Digital Verticals
Three exclusively digital product brands for a Swiss media company: Hype, Improve, and Soda
(Client)
Ringier AG
(Services)
In-depth Brand Discovery, Brand Strategy, Visual Identity (including UX- and UI-Elements), Definition of ‘tone of voice’, Templates, Styles Guides, and (partly) Naming
Strategic extension of
a company’s portfolio
Three new ‘content hubs’. Each with a distinct focus, key topics, and target audience. With the aim of refining and enhancing the company’s identity.
Throughout the process, I worked closely with the heads of the social media and digital products teams.
First: Improve
The idea behind Improve was straightforward: a content hub for international news on sustainability, climate change, and environmental research. A kind of source for informed activism.
The overarching message is ‘Tomorrow is now’. The Logo also visually plays on the phrases ‘Improve’ and ‘I prove’. Based on the templates, modules, and style guide I developed for the visual identity, the website and social media profiles were implemented in-house.
The launch was a real success. Within a few days, the social media channels combined had already more than 100,000 followers.
—————————
Second: Hype
Swiss people probably still remember the free evening newspaper ‘Blick am Abend’. It had a trashy image associated with entertainment consumed on public transport on the way home. There was also a website, which nobody actually visited. Before it was announced that ‘Blick am Abend’ was to be scrapped entirely, other ideas were being considered.
I developed the brand strategy and visual identity for a wholly digital product called ‘Hype’ that was intended to replace ‘Blick am Abend’. The aim: to turn Hype into a community brand that helps you navigate between fun news and fake news. An everyday collection for escapism in style. And actually funny.
The approval process went through all levels of the organisation, including a presentation to the CEO. Everyone was hyped. In the end, the executive board decided against it. That was a huge disappointment for everyone involved. But that’s how it goes sometimes: bold ideas get tucked away in a dusty drawer.
—————————
Third: Soda
The requirement: A social-only brand. This means that there should be no other digital touchpoints beyond social media.
The aim was to provide a young, predominantly female audience (Gen Z, Gen Alpha) with daily in-house-produced content on politics and culture.
Before developing the final brand strategy, I devised several naming concepts. Each would have resulted in a slightly different brand positioning. The decision came down to Soda. The positioning: Soda is a source where complex political issues are explained in a refreshingly unusual way, and engaging in politics is fun.
To make everyday content generation as effective as possible, I developed the brand’s visual identity based on the technical capabilities of the social media applications themselves. As a result, it is actually possible to communicate in a visually consistent manner without relying on predefined templates.
The launch of Soda was as successful as that of Improve.
Digital Verticals
Three exclusively digital product brands for a Swiss media company: Hype, Improve, and Soda
(Client)
Ringier AG
(Services)
In-depth Brand Discovery, Brand Strategy, Visual Identity (including UX- and UI-Elements), Definition of ‘tone of voice’, Templates, Styles Guides, and (partly) Naming
Strategic extension of
a company’s portfolio
Three new ‘content hubs’. Each with a distinct focus, key topics, and target audience. With the aim of refining and enhancing the company’s identity.
Throughout the process, I worked closely with the heads of the social media and digital products teams.
First: Improve
The idea behind Improve was straightforward: a content hub for international news on sustainability, climate change, and environmental research. A kind of source for informed activism.
The overarching message is ‘Tomorrow is now’. The Logo also visually plays on the phrases ‘Improve’ and ‘I prove’. Based on the templates, modules, and style guide I developed for the visual identity, the website and social media profiles were implemented in-house.
The launch was a real success. Within a few days, the social media channels combined had already more than 100,000 followers.
—————————
Second: Hype
Swiss people probably still remember the free evening newspaper ‘Blick am Abend’. It had a trashy image associated with entertainment consumed on public transport on the way home. There was also a website, which nobody actually visited. Before it was announced that ‘Blick am Abend’ was to be scrapped entirely, other ideas were being considered.
I developed the brand strategy and visual identity for a wholly digital product called ‘Hype’ that was intended to replace ‘Blick am Abend’. The aim: to turn Hype into a community brand that helps you navigate between fun news and fake news. An everyday collection for escapism in style. And actually funny.
The approval process went through all levels of the organisation, including a presentation to the CEO. Everyone was hyped. In the end, the executive board decided against it. That was a huge disappointment for everyone involved. But that’s how it goes sometimes: bold ideas get tucked away in a dusty drawer.
—————————
Third: Soda
The requirement: A social-only brand. This means that there should be no other digital touchpoints beyond social media.
The aim was to provide a young, predominantly female audience (Gen Z, Gen Alpha) with daily in-house-produced content on politics and culture.
Before developing the final brand strategy, I devised several naming concepts. Each would have resulted in a slightly different brand positioning. The decision came down to Soda. The positioning: Soda is a source where complex political issues are explained in a refreshingly unusual way, and engaging in politics is fun.
To make everyday content generation as effective as possible, I developed the brand’s visual identity based on the technical capabilities of the social media applications themselves. As a result, it is actually possible to communicate in a visually consistent manner without relying on predefined templates.
The launch of Soda was as successful as that of Improve.
Digital Verticals
Three exclusively digital product brands for a Swiss media company: Hype, Improve, and Soda
(Client)
Ringier AG
(Services)
In-depth Brand Discovery, Brand Strategy, Visual Identity (including UX- and UI-Elements), Definition of ‘tone of voice’, Templates, Styles Guides, and (partly) Naming
Strategic extension of
a company’s portfolio
Three new ‘content hubs’. Each with a distinct focus, key topics, and target audience. With the aim of refining and enhancing the company’s identity.
Throughout the process, I worked closely with the heads of the social media and digital products teams.
First: Improve
The idea behind Improve was straightforward: a content hub for international news on sustainability, climate change, and environmental research. A kind of source for informed activism.
The overarching message is ‘Tomorrow is now’. The Logo also visually plays on the phrases ‘Improve’ and ‘I prove’. Based on the templates, modules, and style guide I developed for the visual identity, the website and social media profiles were implemented in-house.
The launch was a real success. Within a few days, the social media channels combined had already more than 100,000 followers.
—————————
Second: Hype
Swiss people probably still remember the free evening newspaper ‘Blick am Abend’. It had a trashy image associated with entertainment consumed on public transport on the way home. There was also a website, which nobody actually visited. Before it was announced that ‘Blick am Abend’ was to be scrapped entirely, other ideas were being considered.
I developed the brand strategy and visual identity for a wholly digital product called ‘Hype’ that was intended to replace ‘Blick am Abend’. The aim: to turn Hype into a community brand that helps you navigate between fun news and fake news. An everyday collection for escapism in style. And actually funny.
The approval process went through all levels of the organisation, including a presentation to the CEO. Everyone was hyped. In the end, the executive board decided against it. That was a huge disappointment for everyone involved. But that’s how it goes sometimes: bold ideas get tucked away in a dusty drawer.
—————————
Third: Soda
The requirement: A social-only brand. This means that there should be no other digital touchpoints beyond social media.
The aim was to provide a young, predominantly female audience (Gen Z, Gen Alpha) with daily in-house-produced content on politics and culture.
Before developing the final brand strategy, I devised several naming concepts. Each would have resulted in a slightly different brand positioning. The decision came down to Soda. The positioning: Soda is a source where complex political issues are explained in a refreshingly unusual way, and engaging in politics is fun.
To make everyday content generation as effective as possible, I developed the brand’s visual identity based on the technical capabilities of the social media applications themselves. As a result, it is actually possible to communicate in a visually consistent manner without relying on predefined templates.
The launch of Soda was as successful as that of Improve.