#TransformTuesday: 25 March

Every week, Transform examines recent rebrands and updated visual identities. This week's picks are below. For more from #TransformTuesday, follow @Transformsays

Coldwell Banker

Coldwell Banker Real Estate has decided to engage in an ongoing, transparent rebrand as part of its long-running collaboration with Los Angeles-based advertising agency Siltanen & Partners. The rebrand has been dubbed ‘Project North Star’ and was developed based on the north star’s function as a symbol of consistency and reliability. The star is an appropriate choice to represent the franchise, as although real estate is a highly volatile industry, Coldwell Banker has been able to deliver results for over a century. Though the star is the most immediately apparent change in the company’s new logo, an additional component is the decision to eschew the business’ name, instead opting for ‘CB.’ This may be an appeal of corporations’ current challenges with regards to developing brand value in the era of instant gratification. David Marine, chief marketing officer at Coldwell Banker, says, “This rebrand isn’t just about change for the sake of change. We wanted a logo that truly captured the essence and power of our network.”

Crossover Health

Crossover Health, the healthcare giant which provides health services for iconic corporations such as Apple, Facebook and Comcast, has enlisted creative agency Wolff Olins to create a new brand identity for the organisation. This was a unique undertaking for Wolff Olins, as it marks the agency’s expansion into healthcare and biotech. The three defining characteristics of Crossover Health were its inclusivity, always on attitude and omnipresence. These traits are effectively encapsulated in the new logo, which retains the same colour scheme but replaces the obscure sphere with a design that is quite similar to a switch on an electronic device. Crossover Health is introducing fully functional website on 8 April to complete the rebranding process.

C-SPAN

For decades, C-SPAN has been an outlier among the wealth of American media networks in that it never runs commercials on any of its platforms, refuses to accept donations or pledges and is funded entirely by cable and satellite television affiliates. Though it primarily serves as a conduit through which US citizens can gain unfiltered and unbiased insight into political proceedings, because it is a public access company, C-SPAN’s content has the potential to be quite eclectic. Because of this, it faces the dilemma to Mars’ of rebranding in an identifiable, straightforward fashion. The solution – by Alexandria, VA-based Grafik – either coincidental, eerie, or both. Like Mars, C-SPAN’s new logo introduces a primarily darker shade of blue and a broader font. The only notable differences are in the brand names themselves and C-SPAN’s decision to use a lighter royal blue for its hyphen. This striking similarity between logos indicates a potential new trend in rebranding; for massive corporations, minimalism is synonymous with effectiveness and efficiency.

Mars

Mars, a family-owned business established in 1911 which owns numerous iconic brands including M&Ms, Skittles and Twix has updated its brand, which is just as easily associated with candy bars as it is with pet food. Rebranding a corporation with such a diverse portfolio of products can be daunting. It is no surprise to see Jones Knowles Ritchie, the creative agency commissioned with the rebranding project, opted for overarching themes of simplicity and universality. This can most readily be seen in the logo, which consists of the brand name in thicker, rounder lettering with a deeper shade of blue, without any further visual devices. Mars credits its success as a company to its adherence to the principles of quality, responsibility, mutuality, efficiency and freedom, which it has labelled as the ‘Mars Five Principles.’ The corporation intends to maintain these principles well into the future, as evidenced by its rebranded strapline, ‘The world we want tomorrow starts with how we do business today.’

Simply Asset Finance

Simply Asset Finance, the fledgling non-bank lender created in April 2017, has commemorated its rapid growth over the past two years with the completion of brand refresh, from which the organisation will now be known simply as ‘Simply.’ The rebranded Simply will use a navy, mint and muted peach palette across all platform, which distinguishes the lender from some of its competitors’ bland colour schemes. Additionally, the hyphen in the logo will serve as a reference point through which Simply can easily be identified. Executives within Simply recgonised the necessity of this rebrand, as Mike Randall, CEO, says, “We are well-established with a great and growing reputation, so being clear on who we are is more important than ever, particularly as we reinforce Simply’s purpose to be one of the most forward thinking providers and transform the customer experience through innovation.” In the vein of being forward-thinking, the three pillars by which Simply now abides are innovation, simplicity and believing in potential.

TGT

TGT, an international leader in the oilfield services industry, had long struggled to effectively communicate the quality of its thought diagnostics technology to its clients. TGT’s diagnostics help customers see data for locations beyond their wellbores, which is valuable because this data can more accurately assess the risk of maintaining a wellbore’s operation. To completely overhaul TGT’s image, the company collaborated with London-based branding agency Handsome Brands, launching a rebrand that brings simplicity and clarity to TGT’s products and services. In line with TGT providing data from surrounding areas of a wellbore, the new campaign encourages consumers to ‘reveal the greater truth’ and is punctuated by squares and circles, which can even be seen in the revamped logo. The former represents ‘True Flow’ while the latter represents ‘True Integrity,’ both of which are cornerstones of reliable data. Ian Haughton, creative director at Handsome Brands, says, “In an industry that’s inherently complex, we needed to untangle the language and cut through the noise.”