From Red Devil to RADIA
For Red Devil Equipment Co., this year marks a big change – the company’s name has changed from Red Devil to RADIA. The name Red Devil has been recognized in the paint and tooling industry for over 100 years, with Red Devil Equipment Co. spending the last few decades becoming a strong name in paint mixers and shakers.
So, how does a company spend years developing a brand and suddenly decide to change names? For Red Devil it made sense after spending recent years venturing into new categories. “We had built a strong brand and reputation (as Red Devil Equipment Co.) in the paint industry, but we don’t want to limit the potential for our current or new customers or ourselves. We have the opportunity to provide more,” said Bob Brockman, Director of Sales.
“Some have asked if our company was sold, if we’re changing owners or if this means we won’t be making paint mixers,” said Brockman, “But we want everyone to know this doesn’t change who we are or how our current products will be built. It is simply a name change that will better reflect who we are and what we can do.”
The Red Devil name could trace back to the era of blacksmiths. In the process of forging new tools, the sparks that fly when metal hits metal were known as “Red Devils”. Though innocent enough, the literal Devil associations were reflecting poorly on the company’s strong values of family and doing the right thing. Leaving the negative associations behind and focusing on expanded services with a fresh perspective, the process began two years ago to try and find the right name and image that better fit the company.
Seen as a scientific or mathematical term by company engineers, but also has a lighter definition to reflect a fresh start and reach, RADIA is the word chosen to define the company.
“We know who we are and we could see the future we wanted for ourselves and our customers. The difficult part was finding a way to say all of that with one name,” said Gessner. “We began with a long list of words. We narrowed it down and started pairing that with the right look, images and layout. There’s a lot that goes into the process and we took a lot of opinions into consideration because it was important to get it right. We will continue moving forward as the company that creates solutions for you and our new identity needed to represent that.”
Visit Radia at Booth 619.
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