We believe this work demonstrates ability to create a scalable motion system which brings to life a core strategic idea.

Deezer is a French company that was founded in 2007, a year earlier than Spotify. Whilst its growth over the years has been slower than the globally dominant leader, Deezer secured critical retail and telco partnerships to secure its footprint in France, gaining nearly 10 million users and scaling to 188 countries. Yet despite its first-mover advantage and existing equity in France, its perceptions had grown stagnant and the brand was viewed as less fresh and innovative than the deeply-competitive category overall.

Deezer approached Koto in need of a new identity to deliver on its evolved brand purpose, 'Deezer helps you be and belong.' Since Deezer's founding in 2007, the landscape of music streaming has exploded: growing increasingly competitive and dominated by global players with strong brands. With deep heritage in the French market, Deezer's ambition was to breathe new life into its leadership position, and to win over a Gen Z audience through a shared passion for music and a bold, quirky personality. The budget was €223,000, and the scale of rebrand covered the entire global ecosystem of expression and touchpoints, including campaigns, product, content, partnerships, and more.

Deezer identified Gen Z as its primary audience for the rebrand. As a generation deeply passionate about identity and expression (and less enamoured with the streaming giants of previous generations), they often seek out brands that share the same outlook. In developing the new visual identity, we found that the DNA of Deezer mirrored their approach to music: enthusiasm for artists, embrace of fandom, and a deep love of music. This unlocked the shared belief that "music is the beating heart of life" to build relevance with Gen Z. The identity is built upon the heart logo, to succinctly encapsulate the brand's essence and to form the backbone for a bold, dynamic system, particularly in motion. A custom variable typeface further enriches the system across product and editorial, and a vibrant lead purple further builds distinction and equity in the story of connection and expression.

This creative is a global rebrand, designed to be used by a small internal design team and appear anywhere the Deezer should appear.

At the heart of the new Deezer brand is a logo that symbolises
 a beating heart. This new logo draws inspiration from three core
I deas: A heart to represent a love and passion for music, the logo's
 shapes vary to signify musical rhythms and It’s motion and pulsating quality directly mirror the response to the listening experience, much 
like a heartbeat. We built Deezer's design system around the 'beats'
- the shapes which make up Deezer’s new logo. These adaptable 
shapes take various forms, creating dynamic patterns and graphic elements. This thematic thread runs through every facet of the 
brand, extending to the new Deezer SANS font and its applications, branded visuals, iconography, art direction, and motion principles. 
We also created a variable custom typeface, Deezer Sans.
 This typeface is at the core of Deezer's rebrand, with forms 
directly inspired by the shapes inherent to the brand's logo.