Bringing New Energy to an Old Brand

Background

Keltgen Wheel manufactures custom agricultural wheels for tire shops, equipment dealers, and occasionally for farmers directly. The company has been providing custom wheels for more than thirty years. Why do farmers need custom wheels? Basically, the goal is to improve a machine’s performance through mounting larger or taller tires than what was originally available on a particular machine from the factory. Because of the company’s considerable experience and spun-disc manufacturing process that turns out incredibly tough wheels, Keltgen stands apart from other custom wheel providers in the industry.

Brand Transformation

In contrast to Keltgen’s considerable experience with custom wheels, the company lacked substantial branding. As one of only a handful of custom agricultural wheel manufacturers in the United States, it was apparent that we needed to clearly define the company’s strengths. To do this, we created a new tagline for the company, Forged to Go Further. The Keltgen Wheel logo and color scheme convey energy and forward movement, supporting the company’s brand messaging.

Brand Photography

In the spirit of Forged to Go Further, Keltgen’s photography stands in stark contrast to the competition’s. Keltgen’s photography showcases the raw art of fabricating a custom wheel, with bursts of red and orange supporting the “forged” motif. Nothing is clean or sanitized (except for the paint booth). The work is hot and dirty, but with an important purpose: To forge wheels that work hard for their customers season after season under the weight of enormous machines. 

In contrast, most manufacturers today, including Keltgen’s competitors, present images of neatly organized factories with little yellow lines painted to direct employees where they can and can’t walk. The floors are so clean you could eat a donut that dropped without serious second thoughts. Harsh and bright fluorescent lights illuminate rows of the latest gizmos that crank out carbon-copy wheels. This may be appealing to bean counters, but not the men and women who grow beans.

Website Contents

Keltgen Wheel’s website explores the company’s core product and service offerings with a gritty yet professional aesthetic that underscores its employee’s hard-working ethos: farmers and equipment manufacturers can depend on Keltgen “when factory doesn’t cut it.” The Keltgen website build also involved complex contact forms, which allow customers to submit a considerable amount of information about their project to Keltgen in a way that’s simple and intuitive. 

Results

Keltgen Wheel's declining sales turned around, and, in 2024, the Keltgen Wheel brand was acquired and merged under NTS Tire Supply.