How do we unite our businesses under one brand?

Find the promise your businesses share by asking employees and stakeholders what connects the businesses and earns people's trust. Look for a credible basis for the group brand, rather than starting with a name or visual style.

For Everywhen, stakeholder research identified relationships and trust at the heart of a complex insurance business. Creative workshops led to a name that captured the ever-present nature of insurance and the dedication of its people, establishing protection as the central idea.

First Names Group faced a similar need for a unifying vision after a management buyout. Interviews with employees and stakeholders across a business with global offices and siloed teams identified its people, and the confidence and trust they instilled, as the foundation for the brand. Use stakeholder interviews to identify a promise grounded in how the businesses already work.

Turn the promise into a shared identity by connecting language, imagery and design around the same idea. A shared identity needs more than a common logo: its elements should reinforce what holds the businesses together.

For Everywhen, messaging rooted in humanity, pride and partnership accompanied a shield representing protection, continuity and connection. Photography showed clients and communities in real environments through the shield's shape, while custom icons echoed its curves. The identity gave the protection-led promise a connected verbal and visual expression.

For Dot, circles already present across its sub-brands became the central visual device, used to highlight, animate and connect. Straight-talking language, typography and colour supported the group's positioning in student living. Start with meaningful connections across the businesses, then develop a small set of devices that can carry the shared promise across words and design.

Equip teams to apply the identity with flexible messaging formats, reusable visual assets and clear usage guidance. Give teams ways to communicate different capabilities without having to create a new approach for every product or audience.

For Teledyne Healthcare, three messaging formats came from a single starting point. "Your technology partner for..." highlighted partnership and innovation, paired with an underline device revealing a product or patient scenario. "We're..." lines introduced healthcare advances before revealing the technology behind them. A third format used stages of the patient journey as verbs.

A fluid gradient device combined blue and yellow from Teledyne's palette, with colour emphasis signalling a more human or technical focus. Four bespoke blend assets and usage guidance enabled the in-house team to create fresh, on-brand content at speed. Build comparable flexibility into the toolkit so teams can vary the message while retaining a recognisable identity.