When D&B (Dun & Bradstreet) acquired Hoover’s, we were tapped to create a fresh new identity that would distinguish Hoover’s lively, passionate and slightly edgy brand personality with a new logo and unique visual system.

Situation

When Hoover’s was acquired by D&B (Dun & Bradstreet) in 2003, the Austin, TX-based organization wanted to update its brand platform and corporate identity to reflect the new ownership without changing its name.

The two companies had tremendous synergy, but the new identity had to keep Hoover’s fresh voice from being overwhelmed by the gravitas of the D&B brand. We engaged leadership at both organizations to compare and contrast the two brands.

Solution

While both organizations were serious about being an indispensable source of business information and driving growth for their customers, Hoover’s was distinguished by a slightly irreverent perspective. We articulated a brand personality for Hoover’s that was lively, passionate and just a little edgy.

We captured the Hoover’s personality by visually depicting the idea of “unique perspective” in a powerful wordmark, and added a D&B endorsement. The strong angles in the wordmark became the inspiration for a visual system that leveraged D&B’s distinctive color palette, tying the two brands together in a subtle but pervasive way. Business and marketing communications as well as the Hoover’s Web site were dramatically redesigned to signal positive change.

Research conducted by D&B after the new brand program was launched found that customers and prospects of both organizations were more likely to work with Hoover’s because of the relationship established between the two brands.