There are times when the elements that make a brand special are obvious with even the most cursory review.
On the other hand, more often than not identifying the brand’s personality and determining the best way to reflect it require a more in-depth analysis – especially when the existing brand actually consists of a synthesis of more than one company and culture. It’s this category that Ai fell into when Base One was tasked with re-energising its brand.
In 2005, lifestyle data analytics company Intuistic joined forces with data bureau Absolute Data Solutions to create Ai, a full-scope data services business. Over the next couple of years, it enjoyed considerable success – so much so that the new structure and personality of the business became secondary to the pressing demand on their services and time. The brand marked time.
In 2007, the addition of B2e, a risk data analytics company, to give a unified view of customer lifestyle and credit information made a brand review a priority. With previous experience of Base One’s work through a series of ad campaigns, Ai decided to work with them on a brand refresh that could accurately express its culture and offering.
To the casual marketer, one database services company looks very much like another. Decisions tend to be made on whether the right lists are available at the right price, and whether basic data cleansing and analysis techniques can be carried out in-house. It wasn’t enough to find a point of differentiation: Ai had to educate prospects on the real value of the proposition. It would make it possible to capture additional business – and revenue – through the whole of their product and services offering.
The key factors to consider
- Could the Ai name be given instant standout? At first glance, it had power and value on two counts: Ai combined the companies’ initial letters to show their united nature, and the phrase had recognisability going for it. The truth of the matter though was that dozens of other companies already used AI as part of their names or descriptor, making standout a tough ask.
- Could they communicate the company’s strengths in a different way? The four founders all had amassed considerable experience in the industry: it made sense to leverage that.
- Could they make more mileage out of the value of Ai’s holistic approach? For example, few clients considered their risk and bad debt analysis – yet failing to do so could have a major effect on the profitability of a campaign.
- Could the branding be extended internally as well as externally? The real proof of a rebrand was whether staff would recognise it as a reflection of the true culture inside the company.
Analysing the opportunity
The first hurdle was identifying the true nature of the company. Base One and Ai held a workshop whose purpose was to get past the fact that Ai dealt in data and drill down to the truth of the matter: the values, the competition, the audience, the values and triggers, and the promise. That resulted in a full understanding of what Ai was about: a company whose fully integrated services, coupled with its dedication and passion led it to take data further than anyone else, expressed in its chosen positioning as ‘a specialist chosen by leading brands looking to achieve more with their data’. It was a positioning that could be substantiated by customers’ comments, which included statements such as ‘allowed us to be more creative… and save time and money’ and ‘we have been able to address issues that may otherwise have been restricted by budget’.
This message would be expressed through the introduction of the concept of ‘the Ai Way’, a means of obtaining competitive advantage through working with Ai.
The next challenge was for Base One and Ai to work together to turn that insight into something creative and, ultimately, tangible.
Developing the brand
Base One developed a number of logo and strap treatments, each of which was mapped against the findings, but one visual approach stood out above the rest. In this approach, the dot above the letter ‘I’ in Ai was used as more than simply a part of the letter. It became a holding device that could be used as a speech bubble, as a frame for creative messaging or simply as a highlighter, with its bold yellow standing out against a single colour background.
The same yellow acted as a visual cue and reinforced the messaging hierarchy. Readers who chose to track across the communication would be left in no doubt as to what they were supposed to read.
The final piece of the jigsaw was a refresh of the way the company ident. Ai’s URL became an important brand element in its own right as aidataintelligence.com, with the company’s name highlighted in yellow.
The results
In 2007, an awareness campaign introduced the ‘Ai Way’ to the world, followed by a major 2008 campaign comprising a full online and offline media mix. This latter promoted a clear service and expertise promise, coupled with their new ability to apply full risk analysis to their work. Early results go some way towards proving the value of the new brand, with increased web traffic, a series of major wins and a greater number of enquiries.
The future
Over the next few months, the online and offline campaigns will gather pace and continue to project the new positioning of Ai, with specific emphasis on certain service messages, across press, DM, web and email. This will ensure that the worth of the Ai Way is strongly leveraged to underline the benefits of this added-value approach.
