The old MullenLowe felt outdated and failed to represent the talent, diversity, and modernity within our agencies.

Changing the way we showed up in the world was essential to foster a sense of pride and belonging among ourselves and to alter perceptions for our clients and new business prospects.

Design has been crucial to redefine our identity and remind us what we are capable of.

When our brand exemplifies the excellence we proclaim, we become our most compelling case study.

MullenLowe was grappling with an inconsistent visual identity problem. Various regions had been using different logos arbitrarily for ages. The only consistent element was the octopus, a symbol of MullenLowe since agencies Mullen and Lowe merged in 2015. So we crafted a new visual identity around it.

We set out to launch a whole new visual identity that needed to be not only incredibly simple (as we are a global brand operating at a global scale with global clients, audiences, and nuances) but also reflect each of our thousands of employees in a unique way.

We created a logo strong and fluid enough to change and shift as many times as needed without losing its iconic nature. Then we invited everyone to make it their own.

The visual identity became a powerful tool to instill a sense of pride and belonging within a network that felt outdated and corporate. Each region adopted this visual identity while maintaining a controlled, strict, and unified design output.

MullenLowe grappled with an inconsistent visual identity problem with different network regions using their own logo versions. One thing remained consistent: the octopus was a unifying symbol of the network.

The brief was to distinguish ourselves from other agencies – it was not just a desire, but a necessity. Our new identity had to be simple enough to resonate globally yet nuanced enough for every region.

With this brief, we saw a significant opportunity to showcase our conceptual and executional capabilities. We revamped the visual identity around the octopus icon. It pays homage to the octopus' fluidity and adaptability, focusing on its essence rather than physical form. The logo is designed to evolve without losing its iconic nature and crafted to show personalization at scale. Every campaign element makes a bold statement in terms of both thinking and craftsmanship, all while reinforcing the concept of the octopus' fluidity and adaptability.

The new visual identity is absolutely relevant for the agency, since it's build around its only unifying asset. Furthermore, it constitutes an example of what the agency is all about: conceptual strenght, outstanding craft and integrated thinking.

Our target audience was internal and external, both in equal measure.

We needed to create a sense of pride and belonging, a global unified identity that would not only make all of us proud but will also invite us to make it ours. This visual identity does not belong to the corporation but to the people that make it what it is.

On the other hand, the visual identity needed to stand out from our competitors in order to communicate our clients - and the industry at large- that MullenLowe was putting creativity and craft back at the heart of everything.

We conceptualized the entire idea, designed the logo and its applications, and gained full approval from global leaders. Subsequently, we executed the identity, incorporating an internal system enabling everyone to create their own personalized version of the logo for use as a signature and on stationery. We developed a typeface, website, a shared global presentation deck, guidelines, signage, posters, patterns, apparel, and consistent social media posts and assets that have been utilized uniformly worldwide.

Everything was developed at global scale and implemented across every office in a consistent way. We designed guidelines, work templates and playbooks for everyone to use and organized regional meetings to explain every asset and how to use it.

The visual identity has been successfully implemented across the MullenLowe network and the reactions have been unprecedented. Internally, people are happy to work with clean, beautiful and functional elements and tools. They are also proud to show up like a modern, well curated organization. MullenLowe's new visual identity has been the most talked about agency rebrand of the year, with almost 100% positive sentiment (98.3% is the number and that is because concepts like "sick" or "dope" were identified as negative by the algorithm).

Here are some numbers:

155 organic earned media impressions

300% brand surge on Google

98.3% positive sentiment

+2,550 social mentions

+16% inbound calls

+35% new business opportunities directly related to the rebrand.

Featured in Monotype’s 2024 trends report.

Featured in main design and creative outlets such as "It's Nice That", "Print Magazine" Communication Arts", etc.

“Top 5 Logo Changes of 2023” – Ad Age