s historically focused on transactions over experience.
Proximity launched with a cohesive campaign that caught the attention of cities and made adoption a no brainer. Five Four helped Proximity amplify its story by applying the foundational brand and messaging we created to pitch decks, email campaigns, and social media. The company continues to launch in cities across the Midwest, requiring physical signage and advertising, and we’re excited to be Proximity’s partner as it scales.
Look up the ratings for any parking app and you’ll find less than stellar ratings. Parking is often a hassle, a nuisance nobody looks forward to. Yet cities and local businesses need parking for commerce to work. Proximity set out make the parking experience better and create new revenue opportunities for small businesses that thrive on foot traffic.
With four distinct audiences - cities, consumers, parking lots, and businesses - Proximity needed a cohesive message that spoke to all without speaking to none. “Where parking meets possibility” focuses on the possibility that our downtowns could once again be thriving centers of commerce. Messaging frameworks for each person helped the founder explain how everyone benefits, and thus was able to secure pilots and adoption.
In order to make parking feel like an enjoyable experience, the brand needed to be warm and inviting, clean and uncluttered (unlike rival parking apps), and feel modern yet familiar. Taking inspiration from wayfinding signage seen in our natural environment, the Proximity arrow was born.
"Five Four has been a true partner, helping us build Proximity from the ground up. Brand, messaging, go-to-market strategy, social media pitch decks, website, signage, all of it. They've delivered everything we needed, but what matters even more is how our customers are responding. We're signing contracts left and right because our brand and marketing presence finally match the innovation we're building. Five Four gets what it takes to build a startup because they think holistically, move quickly, and strategize like founders themselves."
Grant Murray, CEO and Founder
As Proximity’s founder secured paid pilots, Five Four activated the brand in market, physically and digitally.
Cities needed to explain their new parking solution to the public through local media outlets and email marketing, requiring a clear message and communications strategy. Consumers needed clear parking signage and a digital parking experience that met the promise of the brand. Five Four worked with Proximity to create the right strategy and execute the largest and smallest details.
To connect Proximity’s value proposition to its product, the product itself needed to be better than any parking app on the market. After all, parking technology has become such a barrier that people refuse to drive to their favorite places just because the parking experience is so frustrating.
Five Four designed a parking transaction experience that reduces the number of taps it takes to select and pay for your parking spot. The clean workflow and design keeps the focus on the important transaction while simultaneously highlighting the local businesses that advertise through Proximity’s network. Consumers see the intentionality of Proximity’s value proposition without being bombarded by ill-placed ad pop ups that confuse users and disrupts the parking transaction.
