With limited policing powers, AstraZeneca’s small global brand team was struggling to ensure consistent and coherent brand expression across local markets. Confusing brand guidelines,
a proliferation of brand assets and an extensive brand strategy didn’t help matters – if anything, markets had too much choice in terms of how they could adapt and flex the brand. AstraZeneca asked us to bring focus to its brand strategy
and visual identity, and deliver a more unified and consistent global brand experience as a result. 

If brand fragmentation was AstraZeneca’s overarching challenge, a refreshed brand strategy and visual identity needed to deliver razor-sharp focus. The key tools to achieve this were the right archetype and personality traits to clarify the creative direction. These were developed collaboratively across several stages: preparation and insight, development and alignment, validation, and socialisation. Out of this collaborative process emerged a clear sense of what the brand stands for. With a set of focused design principles in place and a design system inspired by interconnected science, we created an optimised brand supported by easy-to-use assets and guidelines.

The refreshed brand maintains a strong and clear focus that reflects AstraZeneca’s brand positioning: ‘What science can do’. It delivers differentiation in the crowded ‘innovation and science’ brand space and gives local markets new and dynamic ways to tell stories of discovery and innovation. Added to this, local markets now understand the thinking behind the positioning and are more likely to comply with global brand guidelines – which then eases the burden on the global brand team and helps ensures brand coherence
and consistency.