Parasol's new brand works harder for your living
Posted on 17 July 2009
Parasol, the UK’s favourite PAYE umbrella company and one of the country’s fastest growing businesses, has invested in a new corporate identity. The strategic brand review has delivered a more contemporary design that better articulates Parasol’s values and customer focus to meet the needs of today’s contractors. A key element of the new branding is an iconic new brand ambassador, Lance Freer (freelancer), an animated character whose role is to look after freelancers and contractors. The character embodies Parasol’s supportive and spirited approach and will help deliver key messages in a fresh and entertaining way.
Parasol’s staff has been widely consulted about the new brand, even down to naming Lance, and his christening party forms part of the launch celebrations. The branding will now extend this sense of community to Parasol’s companies including Quay Accounting, which joined the family last year.
The brand now better reflects the company’s pioneering personality and commitment to innovation and is a radical departure from traditional umbrella branding.
Susie Lee-Kilgariff, head of marketing for Parasol, said: “We wanted a creative brand to live online, stand out from the competition and add an element of fun and imagination into what can be a dry and process-driven industry.
“The brand essence – ‘we work harder for your living’ was central to the design brief to ensure this re-brand is not just about a fabulous logo. This has been a process that strengthens and communicates our attributes and expresses values that are more relevant for contractors today.”
Recognising the importance of social media the company was the first umbrella to have a Twitter account and managing director, Rob Crossland, writes Contracting Matters (www.contractingmatters.co.uk), one of few blogs to give regular advice and updates about issues affecting contractors. The new branding lends itself to even greater use of social media and in the coming months the company will be introducing webinars and videos to even further improve and expand its overall offering to contractors. (This will include a Lance Freer movie.)
The new brand has been developed jointly between Parasol and Studio North, the Manchester-based independent brand design consultancy and award-winning web design agency Liquid Light, and will now be rolled out across press advertisements, corporate literature, online banner advertisements and www.parasolgroup.co.uk . The recent web upgrade has added a more creative element to Parasol’s online presence and has introduced a more simple navigation, as well as useful tools such as tax calculators.
Nick Wright, creative director at Studio North said: “As a business, Parasol commands a great deal of respect so the new creative communications needed to reflect that from the design of the core logo to the press ads and brochures. It was great to work so closely with the whole Parasol team as they gave us the licence to explore new ground but we were careful to not loose sight of the organisation's brand values and character which are so pivotal to its ongoing success. We also steered away from any industry clichés and we feel the result really does herald a new era in their marketing activities.”
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