Phase 1: Brand Foundation
Foundational updates built on deep brand truths.
The ask.
biBerk, a rapidly growing insurance company catering to small businesses, needed help pushing beyond their initial success. With Google forecasting that the existing direct response strategy would exhaust profitable SEM volume within 18 months, the company knew they needed to include more demand generation efforts in their marketing mix to hit ongoing growth goals. However, without a long-established brand, we know that the direct-response-oriented messaging would need to evolve. We suggested completing a messaging and positioning audit to help understand how much brand development was necessary. And, since we were keenly aware that this would represent a culture shift for the organization, we also had goals of building a case for brand work and ensuring the alignment of key stakeholders.
The truth.
Through workshops and team exercises, it became clear that biBerk had an opportunity to define its mission, vision, and values for the first time, an essential step for a leading organization. This realization shifted the project from simply being an external messaging initiative to laying a foundational brand framework.
The challenges:
- Defining the purpose of branding. There was initial hesitation to label the initiative as a “brand project,” which led to challenges in buy-in across departments.
- Alignment across teams. Various stakeholders held differing views on what biBerk should represent. It was essential to gather broad input and provide the setting for collaboration in order to build consensus around an updated brand personality.
- Legacy misalignment. biBerk’s brand, initially guided by a 2018 archetype, was not cohesive or aligned with current goals. This gap needed to be thoughtfully addressed to support future growth.
The solution.
We conducted a comprehensive audit of the brand, including:
- Reviewing existing brand guidelines and prior research
- Surveying current customers, employees and prospective customers
- Exploring competitor brands and their product offerings
- Analyzing brand strength data from Google
We then pulled together our Brand Alliance team of cross-department collaborators representing each major function of the organization. The group participated in three internal workshops, which would help to define the vision of the company, create the employer brand, and drive the overall brand identity.
These efforts built strong alignment around biBerk’s future positioning and established the brand personality, “The Nerd.” To tie all the pieces together, we introduced a new external tagline, Smart about Small that encapsulated the experience we wanted customers and prospects to have with the brand. The new employer brand also included an internal rally cry: Think big. Insure small. that would help employees quickly understand their part in delivering on the biBerk brand promise.
This new platform set the stage for biBerk’s 2024 brand relaunch and long-term growth potential.
biBerk’s new brand persona:
The Nerd.
Passionate. Intelligent. Familiar. Energetic.
Never boring, always thinking ahead and very reliable, the Nerd is the person you trust because they have your back. And…they’ll do your homework for you.Read how we brought the brand foundation to life in phase two.
