WPA Pinfold

Our work A brand for everyone

Standard Life

A brand for everyone

Challenge
For almost two centuries, Standard Life has been a trusted brand that looks after people's retirement needs and life savings. They serve millions of customers directly, through advisers, or via their employer's pension scheme. They wanted to establish stronger and more meaningful connections with their customers, making their brand communications more distinctive, memorable, and relevant.
Insight
In these uncertain times, people crave certainty about their future but pensions are not well understood or always top of mind. There is an opportunity to show empathy and help customers have more certainty in their lives. Firstly, how can we simplify things for customers? Secondly, are we focused on customers rather than products and services? Lastly, will it make customers stop and think?
Solution
We collaborated with Standard Life to revamp their brand and ensured that every aspect of the brand, including communication, writing, and creative work, was put through a brand checkpoint to ensure it was simple, humble, and engaging.

Simple. Humble. Engaging.

We created a quick guide to the Standard Life brand to launch the refreshed brand to the marketing team at Standard Life headquarters.

This was an essential introduction for everyone that commissions marketing and brand communications across the organisation.

The ‘point of difference’

A key brand property was developed called the ‘point of difference’. It’s a recognisable element of the brand which now plays a lead role in the brand and marketing communications, always pointing the way to where Standard Life are adding more certainty to customers lives.

Consistency and clarity

We have refreshed a comprehensive package of brand guidelines to help external agencies and internal creative services team to interpret the new brand principles.

WPA were brought in to help us bring our new brand positioning to life. They created a brand model that is memorable and action-orientated, which really captured internal audience and stakeholders’ imagination, revolutionising the way in which they brief, talk about and embrace our brand. It’s now ingrained, in a way that most brand design guidelines never do. What makes them different from other agencies is they are true partners – they’re not afraid to make a leap of faith and share early ideas so the direction can be clearly articulated and come straight back with the solution. It’s a really collaborative effort of agency and client working together to get market-leading ideas.
Head of Brand & Sponsorship
Standard Life