“New year, new you” – why this mantra is relevant in benefit communications
A strong brand and business aligned communication strategy are critical when it comes to driving employee engagement and increasing the adoption of benefits and reward offerings.
When we create a benefits brand for a client, it’s not just to make sure their version of Darwin looks great. Branding treats employees as consumers so we can build loyalty and create a better, recognisable user journey. Using offline deliverables, such as posters and table talkers helps the communications team create a sense of familiarity with the brand.
So whether the communication is a letter about pensions, or a table talker announcing a benefit selection window, the consistency of the brand remains the same. Creating a brand you can trust, means you build employee engagement and see a return on your investment.
So where does “new year, new you” come in? More and more organisations treat their benefit brand as a strategic asset and update their approach more regularly to reflect the evolution of their benefits offering. A rebrand or brand refresh (the latter more casual than the former) is a perfect way to do this. Whether the brief is to jazz up the current branding or create a completely new identity altogether, this proves that the client is evolving, changing, and adapting to the current audience.
It’s similar for our favourite high street retailers, with whom we’ve built a strong brand loyalty over the years. If our favourite brand goes through a creative refresh – a fresh lick of paint, a fancy new logo – our loyalty to this brand doesn’t just go away. Often, the change excites us; it feels nice to know they’ve pulled out all the stops to make sure we stay interested. A great example of this is the Microsoft logo. Over the years, the logo has evolved to reflect the aesthetics that appeal best to their customers. Incorporating simple graphics, colour and clarity, Microsoft have made the necessary changes to stay relevant and keep pace with competitors.
The last six months have kept us busy with different branding projects. We’ve had the opportunity to flex our creative muscles, from simply updating the imagery on some sites to giving others a total facelift and turning them in to something spectacular. Along with a new look and feel, a rebrand or refresh is the perfect opportunity to shout about what’s on offer and remind employees that their benefits and site are designed with them in mind.
Click here to see some of our most recent rebranding projects. Warning: may contain cute animals, astronauts and juicy fruit that’ll give you a zest for life! If you like what you see and want to suggest a rebrand or brand refresh to a client, these are some indicators that it’s time for a brand check-up:
- Their business has gone through big changes
- The world – and their competition – is changing
- The number of millennials in their workforce has increased
- Their consumer brand has changed
- Their programme needs some TLC and is feeling dated
And if you’re not sure – swing it by us and we’ll be happy to help.
What’s new in design this year?
Designers will always have their go-to fonts and layouts that are not only timeless but also work for all audiences. But – is that still innovative? Can we combine the timeless with new, old, or regenerated forms of design?
Similarly to last Spring, we are seeing some old trends reappear on our design radar. We are also seeing new creations and visual delights, to engage the many who are visually saturated on a daily basis. There is a fine balance between the return and regeneration of old traditional styles and the progressive tech-based designers.
Here are the top 12 Graphic Design trends predicted for this year. We like to stay at the forefront of design innovation when it comes to creating eye-catching and engaging branded comms for clients so have already put to use some of these trends in recent work. Vivid colours (#4) are a great way to catch attention and engage employees. We used this technique in our recent branding for Airbus. We also took the ‘dreamy’ colour combination approach in the branding of our very own Comms on Demand. Maximum typography (#7) was used in our work for Sapient to help key messages stand out. And, we even had a go at using flat colour mixed realism (#11) in a recent brand pitch. Which do you prefer, and which trends tickle your fancy?
Wel[l]come to Zen in Zone 1
In the midst of the bleak January blues, our Design Team went on a little off-piste external jaunt in search of some creative inspiration. Our destination for the afternoon – the Wellcome Collection – ‘the free museum and library for the incurably curious’. So, after wrapping up warmly and what felt like ten minutes dicing with death trying to cross the Euston Road, we arrived at the impressive Wellcome Collection building which sits proudly located opposite Euston Station, its home since June 2007.
The main event of the day was ‘Living with Buildings’, an ambitious, expansive and hugely enjoyable exhibition which explores the impact of the built environment on our mental and physical health. It featured works by Andreas Gursky, Rachel Whiteread and Martha Rosler, as well as buildings designed by Goldfinger, Lubetkin and Aalto, and examined some of the ways in which architects, planners and designers influence our health, self-esteem and ideas about society.
