Arco

About Arco

For over 140 years, Arco has been the UK’s leading provider of safety equipment and workwear, protecting people who power essential industries. Beyond supplying products, Arco is built on expertise and guidance that saves lives, helping organisations create safer workplaces nationwide.

As a fifth-generation family business, Arco’s purpose has always been clear: to keep people safe at work. But in an evolving market shaped by digital disruption, new expectations and a growing demand for authenticity, even established leaders need to adapt.

The Challenge

Arco needed to turn its long-standing purpose into a message that felt meaningful, modern and valuable, both internally and externally. The brand faced three key challenges:

• Staying ahead of digital-first upstarts: New competitors offering low-cost solutions through e-commerce challenged Arco to prove the value of its offering.
• Unifying separate business units: Integrating services and products required demonstrating the internal and external benefits of a unified approach.
• Lack of cohesive brand message: Arco’s diverse range of services needed to be brought under a clear, unifying vision.

Arco needed to elevate their positioning, get their people behind the brand, and champion a safety-first culture that resonated both inside and out.

The Solution

Arco partnered with Ride Shotgun to redefine their story, align their people, and amplify their impact.

Together, we delivered a transformation:

• Redefining the brand: Through deep customer research, we formalised Arco’s value proposition under the banner “Your World Made Safer.” This framework captured their unique expertise, core capabilities, and real-world benefits providing a clear, inspiring message for every audience.
• Uniting the team: We believe brands are built from the inside out. To inspire Arco’s employees, we crafted a company-wide keynote event where business leaders shared the new strategy. We even brought in Sir Ranulph Fiennes as a keynote speaker to energise the team, creating sales tools and educational hubs to keep the momentum going.
• Campaigns that connect: To shift perceptions of PPE, we launched an emotive campaign that positioned Arco as true Experts in Safety. Emotionally connecting with audiences across all digital channels, TV, and experiential.
• Creative execution at scale: From their first-ever TV ad to video production, on-location photography, and multi-channel campaigns, we modernised the way Arco communicated with customers reaching them at the right time, in the right way, with the right message.

The Results

Our joined-up approach turned Arco’s challenges into opportunities:

• Inspired employees: Arco’s team is now aligned and empowered behind our insight-led brand promise: “Your World Made Safer.”
• Unforgettable campaigns: Emotional storytelling elevated Arco’s leadership in safety, with their first-ever TV ad that smashed established benchmarks for performance.
• Strengthened market leadership: Beyond products, Arco is now recognised as a safety thought leader shaping the future of health and safety in the UK, from government lobbying to customer advocacy.
• Content that delivers: Multi-channel activations, from video and photography to experiential and digital, engaged audiences in ways Arco never had before.
• Challenger sales: Delivered sales challenger campaigns that resulted in a 29.6% average revenue uplift. £8.6M incremental revenue and £1.7M gross profit from top 100 accounts.

The Bottom Line

With Ride Shotgun, Arco achieved a complete brand transformation elevating their story, aligning their team, and connecting with customers like never before. Together, we proved that protecting people isn’t just a job, it’s a mission. And we’ve ensured Arco leads the way in building a world that’s safer and securing their standing as leaders in the sector.