A changing company needs a dynamic brand
Global energy-management company Schneider Electric competes with the biggest names around, but they faced an identity crisis because their brand no longer reflected their evolved business model. We partnered with Schneider Electric to craft a brand architecture that would bridge the gap between OT and IT, establishing them as an innovative IoT leader.
A unifying identity to signal connection
We conducted dozens of interviews with stakeholders and ultimately discovered that Schneider was lacking a means to represent their complete IoT offerings. While they offered thousands of products and solutions, they were quite disconnected and lacked a central verbiage and common platform. Moreover, establishing leadership in IoT required more than optimizing the portfolio, we had to signal change to shift mindsets and behavior.
Elevating EcoStruxure™
Rather than starting from scratch with a new name, we elevated an existing brand–EcoStruxure–to a platform level almost on par with the corporate brand. Under the new brand system, EcoStruxure became the connection for all connected products, edge control, and apps, analytics, and services. Unifying everything around the single EcoStruxture name gave Schneider a central point they could speak to and communicate from.
Identifying and appealing to end markets
To better engage customers and emphasize solutions over products, we organized the portfolio by market (e.g., Buildings, Data Centers, Grid, etc.) and then developed a naming strategy that leverages descriptive terminology to drive simplicity and ensure that the focus would be on building a single, powerful EcoStruxure brand.
Understanding that a rebrand is only as successful as its rollout, we also put together a full migration strategy, including launch plans, communications plans, and implementation plans. This extensive guidance made for a seamless transition.
A well-received “natural step”
Wall Street is now seeing Schneider as an integrated, forward-thinking firm, and internal efficiency has increased. In addition, stakeholder feedback on the naming architecture has been overwhelmingly positive, with internal comments like:
“EcoStruxure—I think it is great. The word itself is great. Eco–Ecology, Economy, Economical, Ecosystem.”