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The Global Clinic
We enjoyed mooching and mingling amongst the crowds and choosing own personal favourite exhibits; Tetley was taken by the beautiful pen and ink drawings of a futuristic Milton Keynes by Helmut Jacoby, and Ben, the huge Gursky photograph entitled Paris, Montparnasse which he had seen previously at the Gursky exhibition at the Hayward Gallery in Spring 2018. Without doubt, Jae’s pick of the pops was the neighbouring exhibition called The Global Clinic – an immersive installation introducing the visitor to a revolutionary medical and design idea – flat-pack pop-up clinics! Moving, medical marvels.
Following the aforementioned exhibitions, we found ourselves walking through the impressive doors of the previously unexplored Reading Room. We were taken-aback by the room’s scale, its height and grandeur, but more than anything, enveloped by its immediately calming ambience. The Reading Room at the Wellcome Collection, on the perpetually roaring Euston Road, NW1, is quite simply, zen in Zone 1.
One can sit at carefully placed desks and study, lounge in a chaise longue and read a few chapters of War and Peace, or simply while away an afternoon browsing through the thousands of books, journals and artefacts on display.
One word of warning; you can’t eat or drink in the Reading Room. You can however, come away feeling completely rested and relaxed, and we can’t name too many other central London attractions that are free of charge that give you the same buzz.
Go see.
Introducing… Life Rewards
The communications team do love a bit of show and tell. It’s easier for us to bring our work to life if we can show some examples as well as talking about how we work our magic. This presents us with something of a conundrum. Once we’ve nurtured communications into life they become our clients’ intellectual property, which means we must treat them with care. Although we will share client examples, over webex or face to face for example, we prefer not to let them out of our sight. Emailing them to other clients or prospects is a bit of a no, no.
To solve this problem we’ve created a full suite of communications material using our very own Life Rewards branding. Not only does it showcase our design chops and personality, it means we always have the right example to share with a client (and if you need an example to help to bring our services to life you can use them too!). Click here for some examples of our Life Rewards comms – and don’t forget to drop us an email or pop by the Sky Garden if you need our help.
The Buzz Banter
As the first peak of 2019 is drawing to a close for the Comms Team, we are looking forward to celebrating our hard work on a well-earned night out. Not to mention we won at Consulting Team Time in December for being the team that demonstrated Being Brilliant Together best in 2018! But this isn’t just an excuse for eating too much food and a few beers. Our time outside of work together serves as a great opportunity for us to bond as a team and discover some hidden talents. This time round we are heading out for dinner, but it wouldn’t be a Thomsons night out if it didn’t end with a bit of karaoke too. Here we share our go-to karaoke songs with you, and the reasons behind them:
Ilze: Song of choice – “Breakfast at Tiffany’s” by Deep Blue Something
Why is this your go to song? It’s cheerful and whimsical! I have only sung karaoke 3 times so far – once at a hen-do and we left the bar with two watermelons under the sweaters, once at a NYE party and once at a bar in Marseille trying to keep up in improvised French with a local theatre group.
Tetley: Song of choice – “Foundations” by Kate Nash
Why is this your go to song? You get to do some silly voices; it’s a laugh. I can also be found singing Colours of the Wind (a lot) from Pocahontas after a few beverages!
Kirstie: Song of choice – “I’m a Believer” by The Monkees
Why is this your go to song? I like a song with singalong options for karaoke. This song has a cracking chorus for group participation.
Ben: Song of choice – “Beyond the Sea” by Bobby Darin
Why is this your go to song? This or ‘Mack the Knife’. Both remind me so much of my Dad, who worships Darin, and I used to play both tunes in a jazz band.
Laura: Song of choice – “Black Velvet” by Alannah Myles
Why is this your go to song? I wanted to be a popstar when I was a child and read that Christina Aguilera was recognised after singing it. So, I decided it was my song if I wanted to be taken ‘seriously as a pop star’ and it turns out I’m not terrible at it! Whether it’s karaoke or not, my friends and family always ask me to belt it out.
Emma: Song of choice – “Summer of 69” by Bryan Adams
Why is this your go to song? It’s such a feel good song and those guitar twangs at the beginning just really get me going. I’m also known to put on Don’t Speak by No Doubt because I love a tragic 90s love song and I wanted to be Gwen Stefani when I was younger. I used to make up dance routines to their greatest hits album!
And that’s it! We hope this column helps you get to know our team a little better and you can find out more about each of us and what we do by visiting our Comms Team page here. Until next time…
Thanks for reading!
Remember, if you have any thoughts…
Love, The Comms Team 😉