Branding in Nottingham

We've recently completed a re-brand exercise with leading patent and trademark attorneys, Potter Clarkson (formerly Eric Potter Clarkson), who recognised a need for a new look for the firm, to not only give their established brand a new lease of life but also provide the foundations for a new, integrated, long-term business strategy. The new identity needed to more accurately reflect the culture of the company and strike a balance between the notion of a well established, highly reputable, professional business which was personable, approachable, modern and forward thinking.

The hospitality division of The University of Nottingham asked Absolute to undertake a branding project in order to strengthen the positioning of their service offering.

A list of names was generated, each of which was researched for competitors and web availability. Nottingham Conferences was chosen and the resulting design was able capture the historic context of the university and also retain certain design cues from the East Midlands Conference Centre logo. It also suggests the four sub-brand venues that operate within the business using a styling and colour palette that extends throughout its marketing activity.

Having worked with this client for well over 10 years, we agreed when they approached us to discuss their plans for market repositioning, that this should involve a complete image review.

Having over 20 years invested in the name meant this had to stay, so we set about redefining the identity to better reflect their emphasis on quality, experience and integrity. Having achieved an agreed design and colour palette, we then established a mood and tone of voice for all supporting imagery and communications. This was rolled out over website, point-of-sale, press advertising, internal and external signage and printed literature.

Formed in the United Kingdom in 2003, 3SP Ltd is a leading provider of secure applications based upon the Java platform. With a truly international client base, they offer an alternative to the major software houses and are in the process of developing a leading SSL VPN solution for SMBs - SSL-Explorer.

Working closely with 3SP's marketing team we developed a strong but simple brand identity that could even be reduced to 16 x 16 pixels to be recognizable in the applications title bar.

Following the success of the corporate identity, we have since produced a brand identity for SSL Explorer, the businesses core product.

The North Staffordshire Hospital has a growing number of private cosmetic surgery clients and approached us with a view to building a new customer-facing brand for this area of treatment.

Following much consultation, our creative team compiled a shortlist of names, ensuring that they were unique, memorable and appropriate to the marketplace and compatible with Nuffield's existing identity.

We developed the "Imagelift" identity and supporting media to create a customer friendly, approachable perception of the brand, which focuses on improved self image rather than an aspiration to an unrealistic ideal.