How do we unite our businesses under one brand?

A shared brand should explain what connects the businesses and what customers can expect from them. Begin with stakeholder research rather than assuming that a new name or logo will resolve portfolio complexity. Use the findings to establish a common proposition, then translate it into messaging and identity.

For Ardonagh Advisory, a growing network of insurance brands had become harder to explain: who did what, and how everything connected. Stakeholder research identified relationships and trust as the common foundation. Creative workshops led to the name Everywhen, followed by messaging centred on humanity, pride and partnership, and a visual identity built around protection, continuity and connection.

Wates followed a different route. Its purpose, Reimagining places for people to thrive, was already established. Research and workshops informed a messaging framework and refreshed verbal and visual identity. These examples distinguish the strategic task, defining the shared promise, from the creative task of expressing it.

A shared identity can acknowledge an established business's history while making its current capabilities more visible. The task is to identify which qualities deserve continuity and which perceptions need to change. Heritage can inform the positioning, language and design without requiring every existing visual element to remain unchanged.

When the Ardonagh Group consolidated brands under the Price Forbes name, the identity needed to honour the broker's history while challenging traditional, old-school perceptions. The organising idea, Making history, connected its pioneering heritage with a forward-looking position. The verbal identity expressed that relationship, while the typography paired classic and modern elements.

Maersk addressed a different legacy perception: audiences associated it with marine transport rather than its technology-enabled supply chain capabilities. Research informed an Innovation Center identity and digital experience developed within Maersk's existing brand guidelines. Both approaches used the established brand as a foundation rather than treating its history as something to discard.

Uniting a portfolio does not necessarily require every business, initiative or customer experience to have an identical identity. Distinguish a common proposition from a common name, and a common name from a uniform visual treatment. The appropriate scope depends on what needs to become clearer and which existing associations remain useful.

Everywhen illustrates a new name and defining identity created to unite a network. Maersk illustrates a distinct Innovation Center identity that enhances the parent brand while staying within its guidelines. WellSaid offers another application: its customer programme, WellSaid Legends, and internal event, WellSaid Offsite Week, use related but differentiated design treatments.

An agency proposal should therefore make the scope explicit: strategic direction, portfolio relationships, any naming work, messaging and verbal identity, visual identity, and the applications needed by teams. Ask to see how the proposed system handles actual businesses and communication formats, rather than judging the shared brand only by its logo.