Hinge Rebrands Loudoun County Sanitation Authority

Hinge, a branding firm in Reston, hopes to change the way residents of Loudoun County think about their water utility, Loudoun County Sanitation Authority (LCSA). The utility admits to having a serious brand identity problem.  Samantha Villegas of LCSA says, “We need to better say who we are. There is a lot of confusion about what we do.”  LCSA provides water and wastewater service to residents of eastern Loudoun County.  But because of the authority’s name, many residents are under the mistake impression that LCSA handles trash pickup, serves all of Loudoun County, and is a government agency, none of which are the case.

To alleviate that confusion, LCSA hired the branding experts at Hinge to shape a new identity, including a new name.

To begin, Hinge conducted extensive research, interviewing LCSA customers, staff and board members.  When it became clear that the decision to change LCSA’s name was the right one, Hinge began the process of “namestorming.”  While Samantha Villegas gathered ideas from LCSA’s staff, Hinge researched the names of other water utilities, both nationally and locally.  Then they reviewed the LCSA’s staff list, adding a few ideas of their own.

Hinge’s staff of brand identity experts, along with Villegas and an LCSA customer, then narrowed the field to two potential names for the authority.

Villegas will present those names to the staff for a vote. The most popular name will then be submitted to the Board of Directors for approval.

About Hinge
In 2002, Hinge was formed out of the merger of a strategic marking firm, a design firm, and a brand identity firm. Today, Hinge offers brand strategy and implementation services to customers in a wide variety of industries. In November 2004, the firm moved from Chantilly, Virginia, to expanded offices in Reston. For more information about Hinge, visit www.pivotalbrands.com.