Building a Brand Identity with Saint Gobain Composite Solutions.
Rebranding is always a big ask. But Saint Gobain’s rebrand included added complexity. We needed to create a new visual identity for Saint Gobain Composite Solutions so they could act more as a branded house with brands working together—visual and in the business world—within the business unit. The visuals and assets needed to stand out from existing parent-brand materials while following existing brand guidelines. Plus we needed to create brand launch materials to get a group of people excited about merging when they didn’t know they were about to merge.
Logo Development.
First, Saint Gobain Composite Solutions needed a logo for their new tagline: “Partnerships that inspire. Materials that Perform.” The tagline mark combined both portions of the phrase. Two interlocking hexagons work as a partnership to form the overall shape, while the hexagons represent the chemical base structure of the performance materials Saint Gobain sells. The gradient is Saint Gobain’s branded colors converging on their primary blue emphasizing the four brands that come together and make up Saint Gobain Composite Solutions.
Time to template.
With a tagline established, templates needed to be created. Here following overarching Saint Gobain brand standards was paramount, but we still needed to be visually unique from general use templates. We established informational hierarchy between the individual brands and the Saint Gobain Composite Solutions business unit. The resulting designs for data sheets, white papers, and brochures adhered to the client’s requests, while remaining flexible for each brand’s needs.
Ready to launch.
Corporate Brand Launch.
The initial roll out of the new brand identity for Saint Gobain Composite Solutions started at a corporate brand launch. While attendees were teased with a new look and feel to the business unit, they were unaware of the new look and feel of their individual brands.
The launch started with a 60 second video to give attendees a glimpse of what was to come. After presentations describing the why behind the changes, breakout groups formed. The groups worked through a brand workbook—seen above—to create brand buy-in with the launch attendees.
Integrating the brand.
The final step of the brand identity involved reworking the hefty brand guidelines to include the specific updates to the look of Saint Gobain Composite Solutions. Nearly every page of the 112 page guideline was updated to reflect the new look of the brand. We wrote new guidelines for new logos and taglines, and pointed out where old guidelines were broken—and why we were braking them for this specific business unit.