VSA Partners leads AMRI brand transformation

Chicago-based brand strategy and design agency, VSA Partners, has led the brand transformation of AMRI (Albany Molecular Research) a leading contract drug manufacturing organisation, which has rebranded to Curia.

With the name change,  VSA also developed a new core positioning and tagline ‘from curiosity to cure.’

“Given the importance and emerging challenges of scaling drug discovery and manufacturing today, this was an exciting project for everyone at VSA. We tapped our Promise to Performance methodology to discover unmet needs where the industry wasn’t serving customers fully and helped identify unique segments within Curia’s target audience. The results, we believe, position Curia well for today’s fast-changing and demanding pharmaceutical landscape,” says Joe Nio, head of strategy and analytics for VSA.

For development of the new name, Curia, VSA relied on its proprietary naming process, said Mike Walsh, VSA’s Client Engagement lead. The origin was an early Roman word that means ‘a gathering of minds.’ “It has a lyrical quality that also alludes to the promise of medicine,” Walsh says.

The new logo utilises a stylised molecular icon to form the dot in the lower case ‘i’ in Curia, which links the mark to the previous AMRI brand identity.

“In a category where playing it safe has led to a sea of sameness among competitors, we created a bold expression system that balances scientific expertise with respect, and compassion for the human lives we impact,” said VSA Partners Thom Wolfe, executive creative director.