The IG&H brand got a reboot this year, including a new visual identity, a revamped website and a refined brand story. Discover the insights behind these changes.
How did the idea for a brand reboot come about?
Like every company, IG&H is changing. Over the past 5 years we have transformed from a pure consultancy player into an end-to-end transformation firm. We acquired 6 companies[1] along the way, and help our clients differently now than we did 5 or 10 years ago.
Meanwhile we became 6 times bigger, and people started giving their own meaning to the IG&H story - or just sharing one part of it. This resulted in different market perceptions. If you confuse, you lose. Therefore, we decided to give it a reboot.
So what’s the story?
We placed the ‘Make Strategy Work’ at the heart of our brand. These three words resonate the most with our clients when we introduce IG&H. They appreciate our deep sector knowledge and our ability to not only advise but also execute.
We also wanted to highlight our culture and local expertise. Clients appreciate consultants who genuinely want to help, who do what they say and take responsibility when things go wrong. That’s where our new payoff ‘Always nearby. With a personal touch.’ comes from.
This aligns with our culture too - no arrogance or showboating, just down-to-earth people who act as trusted partners in our clients' lives.
At the same time we had to be honest with ourselves: Clients don’t care about the IG&H story. They care about their own story, and rightfully so.
Client’s don’t care about the IG&H story. They care about their own story.
So we asked ourselves, how can we be part of their story without overshadowing them? We turned to one of the greatest storytelling institutions of all time for inspiration: cinema. In every movie, you find a hero. As the IG&H marketing team, you'd think it is our duty to position IG&H as the hero. That is the trap we wanted to avoid. The client is the hero and we are their guide.
We adjusted our messaging and writing style to reflect this perspective in our marketing communication as well. All in all, the brand story hasn’t changed entirely; it’s been sharpened and given a fresh “coat of paint,” so to speak.
What is the new writing style like?
Our writing style has become more stimulating and slightly witty, with short, impactful sentences that reflect the fresh perspectives and innovations we bring to our clients’ lives. We’ve also incorporated a touch of humor and a wink, as this is who we are.
We also try to write from the client’s perspective as much as possible, avoiding the overuse of “we do this, we do that.” Instead of saying “we make strategy work,” it's now, “let’s make your strategy work.”
What’s next?
Sharpening the brand story is the easy part. Of course, it requires several deep-dive sessions to understand client needs, how we help them, what they value in us, and what our competitive advantage is in this crowded market. It also takes a few brainstorming sessions to craft the story and some internal alignment and fine tuning with senior management to get their buy in. But eventually, you get there.
The most challenging part is getting 600 colleagues to share the story consistently. You would think that’s marketing’s responsibility - they have the tools, the creativity and the magic to increase brand awareness or change brand perception. The truth is, while the initiative may come from marketing, the ‘make it work’ part is a shared responsibility.
What do you mean by shared responsibility?
Every interaction with a brand contributes to the brand experience. Whether it’s a whitepaper you download, an event you attend, a meeting you have with a brand representative or during a project they do for you. These interactions contribute to the brand experience, which is how you build a strong brand. Marketing is part of that journey, but so is every colleague on the commercial and delivery side.
It's like dating: no one falls in love with someone who shows a different character and personality with each interaction. While everyone has their good and bad days, there needs to be a consistent personality, which is ultimately what you commit to in a relationship. In our case, it’s 600 people embodying the IG&H brand.
Okay, but consulting is a trust-based business. You sell to your trusted network. Isn’t the brand & marketing unnecessary?
To some extent that’s true. However, if you want to expand your client base or offer new, different propositions to your existing clients, you need marketing. And what happens if your best- networked consultants leave? Good people are scarce, so you need to diversify and invest in your brand as well. Brand building pays off in the long term, while hiring well networked people provides immediate gains. That’s why businesses tend to invest in people with a good network over brand building. You need both for sustained success.
What’s the plan for building a strong IG&H brand?
We are starting with employee advocacy. Brand building is a shared responsibility, especially in our business, where we are in daily contact with clients and prospects. We want to ensure every colleague understands the essence of our brand story and can deliver it authentically. Authenticity is important as people will not respond to a story imposed on them by marketing. It must feel genuine to them, using their own words, but conveying the same essence.
brand building is a shared responsibility, especially in our business, where we are in daily contact with clients and prospects
Next to offline employee advocacy, we will focus on LinkedIn. We are already quite active on the platform, but there is still room for growth. I believe that in our business, employee advocacy is the most effective and efficient way to start, even though it’s challenging because as a marketing department you don’t have direct control over it. Next to that we will also focus on the ‘emotions’.
Emotions. Can you elaborate on that?
It might sound a bit abstract but there is a neuroscientific reason for it - emotions are the key drivers of our buying behaviour, not the ratio.[2] And decision making in B2B is no exception. RFP’s and lengthy selection processes with strict criteria might suggest otherwise, but when multiple competitors meet those criteria, what do you think buyers will base their decisions on?
Emotions are the key drivers of our buying behaviour, not the ratio
That’s why we found it important to create an emotional connection with our brand, not just appeal to the ratio. Because let’s be honest: every consulting-tech company in our field claims the same rational arguments. There is little differentiation on that front. People will forget what you tell them, but they won't forget how you make them feel. You need to get people emotionally connected with your brand.
That’s interesting. What emotion do you want to trigger?
As a central emotion we identified relief. We want people to feel a sense of relief when they think of our brand – like someone who helps you solve an important piece of puzzle, so that you don’t have to worry about it anymore. This allows you to focus on what truly matters to you and ultimately provide a sense of 'mission accomplished'. Conveying emotions is no easy task. We will make efforts in many ways – for example via brand videos.
How will you measure these efforts?
There are a few vanity metrics we can use to measure brand awareness, such as trends in branded searches, website visits or reach and engagement on LinkedIn. For employee advocacy, we’ll look at employee engagement on LinkedIn, which, if successful, should lead to an improvement in their SSI (Social Selling Index) scores.
But again, these are all vanity metrics. What really matters is that companies reach out to us more often – whether directly to one of our colleagues or via the website. Just the other day, we received a business request from a hospital via the website after they googled our name. That’s a great example of brand awareness in action.
Szilvia van Oijen
Marketing Manager
[1] GroupLife (2019); Isengard Solution (2019); Truston (2023); i2i (2024), MLC (2024), Beter Healthcare (2024)
[2] Source: Joseph LeDoux: The Emotional Brain. The mysterious underpinnings of emotional life. London: Phoenix; 1998
“Contrary to long-held beliefs, it is not our rational brain that is in the driver’s seat. Consumer behaviour is largely controlled by emotions and only sporadically overruled by ratio”