How the right brand assets set you free!

My heart filled with delight - they didn’t want ‘just a logo’, they wanted the full visual identity and assets.  No convincing needed; they already knew how the right branding could be a huge help to their merger and re-launch.

Here we are nearly one year after the logo was designed, the guidelines settled, assets and templates delivered and the merger completed.  Now that they have had time to make good use of their new branding, what better time to reflect on the successes and failures of the project?  Did the work help plant their flag as a new but familiar voice, was it well received in their industry and are they using those brand assets I created to their advantage? 

Firstly lets give you a brief outline of the who and what of the project. Show you some examples of what we created, and then we’ll interview the client to see if it was a success and what we can learn.

The Merger

 Just under a year ago I was contacted by Cycle Industries Europe (CIE) who were beginning the process of merging with the Confederation of the European Cycling Industry (CONEBI). This new association would be called European Cycling Industries (ECI).  They would become the united voice of the European cycling sector, representing manufacturers, technology providers, and national industry associations across Europe.

Policy makers would then have one voice speaking to them, members would have one membership fee, and there would be one set of meetings and events for lobbying activities in Brussels.

With so many eyes from the cycling industry on this merger it was very important that the launch was impactful and confident, supported by branding which was memorable, credible and inclusive.

The concept

This logo idea combines the letters ECI and a bicycle.  The bicycle is not only the subject of the organisation, but the thing which unites and connects all of the members.  So it not only places them instantly in your field of expertise, but also speaks to your common goals.

The interview

Now let’s get down the juicy stuff.  I set up a call with Istvan Koles, Communications Officer at ECI to find how things went and how things are going.

Hello Istvan, It feels like time has flown since the launch of ECI! How has the new re-branded organisation been received in the industry? 

 “Very well, I think the fact that we rebranded and with the quality that we've done, it made the reception and the acceptance of ECI very, very quick.  I think it made it very obvious what we stand for and… it's been very much a success story. It very much helped galvanize it to associations which happened so much quicker than thought it would. And I'm 100% sure that the fact that we very quickly abandoned almost all previous templates and everything, it was the right decision, and it made a massive difference.”

That’s great to hear. And the logo itself, what has the recognition been like?

 “Really good. The logo works. Works beautifully in all applications. A couple of weeks after the launch that we did in January, I bumped into to a guy at a networking event who was also freelance designer in Brussels. And then I asked him what he thought of our logo? And then he was like, it's really well done.”

Of course branding is not just a logo, so in your in your own day-to-day work and that of your colleagues, have the other assets, guidelines and templates been useful?

 “Oh yeah, absolutely. I think the biggest help by far was the PowerPoint templates and the variations. Because everyone has their own style and opinion and the fact that there were three options. It's keeping things consistent and also sort of personal. And I can only say that the output that we are doing had been more consistent. And my policy colleagues who are really just looking for getting things done quickly at the short notice, can still 100% adhere to the to the visual identity that we that we had in mind or that we that we want to inform, not enforce, or the one that we want to use. So there's been no misuse of it. It really, really makes our life so much easier.”

Excellent. And you're doing all that in-house?  Have people in a different departments been able to create a presentations and that sort of thing and it look on brand?

 “Exactly, everyone knows that if they need to create a post or write a letter, they know where to and find the templates and assets and how it will look,  so they don't have to come to me with branding, questions or ‘hey, can you do this for me?’. ‘Can you send me the logo?’. Because I used to get these emails all the time. Everyone knows where to look for them and it just makes it so much quicker.

I would say 90% of the stuff that we produced for events were in-house, and we used external agencies for very specific purposes, like for, for example the exhibition infrastructure for our recent event. I just forwarded them the branding guidelines and the individual assets. It's very easy to work with them, very easy to implement them.”

Is there anything that we've missed out do you think or could have done better?

 “I honestly don't think so. If we haven't done something, is because we don't need it at the moment. For a small association to have a compact, easy to use branding template and guidelines it is much more useful than to have an insane amount of options that we otherwise wouldn't know what to make of.”

What do you think the future holds for ECI and how might the branding needs evolve to reflect that.

 “I think the branding is really strong. Brand recognition of ECI among the association is really strong now. What we haven't done much are moving picture content, videos, etc... So if the branding needs to evolve then that would be in the moving picture area.”

The conclusion

A big thank you to Istvan for sharing his time and thoughts with us, I’m delighted that it was such a successful project.  What we can take away from this is how clear and easy to use guidelines and assets are an essential part of an organisations communication arsenal.  It’s freed up Istvan and the team at ECI to focus on what they want to say rather than how to say it.  It’s saved them time and money being able to handle more content marketing in-house. It’s enabled them to give the guidelines and assets to external partners in the knowledge that, when followed, they’ll produce on-brand materials. And the most important of all, it’s strengthened their voice by clear, consistent and recognisable communications.

See my case study on this project here

 If you’d like help achieving that same confidence if your branding, get in touch!

 This article was written by me, and no AI was used!