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Case study: LGC Genomics

A new position for a genomics giant

Strategic platform for LGC Genomics

LGC-logo

LGC Genomics is the genomics division of LGC, a global leader in the life sciences sector. LGC create tools and solutions for life scientists globally working in human healthcare, agri-food technology and the environment.UP used the BASE-UP (Brief, Audit, Strategy, Execution and follow UP) project management approach in developing this project.

Location

United Kingdom

Sector

Life science

Service

Branding & communications

Background

UP was tasked with the brief to create a new brand personality and look & feel for the LGC Genomics brand that would sit within the wider LGC family. The Genomics division had grown rapidly under an aggressive run of acquisitions and so required a new personality that would provide both a cohesive and stand out visual language in an otherwise noisy and commoditized market.  The positioning was to launch the tag line “Integrated tools, accelerated science.” Alterations to the LGC logo were not permitted.

The brief

The LGC team were not looking for a complete rebrand. The Genomics division lived within an established and recognizable brand – LGC. It was therefore our role to work within the pre-defined values of the wider organization, creating a complementary story that would work to bring a huge portfolio of acquired brands together under one divisional promise.

The rapid expansion of the Genomics division had seen a number of new products, instruments and applications come into the portfolio. Some of these brand carried good equity and were famous amongst their users, others were new and unknown. The answer had to be flexible enough to accommodate this complex environment.

The solution

UP applied the 5-step BASE-UP process to immerse UP teams across the world in the LGC Genomics products, audiences and competitive set. Following a global immersion session held with European and US teams in London, UP commenced an extensive audit phase to understand exactly what both internal and external stakeholders  expected from the LGC Genomics brand.

Working within the global corporate guidelines, the UP creative team crafted a new visual look and feel for the genomics division to create stand out in the sector and bring the newly defined personality traits to life.

The expansive secondary color palette of the corporate brand was put to use to add energy and humanity to the visual language while creating unity. Rules were crafted around graphic elements and use of photography, to make the brand own-able.

The LGC Genomics portfolio had grown rapidly through multiple acquisitions. UP worked collaboratively with product managers around the world to categorize products and define how they should behave in the new divisional framework.

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Three streams for brand inclusion 

Once categorized, an acquisition journey for brands was developed to determine the equity of individual product brands and to define how they would be brought into the portfolio visually.

1. Champion brands – these had extensive market equity and maintained their identities, becoming endorsed by the LGC Genomics brand.

2. Mid-equity brands – these brands kept their names and logos, but were stripped of color and any logo marques. Over a period of 6-12 months they were brought into the divisional look and feel completely.

3. Low equity brands – these were brands identified as new or unknown and were immediately folded into the divisional look and feel.

A leadership team was selected to define equity of brands going forward.
LGC Images 9-16.014

The roll out

The UP team went on to roll-out the new brand look & feel across all LGC Genomics materials, an extensive brand book and CVI was created holding over 30 templates. All LGC social platforms were brought quickly into line visually and put live on launch day. The new brand manifesto film was pinned across all channels to help tell the brand story quickly and efficiently. Social. InMail. Email.

Internal launch

With such a large global team, UP recommended that LGC select brand champions across the globe who would be tasked with answering any questions from their respective teams on the new brand positioning. Individual stories and training decks were created by UP for presentation across 9 different groups and were presented to the chosen champions 2 weeks before the full launch.

An internal launch campaign ‘Where Amazing Begins’ was created to launch the new brand throughout the organization. The objective of the campaign was to put employees front and centre, highlighting the new bold look & feel and divisional logo at the same time.

External launch

UP brought the brand to life across the full range of marketing collateral for external audiences, including PR outreach.

The audit, planning and phased rolled out of product packaging was a carefully planned project that addressed over 150 pieces of labeling across the portfolio and across LGC sites. UP handled design from initial concepts to production. Design had to consider not only label specs, but also printing techniques, color requirements and whether labels would also be over printed in-house.

The result

UP and the LGC team completed a full year of follow up with both customers and the internal audience. Reaction to the combined portfolio offer and visual platform have been overwhelmingly positive.

Internal approval rating (responded favorable and above) 75%*
External approval rating (responded favorable and above) 73%*


*Other responses include neutral, no opinion and less favorable.The LGC Genomics Division is now firmly known as Biosearch Technologies. The client reports acquisitions continue to go smoothly when folding in acquired brands.

The LGC internal design team work with all templates supplied by the UP team and the brand guidelines to produce a truly vibrant and unique brand experience across communications.