Challenge

How do you go about re-branding the beating heart of the world’s air transport industry?

With a bold vision and the courage to make it happen.

Starting with research

We undertook extensive strategic research, both quantitative and qualitative amongst customers, industry contacts, senior SITA Managers and all SITA employees, to establish:

•What SITA is today

• What our customers, partners and employees want SITA to be

Changing a brand

In response to this, we delivered:

• A change management programme which encompassed communications, portfolio, capability and culture

• New brand proposition, strapline, creative platform and employee engagement

Identified requirements:

• Demonstrate to customers and employees that SITA has changed

• Differentiate SITA from other technology companies in the market

• Position SITA as a leader with a bolder, innovative presence and voice

Overview of findings

• Whilst SITA was regarded as a global specialist it was also seen as

- Slow

- Bureaucratic

- Inflexible

• The brand was not achieving stand-out or differentiation amongst a very ‘me-too’ competitive set

From To

Service Provider Market marker

Dedicated to Influential

Respected Wanted

Legacy Value Added Innovation

Slow Responsive

Bureaucratic Can do

Rigid Lean, efficient, quick

Brand re-positioning

When Brand re-positioning becomes Change Management

• The SITA Brand had to act as the central driving force to drive change across the entire organisation.

• The Brand repositioning programme needed to

- demonstrate to customers, employees and the market that SITA was changing

- differentiate SITA from an expanding list of competitors (established and ‘new’)

- position SITA as a Leader, with a bolder, innovative presence and voice

And how this then impacted all areas of the business

Creative Expression of Brand

From this…

We explored lots of different ways to express the brand before settling on a solution that is modern, fluid and organic. It combines a mixture of industry and non-industry imagery with a bold, confident and conversational tone of voice.

…to this

…to this

The new brand experience has also been carried through to SITA's corporate website and across all internal platforms. Here, subtly moving freeforms and texture help bring the brand to life, whilst the content is presented in an engaging and intuitive way.

The new brand has even found its way into SITA's offices around the world, helping to create vibrant, colourful workspaces that inspire collaboration and the desire to succeed.

…to this

When a company such as SITA decides to transform every aspect of its operations, from its portfolio of market-leading solutions and its customer support capabilities to its culture and communications, it's essential everyone knows why. Our brand storybook tells the tale.

…to this

The brand identity has also been used for exhibition and conference stands. The bold graphics and the short engaging and inspirational headlines combine to create a brand the likes of which the air transport industry has never seen.

…and this

• We ensured throughout the entire process that we engaged with stakeholders at all key times and milestones in the brand journey

- Senior Leadership Team

- Customer Advisory Board

- Executive Board

- Heads of Business

- Steering Committee

Internal Engagement

• As well as appointing Brand Ambassadors across all areas of the business and at multiple levels.

• Regional workshops with management teams led by the Brand Ambassadors helped inspire and develop commitment to SITA’s new brand goals.

We helped SITA place the brand at the heart of everything it does; how the business talks, how it forms its strategy, how it engages with customers and partners and employees.

The internal dimension to changing the brand:

Tactics

• Global Desktop

• Email campaign

• Brand handbook

• Quiz

• Educational tools

Our objective was to create a human connection with the brand – by capturing the people, leadership, success and human interest stories that could deliver the brand values and brand attributes.

External Brand Campaign

The ‘TWC Campaign’ tells the stories of SITA customers, partners and staff and uses real people to show-case the great achievements and innovations that benefit the entire Air Transport Industry.

18

TWC

• Don’t underestimate the times it takes (even for small changes or actions)

Key Learnings

• Put as much emphasis, budget, into internal comms as external comms

• KPIs are mandatory, but don’t revisit too early – the effect of Change takes time….

• Not everyone understands everything just because you’ve told them – messages need explanation and reinforcement (global organisation / non marketers)

• Relevance and Credibility is far more important than clever straplines and design – without them it doesn’t matter how much you invest, your Brand won’t fly!

“Rebranding an organisation as complex as SITA was never going to be an easy challenge and yet dnx has understood us completely, and showed us the way, pushing us to be bold, to be different. Across all aspects of our organisation, we have a new, vibrant brand that we can be proud of”

Arthur CalderwoodSenior Vice President Marketing & Sales OperationsSITA

Last word…