Sharp Sharp
A brand ready to scale
The challenge
Collingwood advises the leaders of media companies, helping them to scale faster and to sell or to raise money. A rebrand was required, to reflect the company’s growth since the original brand was created, to reach more diverse audiences and to enable it to scale further.
Sharp Sharp was commissioned to develop a new brand strategy and brand identity, building on research which had already been conducted.
What we did
The team
We put together a focussed, flexible team able to work on strategy, concepts and production. We worked hand in hand with Collingwood’s marketing team throughout the process, and worked closely with board members at key points.
Sharp Sharp’s Director Steve McInerny led the project from Sharp Sharp’s side, provided creative direction and design production as the project progressed. As the project needed to integrate so closely with the business strategy, Sharp Sharp associate Evan Larbi led on the brand strategy. Our design associate Natalie Kaaserer, a visual identity expert, developed visual identity concepts and brought in fresh ideas to the project.
Brand strategy
We conducted short interviews with key members of staff, in order to fully understand the needs of the business.
In order to get under the skin of the brand, our research also included attending an event, as events are a key business activity.
Our review of competitors and peer organisations revealed many brands which tend towards a conservative approach, often hard to distinguish from law or accountancy firms.
We used this knowledge to develop a set of brand foundations and principles which position Collingwood as being able to transform businesses, as well as the lives of business leaders.
Collingwood have excellent research resources in house. Sharp Sharp provided input into ways to measure the success of the updated brand, and to fine tune it in the future based on the results.
Naming, voice, tone and messaging
Sharp Sharp worked closely with Collingwood’s marketing team to iterate the naming and brand messaging after our initial proposals. This enabled us to ensure that the end result was a strong fit for the needs of the business.
The new identity included a naming strategy which shortened the brand name to Collingwood. This also included developing names for its two key business lines, Corporate Finance and Scaleup.
A full set of voice, tone and messaging guidelines was developed, to help ensure that Collingwood’s staff and advisors communicate in a consistent way.
Visual identity
The visual identity is inspired by the contrasting qualities inherent in the brand (dynamic/controlled and galvanising/anchoring). These contrasting elements can also be used to represent Corporate Finance and Scaleup: more controlled for Corporate Finance and more dynamic for Scaleup.
A typographic logo reflects the clarity of the brand, with a distinctive ‘g’ to add personality.
The flexible brand graphic can be featured in two colour versions as well as with imagery incorporated.
A suite of brand images was sourced, which represent brand qualities such as transformation and resonance in distinctive ways.
We developed a suite of graphic elements to fit the needs of Collingwood’s extensive suite of marketing materials and documented tools, templates and IP. All elements of this brand identity were put together into a comprehensive brand manual.
Sharp Sharp developed a suite of templates for easy use by Collingwood team members, and designed key documents based upon them.
We provided review and advice sessions for Collingwood’s team in the weeks following the launch of the brand.
Results
The new brand has been well received by Collingwood’s directors, staff and customers. The marketing and product teams have taken our guidelines and run with them, which we love to see. This includes a first for a brand we’ve worked on - branded socks - which are now highly sought after by staff and clients.
“We came to Sharp Sharp with a problem that we couldn’t quite work out how to navigate: how to easily show why a client's journey with Collingwood is so important and unique. I am delighted that we have created a brand that now reflects who the company is and what we represent.
Steve and Evan were fantastic to work with: challenging us when they needed to, and helping us navigate some very complex requirements. They came in and created a brand we’re all really proud of.”
Jess Bradley, Marketing Manager, Collingwood
