our work
Sirius
Project: Brand strategy, visual identity and communications.
When: 2008
What: To advise the UK’s leading independent Open Source consultants on how best to position their brand story. Their market is little understood and has suffered from a reputation of being unprofessional, with no obvious accountability lying with any one provider for the range of different technologies available. This is changing and Sirius are well placed to be a major player in this market space.
How: Following an extensive review of the market, its history and the characteristics defined by the highly influential people who pioneered this approach to computing, we spoke with key stakeholders from employees to customers to learn about the perceptions of the business in the market. We then explored, in a steering team workshop, a point of view about the market and the opportunity this presented to Sirius. We then created a clear brand strategy, positioning and supporting strapline, which would inform all communications going forward.
Outcome: A brand model with clearly defined vision and values and a compelling positioning statement of “control through freedom”. Along with a new way to present the service offering and a set of four unique guiding principles, based on the standards observed by the Open Source community known as the ‘Four Freedom Principles’. Mark Taylor, the CEO and Founder was very pleased with the brand story, suggesting we had helped them to solve a significant riddle in how to present their business. Tom Callway, Marketing Director at Sirius said; “Mark has given us incredible insights into our business and how to open our brand. Professional, creative and trustworthy - Mark is exceptional at what he does.” Following this success we were asked to bring the strategy alive through an updated visual identity, website look & feel and inclusion of key messages and positioning statements. An important part of this process was the development of a ‘frieze’ to express a new personality for the brand.