We are honored to announce that DeSantis Breindel has been shortlisted in four categories at the eighth annual Transform Awards North America. The Transform Awards recognize exemplary brand development work across strategy, creative and execution. These nominations demonstrate once again how our collaborative approach to building brands with clients drive meaningful change and deliver measurable competitive advantage.
The work we’ve done with our clients has been shortlisted for the following four categories:
Best Corporate Rebrand Following a Merger or Acquisition: Prospiant
Gibraltar Industries, a leading manufacturer and distributor of products for the agtech, renewables, infrastructure, and residential markets in North America, had recently acquired multiple companies, including two in the cannabis growing and processing technology market. To realize the potential of these acquisitions, Gibraltar planned to combine them with its existing Growing & Processing (G&P) group. Gibraltar asked DeSantis Breindel to recommend and implement an approach to optimizing the combination. Following internal and external research, both qualitative and quantitative, we recommended that Gibraltar create a new branded subsidiary, which we named Prospiant, that would establish it as a dynamic, future-focused innovator in the space. We developed a new brand strategy and visual identity for Prospiant, and provided extensive brand training to empower the new group to launch the new brand through a wide range of communications.
Best Visual Identity in Financial Services Sector: OneMain Financial
DeSantis Breindel developed a new brand for OneMain Financial, a leading provider of personal loans and insurance products to customers with limited access to traditional lenders. By focusing on trust and confidence, the new brand strategy supports the company’s mission of improving the financial well-being of hard-working Americans. The new visual identity is built around the company’s three new customer experience principles: empathy, ease, and encouragement. From color palette to photography standards to a proprietary icon system, the visual identity supports these pillars at every touchpoint, including in the company’s extensive network of branch offices.
Best Strategic or Creative Development of a New Brand: BrightWay
OneMain Financial provides personal loans products to customers with limited access to traditional lenders, such as banks and credit card companies. Seeking to expand its business while providing more value to an underserved community, OneMain decided to offer a credit card. The new card would reflect the company’s commitment to empowering its customers to reach a better financial future. DeSantis Breindel partnered with OneMain’s leadership to launch the new credit card, which we named BrightWay. Our brand strategy for the card was built around the idea of “Step Up Together” – suggesting that with the new credit card, and the support of OneMain, customers could enhance their financial flexibility and control. A visual system, including the credit card itself and the mobile experience, utilized a distinctive loop element to suggest the inevitable ups and downs of life.
Best Visual Identity in Energy and Utilities Sector: Terrasmart
Gibraltar Industries had assembled a powerful portfolio of companies focused on providing industrial components to the renewable energy transmission industry. The company asked DeSantis Breindel to create a new brand for these businesses, which together would form an independent subsidiary. The goal: position the new entity as a cohesive, end-to-end supplier with best-in-class solutions. We created a new brand strategy built around the concept of “Powerful Connections,” emphasizing the close partnerships that enable the company to “connect” into customers’ businesses. Following internal and external research, we developed a brand architecture framework that integrated the once independent companies into a cohesive whole, and recommended that the new entity adopt the name of one of the acquired subsidiaries, Terrasmart. We developed a dynamic new visual brand that conveys the company’s core belief in the infinite potential of renewable energy – and its role in building a greener future.
DeSantis Breindel has previously been awarded a Transform Awards Gold prize in 2021 in the category of “Best Corporate Rebrand Following a Merger or Acquisition for its work with HALO. The winners of this year’s Transform Awards North America will be announced at an in-person awards event on October 25th in New York City.