corporate identity

Underpin & Makegood Group – Branding

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Complete branding package for group of companies that previously had operated under separate names and visual identities. Our approach was to create a single stylised ‘building’ device, with one ‘floor’ representing each company within the group. Colour coding was used to differentiate the groups in certain instances.

The name “U&M Group” and strapline “Experience and Expertise” were created, following a Business Discovery workshop.

Work included stationery, signage, vehicle livery, staff uniforms and a revamped corporate website.

Villiers Brothers – Strategic Marketing

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For over 25 years the Villiers Brothers have been creating stunning high-end furniture and sculpture using a blend of traditional metalworking techniques, inspired designs and cutting-edge technology.

Whilst they have prestigious clients worldwide and have achieved many accolades, we were engaged to explore further opportunities for marketing their work more widely and taking fuller advantage of digital channels.

We delivered a brand refocus and digital marketing strategy to refocus their messaging on their authentic offer – setting them apart from any competition and communicating the passion, craft and sheer hard work involved in creating their pieces.

KING 9 EUROPE – Branded Content

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Archipelago developed a brand strategy, developed visual branding and created initial materials for an Asian manufacturing company expanding in to Europe.

Key challenges included creating visual impact and a clear proposition in a crowded and well-established marketplace.

King 9 – Video #1
King 9 – Video #2
King 9 – Video #3

Content like this is typically used to generate awareness of a new product or player in the marketplace, and to start building an audience through social media.

The People Development Team – Branding & Materials

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Work included Input to comms strategy and continuous evolution of corporate identity. Creation of visual branding for range of training programmes including Xen Leadership training. Design and production of printed marketing materials, for high-end training provider The People Development Team. Working alongside Company Directors and successive Marketing Managers over a period of approx 5 years.

Brochure for XEN Leadership Training programme

Strategic Branding: TRILOGIQ Group

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TRILOGIQ is a 25-year-old company competing in a highly dynamic marketplace.

TRILOGIQ designs and manufacture modular materials-handling equipment and sell to a customer base primarily of manufacturers, including all the main Automotive brands.

Facing stiff competition on what had become a highly-commoditised product range, it needed to find a competitive advantage. With this in mind, in 2014 it developed a composite modular system that was lighter and more tactile than its steel counterpart.

The new product range, GRAPHIT, was launched. Though technically innovative and offering some clear advantages, it was far more expensive than the system it was designed to replace. The range of functions was limited and quality issues with early batches meant that it was not universally popular amongst existing customers. As parts of the original range had also been withdrawn from sale, many customers simply went elsewhere rather than adopting the new system.

The changes led to some internal restructuring, and competitors in various parts of the world capitalised on this, spreading negative stories about the state of the company.

At that point I came on board at TRILOGIQ, and quickly identified these issues:

1/ The offering was focussed on the current product range and features – NOT the 25 years’ design expertise that distinguished TRILOGIQ from most of its competition

2/ There was no ‘social proof’ of the great work being done around the world

3/ There was little or no monitoring or analysis of web traffic

3/ Visual branding was completely inconsistent from region to region and did not reflect a modern innovative organisation

4/ The brand hierarchy (Regional company name, Global Group name, plus five or six overlapping product brands) was completely incoherent – even Salespeople did not understand it

5/ There was a much broader opportunity for a such a versatile product outside of manufacturing industry

I worked closely with the CEO developing and executing a plan to address these issues. Within 18 months we had standardised messaging and visual branding across all digital channels (about 140 worldwide), revamped the groups’s strategy and tactics for events, and implemented a basic level of Best Practice for regional digital marketing. We implemented several layers of web analytics to understand the global flow of traffic, and a huge range of localised tactics and activities. 

An Inbound content strategy was developed based on our analysis of the most effective content types and channels. A team was assembled to harvest success stories and case studies at a regional level, then to create and disseminate content globally. 

Over three years this approach quadrupled the amount of web traffic and doubled the visitor conversion rate.

We went on to simply the branding to one Group name (TRILOGIQ) and two product ranges: LEANTEK (steel range) and GRAPHIT (composite Range).

After extensive consultation with customers and senior staff, I developed a blueprint for the brand including a statement of values. The customer offering would be divided into three clear components – Bespoke Solutions, Components, and off-the-shelf Complete Products. The first two were established parts of the business, the third experimental and would require a startup mentality to identify product-market fit, and develop an online sales platform.

The blueprint for the brand was signed off and the visual rebranding work began under my direction – taking around 6 months and culminating in a launch event in September 2017. 

More recent development of strategy remains confidential for now, but I will write a follow-up when I can.