That’s just U+S
Ulrick + ShortThe Challenge
Approaching its 25th year, functional food ingredients business Ulrick & Short was looking for a brand refresh, to better reflect USPs and future-proof in line with growth plans.
Our challenge was to deliver a fresh, modern, business-aligned brand that maintained a lineage with company heritage, but remained, recognisably Ulrick & Short.
The Services
The Process
1. Brand Workshop
2. Brand DNA
3. Creative Execution
Our Approach
Our first stage of work was to manage and chair a brand workshop for key stakeholders from across Europe – to discuss the business attributes that best reflected the company’s competitive advantage.
Using that session as a foundation, we then created a brand DNA document outlining the brand proposition, the key selling points, vision, values and mission.
It then became the foundation for the creative delivery to begin – a strategic benchmark against which the visual and messaging identity could be measured.
The Creative
At the heart of the Ulrick & Short proposition was the idea of collaboration (with customers), expert formulation (of ingredients).
With that front of mind, we built the brand around a simple creative device, U+S, which we integrated into an equally simple messaging line in: That’s just U+S.
In swapping the & for a + we added a visual cue that directly tied back to the formulation of ingredients, while using the initials to form the ‘US’ allowed us to hone in on the business’ ability to establish, strengthen and maximise relationships with its customers.
From there, we developed a dynamic brand that combined clean lines, a rich colour palette (centred on a rich, deep blue) and an array of dynamic animated executions designed to enable the brand to flourish on channels like social and OOH. All of which was accompanied with a messaging tone that was professional and authoritative and yet steadfastly non-corporate.
