For RSM International, a global association of 80-plus accounting and financial services firms, we captured their enthusiastic and involved personality in a brand strategy and new logo that linked their subsidiary firms with a powerful global identity.

Situation

RSM International is an organization of more than 80 accounting and financial services firms from around the world, and collectively, they represent the world’s sixth largest accountancy. Our work began with the U.S. subsidiary, RSM McGladrey, but RSM soon realized they needed a comprehensive global brand strategy that both communicated their point of difference from the competition and united all the member firms as they continued to grow.

Solution

Our discussions with RSM’s global team revealed many shared strengths and attributes, including a true enthusiasm for discovering new and creative solutions for every client. To capture RSM’s enthusuastic, involved and creative personality, CoreBrand created a wordmark combining the RSM name with an exclamation point that symbolized the excitement of the “ah-ha” moment. The compact RSM logo is linked with subsidiary firm names, augmenting each office’s regional reputation with a powerful global endorsement.

We designed a comprehensive system that unified print and online communications from office to office, but allowed each firm to customize materials with color and content, where appropriate. Borrowed from the space between the dot and the stroke in the exclamation point, the arc super graphic brands RSM materials without overwhleming images or headlines. The RSM brand center ensures that the most up-to-date approved materials are available to users around the world, and provides a completely automated system for creating guidelines-compliant materials — such as stationery and business cards — on an as-needed basis.