Radical Simplification For Economist Group

Wolff Olins Adds Clarity But Protects Journalist Independence

Wolff Olins has created a rebrand for the Economist Group that builds on the editorial integrity of the magazine while differentiating the organization’s non-journalistic offerings. Beyond journalism The Economist Group spans executive education, data, research and forecasting, events, custom content and more. Despite operating separately from the  journalism, the rapid growth of these services risked diluting The Economist’s editorial independence. The challenge was to bring clarity to the Group’s offer – without severing their link with The Economist but also protecting the independence of the iconic journalism brand.

 

 

This was accomplished, first and foremost, by simplifying the portfolio down from dozens of products to four core brands: Economist Impact, Economist Intelligence, Economist Education and, of course, The Economist. Identifying that all parts of the Group share The Economist’s commitment to progress, Wolff Olins built a brand architecture that allows each to communicate its role in driving it forward. 

 

 

States Wolff Olins: “We identified the editorial approach of The Economist as the heart of their brand equity across the Group. So we needed to create brand architecture that allowed other parts of The Economist Group to communicate the same excellence that The Economist is known for, and to apply it to their respective industries and audiences. This was an exercise in radical simplification, bringing the Group’s portfolio of over fifty brands down to just four (including the creation of two entirely new brands, Economist Impact and Economist Education), united under a shared mission and brand narrative, all tied together nicely with the recognizable ‘red thread’ design theme. And by defining a Group-wide set of experience principles, we equipped each new brand to translate The Economist’s editorial approach into its own language.”

 

Kim Miller, Chief Marketing Officer, The Economist Group observes that “Wolff Olins was a true partner in our effort to drive change for our organization” and that the rebrand safeguards the editorial independence of The Economist while equipping each of the four core brands with their own value propositions and visual assets in the pursuit of progress.