Something a bit different: rebranding Willis Re

Here is the November edition of 'Throwback Thursday', our monthly newsletter where we delve into the archives and revisit projects we have delivered for clients in recent times. This month we go back in time to 2010 and our rebrand for Willis Re.

The brief

In early 2010 we were asked to develop a brand identity for the Willis Re division of Willis, (the world’s 3rd largest broker). Willis Re were then operating under the Willis brand identity, sharing the Willis logo. Willis Re required their own identity to differentiate them from Willis and to give them a distinctive presence in the Reinsurance market. The identity needed to be applied easily across their global offices, many of which produced material in non-traditional design packages like Microsoft Word. The identity therefore needed to be practical and easy to implement.

The solution: 'Managing Extremes'

Willis Re had one rather significant ‘ace up its sleeve’ in the Willis Research Network, the ‘world’s largest, most significant partnership between the insurance industry, academia, government, and public science institutions.’ This was a central part in our thinking behind the new brand proposition – it meant we could be bold and confident with messaging and branding, knowing that they could back it up with a genuine point-of-difference. The central proposition we created was ‘Managing Extremes’.

‘Managing Extremes’ defined

3 core strengths underpin the Willis Re brand: we deliver practical solutions, based on market-leading intelligence in an accessible open manner. These strengths mean we can deliver the best reinsurance solutions to our clients in a volatile world – it’s all about MANAGING EXTREMES.

The brand identity we created was a visual metaphor for ‘Managing Extremes’, extremely confident, extremely dynamic and extremely distinctive. It marked Willis Re out as original, different and purposeful.

Creating a distinctive visual identity

In line with the ‘Managing Extremes’ proposition we didn't want to deliver a safe, predictable brand identity. The visual metaphor Willis Re chose was based around creating a visual language of bold, colourful shapes and icons on black backgrounds, created in a studio with light pens shot against black backgrounds in a studio. We created a series of generic shapes that represented the ‘'volatile world’ in their mission statement, business line imagery and generic icons.

The Results

The client was delighted they had a very different look and feel from Willis and more importantly – they had a proposition and brand identity that was genuinely different from their competitors. In the Reinsurance space, in a sea of blue and stock imagery, they were able to really stand apart visually and in ‘Managing Extremes’, they had a core strapline that was something genuinely unique!

And there you have it – a glimpse into what we have done at brandformula in recent years. Stay tuned for next month's dive into the archives…???