Learning how brand identities can be flexible ecosystems

James Hurst, chief creative officer at Zag, chats about EE’s complex brand system, and how flexible ecosystems can be designed to support business growth strategies.

In a rapidly evolving market, many business growth strategies push towards diversifying their propositions, new types of partnership or a need to attract different customer segments. A strong brand identity is of course a great foundation, but can it also be a constraint in these circumstances.

Netflix’s brand and cultural impact seals its position in the hall of fame as brands that have become verbs. But does the brand have enough adaptability should the company choose to or have to diversify. Revolut’s brand is attempting to capture a diverse set of products under a single brand, but does the brand have enough resilience to succeed across all of them?

As businesses under pressure look in all directions for growth opportunities – horizontally, vertically or diagonally, they need to consider how their brand can accommodate new propositions without alienating their core audience or diluting their brand essence beyond recognition.

EE’s recent rebrand offers a great example of developing a brand ecosystem that can support or even fuel future ambitions while staying true to their identity.

Relaunching EE as a future-proof brand

Established brands often undergo brand refreshes which focus only on injecting new energy into their consumer communications. However, brand relaunches are rarer and often signal a bigger moment of transformation beyond communications. Transformational growth is a three dimensional challenge, bringing together proposition changes, brand experience and go to market strategies as part of a future strategy. They are more much more than aesthetic updates or refreshes and represent a signal to the market of a company’s ability to evolve.

A common pitfall is designing a rebrand too closely around the existing products, missing the opportunity to create a canvas for future expansion. EE faced this challenge as it experimented with new markets like gaming and home technology. The solution was to leverage its already iconic identity but create a new flexible brand system that could stretch alongside the business strategy, but without losing core audience resonance.

By emphasising its distinctive logo across new applications, EE ensured continuity while allowing its identity to adapt. It also introduced “brand modes,” guiding how EE should look and feel across different sectors and customer segments. This approach ensured that every new offering felt like a natural part of the EE experience, rather than a disconnected addition. And the essence of ‘brand modes’ is the ability to turn opportunities on or off, subject to changes in the business strategy, without impacting the core identity.

Distinctiveness: Standing out to stay relevant

For brands to remain relevant, they must go beyond chasing trends and instead create a visual and experiential language that endures. EE’s ‘dotty’ design aesthetic is a prime example. Applied across typography, digital experiences and physical products – it reinforces the idea that EE is a brand built on innovation and can keep adapting.

EE extended this philosophy to product design, ensuring that as its offerings evolved, they remained unmistakably ‘EE.’ By embracing a bold, playful visual identity, EE created a sense of brand cohesion even as it entered new markets or chose to exit them, without any brand identity impact.

Balancing core consistency with experimentation

While strong brands maintain core elements, they also allow room for growth. EE’s use of brand modes alongside a ‘dot system’ allowed the company to experiment while keeping its fundamental identity intact. This is particularly crucial in technology-driven industries, where static brand identities quickly become outdated or become constraints on business growth strategies.

EE was unafraid to explore innovations: haptic feedback; gesture design; AI – ensuring that as digital interactions evolved, EE’s brand stays relevant. Rather than reacting to change, EE shapes the future of its brand experiences, as a very natural part of the brand design system.

The power of sensory branding

Brands are more than visuals – they can and perhaps should engage wider emotions and senses. Given EE’s presence across their customer’s lives, online and offline, EE’s rebrand explored how sight, sound, touch and movement contribute to identity. This multisensory approach ensures that customers don’t just recognise EE; they feel it.

Taking cues from other sectors already adept at sensory branding (e.g. hospitality) and recognising that digital and physical experiences are becoming increasingly immersive, brands that think beyond logos and colour schemes will build deeper emotional connections with their audience. EE’s ecosystem approach positions it not just as a telecom provider, but as an experience-driven brand that resonates everywhere it lives – on your phone, in your home or on the high street but always echoing the core brand essence.

Brand ecosystem as a growth driver

EE is at the forefront of a technology driven sector that sees opportunities, threats and transformation moments regularly but remains an integrated part of their customers’ lives and lifestyles. Alongside their customers, EE is part of a living and evolving ecosystem and the brand has embraced ecosystem thinking in its design and in its ambitions to help unlock future potential. The brands that endure are those that don’t just adapt to change – they define it.