Over the years, Hamilton has evolved into an established industry leader for innovative laboratory solutions for automation, process analytics, laboratory and sample management, but lacked a unified global brand identity. Under the project name “ONE Hamilton,” the entire brand energy was to be re-bundled to appear and function as one global brand. The project was timed so that all business units and locations in the USA, Switzerland and Romania could be involved, thus ensuring that the most important stakeholders were integrated in the development of “ONE Hamilton”.
As part of an extensive Brand Assessment, Brandpulse conducted interviews with internal and external stakeholders from each business unit and each global location. Topics such as brand structure, brand awareness, image perception, corporate culture and brand management organization were analyzed. This highlighted the key challenges and opportunities in the brand revitalization process, and KPIs were defined to evaluate the success of the project.
A Benchmark Analysis was then conducted in the life science and innovation industry. To define the architecture of the brand portfolio, a workshop was held with Hamilton management, various internal stakeholders and representatives from all business units. Together, a Portfolio Structure proposal was developed to serve as guidance and inspiration for existing and potential customers, as well as the basis for the website’s potential navigation structure. Relevant Brand Personas were defined based on the field research and interviews with various customer profiles.
Brandpulse facilitated workshops with the management and representatives of the business units to define the One Hamilton Brand Purpose and the Brand Mantra. The resulting Hamilton “Brand Steering Wheel” now provides clarity on the Brand Promise, the Value Propositions and the Brand Personality. Additionally, four digital mini-workshops were organized to align the business units with the new overall direction of the One Hamilton brand and to articulate the value proposition for each of the four business units, which in turn feeds into the overall brand direction.
Following these results, an inventory of the Communication Touchpoints was made so that these could be considered in the subsequent development of the brand design and its implementation. The Brand Design was refreshed accordingly. At the heart of the new design is the Dynamic Flow: Comprising dots, the primary colors include Deep Blue, a powerful and innovative Enabling Green and the Trusted Hamilton Blue, merging seamlessly into a harmonious ensemble. The Dynamic Flow embodies fluidity and dynamism, giving Hamilton’s design its uniqueness and distinctiveness. In digital applications, the Dynamic Flow comes to life with a subtle motion and unfolds its full dynamic impact.
Brandpulse developed templates and defined the implementation principles of the brand design for stationery, literature, packaging and website in guidelines, as well as Brand Guidelines for the brand management platform Frontify.
The comprehensive project approach aimed to address both internal and external challenges and ensure a coherent and effective global brand presence for Hamilton. Thanks to the involvement of key stakeholders and extensive workshops and field research, a thorough and inclusive brand transformation strategy was achieved. Today, Hamilton presents itself as a strong brand with a clear message: “Innovation for a better world”.
