Cabin Crew Ready.

When Swiss Airlines was preparing to unveil its repositioned brand they turned to digital and social media to get the message out. Developed for Publicis, GRANTED provided creative direction, and content (interactive and film) to spread the new brand promise with a heartfelt smile. After the first wave of the campaign, a somewhat skeptical public, especially in the home market, had rekindled their affinity for the airline and ticket sales began to spike, too.

Finding the soul of a tech start-up.

Raskin began as a Master's Thesis in the University of Zurich's Computer Lab. Early prototypes required custom-built machines to run the Mac software since graphics cards at the time (even hardcore gaming ones) couldn't handle the application’s main feature: a zoomable desktop interface. But lagging technology wasn't the start-up's only hurdle. They needed funds and they needed to back-up their revolutionary idea with a first release—stat. To move forward they needed a brand, and a name.

Scope

There’s nothing like the adrenaline rush of working on a greenfield project with first time entrepreneurs. Trust levels need to approach expectation levels for things to really work. On this project, despite committing ourselves to an aggressive deadline, it was important not to rush the process. First we needed to understand the vision and the idea behind the software, then to coach and advise in all aspects of branding and communications. Once we cracked the product and company name the brand’s personality and narrative revealed itself. Soon we had all the essential pieces needed to launch the brand, all on the budget of a start-up.

Strategy. Naming. Claim. Product Development. Visual Identity. Tone of Voice. Social. P.R. Customer Relations. Copywriting. Digital. Press  Advertising. Film.

Impact

At Apple's World-Wide Developer's Conference, the Raskin team introduced their software to the tech community. The press, venture capitalists, and influential early adopters all took notice. And so did Apple, who invited the developers back to Cupertino for private meetings with the Head of Usability. By the end of the year, Raskin had attracted new investment, media attention, new employees, and industry and consumer endorsement including Macworld’s top 38 Great Mac Apps.

Building a Place that Matters.

When Swiss Re opened a multi-million dollar conference facility, many questioned its true purpose. A rising number of its 10,000 employees wondered if there was any value at all. No one knew then how essential it would become to the company, its culture, its place in the industry, and even the world. The brand strategy, positioning and creative solutions were integral in helping it find its potential. A place we eventually called: the Centre for Global Dialogue. 

Designer: Vince Frost

Scope

Working with business heads and members of the board we agreed to launch a series of international conferences around future ‘risk topics‘. This gave us a clear direction for where to take the brand and its communication platform. The topics, renamed  ‘Ideas that Matter’, were a rich source for content beyond events alone. We used them for magazine editorial, films and web features and online talks and debates, even commissioned artworks. Given room to experiment, we did things that few companies were doing at the time. We streamed live event coverage, published interactive and printed conference reports, newsletters, and 3D websites; produced mood films and digital installations. Every touchpoint was designed, and produced in a consistent style and tone that reflected a new direction for the company. With its own, individual identity, separate but complimentary to Swiss Re, our positioning signalled change, dialogue, openness. It also signalled the future.

Strategy. Naming. Brand Development. Identity. Tone of Voice. Customer Relations. Digital. Publishing. Film. Copywriting. Art. Event. Environment.

Impact

With the Centre, a rather quiet conservative B2B brand is transformed into and recognised as an industry thought leader amongst its peers, the media, academia and world leaders. Employees around the globe are more connected through the Centre’s activities, sharing knowledge and best-practices at events and over digital platforms. A more open internal communication culture and sense of corporate pride emerged across the company. New alliances made with the Centre’s neighbouring think tanks: IBM Labs and the Gottlieb Dutweiler Institute. Network and strategic partnerships with forged with academic institutions like Harvard University. Swiss Re gains a reputation with all stakeholders for hosting world-class international conferences on future risk topics. Within three years, event and conference bookings had increased by a factor of five.

Sea Change.

Today, Zurich Insurance is an established global brand with around 55,000 employees. Active in more than 170 countries, it provides financial products and services to individuals, businesses of all sizes. In 2005, the company set out to change their shockingly low brand awareness ratings by launching the its first ever global image campaign: “Because Change Happenz.”

Scope

From the initial brand campaign through to the evolution of Zurich HelpPoint in 2010, GRANTED (via lead agency Publicis and direct), helped develop the brand across every imaginable touchpoint including: integrated, global advertising campaigns (B2C and B2B), brand aesthetics & identity programme, World Economic Forum communication and events, employee engagement campaigns, Zurich Connect (online insurance), Zurich Development Center positioning and identity, thought leadership strategy, annual shareholder meetings, Zurich Classic Golf & sporting events, corporate sponsorship campaigns, interactive annual business review, digital corporate communications and film.

Brand Development. Tone of Voice. Naming. Storytelling. Advertising. Direct. Event. Brand Experience. Copywriting. Print. Digital. TV. Film. Environment. Corporate Communication. Out of Home. 

Impact

Revenue, margins and brand tracking metrics all rose over the last decade.
Zurich was named Marketer of the Year, 2009, by the Direct Marketing Association. And in 2010, they joined Interbrand’s 100 Best Global Brands listing and Fortune Magazine rated Zurich second most admired insurance company in the world. 

Earned Street Cred.

Modart began as a event and community platform to support artistic talents connected through urban lifestyle and the skate/surf scene on America’s west coast. We were asked to develop its publishing arm, give it an inimitable identity and grow a business in Europe.

Scope

Position and create an urban youth culture monthly dedicated to the best work from the best street artists in Europe and the world. With Donovan Gregory as lead designer and a skeletal staff, we set out to become the authority in ‘Street Defined Art’. Since our editorial content was image heavy we needed a format that would do justice to full and double-page artwork spreads. We chose to go with something slightly unusual: the dimensions of a vinyl LP jacket. This boosted the titles collectibility and made it stand-out on the crowded shop shelves.

Design. Tone of Voice. Strategy. Creative Direction. Content. Writing. Production. Editorial. Curation.

Impact

A sought-after monthly with a loyal readership, Modart helped connect and grow the global street art community by bringing together now-famous American street artists like: Dave Kinsey, Shepard Fairey, Jeremy Fish, Ed Templeton with Europe’s ‘low art’ stars: Will Barras, The London Police, Jon Kennedy and other rising talent. The title had broad distribution across Europe at all the right addresses: galleries, boutiques, shops and museum bookstores. The success of the title led to the magazine being acquired by a British publishing house.

Re-inventing Rich Histories.

Sometimes a brand or a company has been around for so long they feel the need to change something to be more like the new kids. So they change their style, their tone, their identity. Maybe they take advice from an evil consultant. In time, these well-intended decisions can undermine the company’s goodwill, the pride of its employees, and if nothing else, how customers perceive them. It can also signal the demise of a business, as revenues dry up. But at Spatz, the Swiss canvas tent maker and supplier, the employee-owners don’t give up that easily.

Scope

Give the company a way back from a tenuous position and relaunch the brand with a clear strategy. Time spent talking with older veteran employees and rummaging in the company’s incredibly orderly historical archives helped us uncover company values that had largely been forgotten. These values, still apart of the manufacturing process and quality, needed to be expressed through the new brand. Natural. Hand-crafted. Swiss-Made. The new visual identity takes inspiration from the tent materials, its iconic flag and a spot of family camping nostalgia. Our repositioning included creating something modern, too – a new line of tent and canvas products from young Swiss designers.

Strategy. Visual Identity. Claim. Tone of Voice. Storytelling. Digital. Print Design.

Impact

The strategy and new identity got results. The company found a much needed outside investor and attracted new CEO to turn the company around. Swiss national television (SF1) ran a multi-part series on the successful turnaround.