Bringing back a known name with a new look

Ocean Installer 2023

Ocean Installer was founded 2011, but the company became Havfram in 2020 to reflect its diversification into the offshore wind industry. Havfram was structured into 3 divisions and in 2022 the company’s two wind business lines were divested. This meant the remaining division, Havfram Subsea, could once again reclaim the name Ocean Installer and their position as a global marine construction contractor.

Brief

Although Ocean Installer were claiming back a historical name, they wanted to make it clear that the company was moving forward. Critically underpinning the brand evolution was the company’s redefined strategy – growth within marine construction, across all relevant sectors in all main offshore energy markets.

Another factor and consideration in the project were the employees of Ocean Installer. With high retention rates many members of staff had worked for Ocean Installer in its original form and were always proud of their previous brand. As a result, the management team were looking for a 20/80 split – a 20% connection to the past brand, driven forward by an 80% refresh. As a result, this project was not just a rebrand following a merger or acquisition. It was the integration of historical brand equity into a brand evolution.

We were contacted by the project team in November 2022 who advised that they required a new brand identity by 15th January 2023. Having been awarded the work on 30th November 2022, the Project Neon team had just over 7 weeks to design and launch a new brand identity for Ocean Installer.

Approach

Given this was primarily a design project, we identified credible design inspiration routes and carried out a competitor analysis. This enabled us to see their competitive landscape and aim to differentiate Ocean Installer from its competitors.

Armed with this input we created 3 design concepts for the project team to consider. The design concept routes included a new logo, colour palette, typography, and examples of how these would be rolled out in real world examples, such as business cards and a website homepage.

The route which appealed to the team most was based on the notion of the ocean and construction. The first part of the logo is solid from text, which represents the strength of the ocean, while the second part, the installer word, is made of constructed lines. These constructed lines also offered the opportunity to capture brand icons, which represent the business – the “e” resembles a person wearing a hard hat, and the “t” takes on a wind turbine form.

We originally proposed a yellow logo, since this is the colour used for items installed subsea and it was an unoccupied space on the competition analysis. However, the project team, were keen to see a colour blend, so we altered the colour forms, bringing in a blue to green transition. This not only delivered a modern, clean logo, it importantly helps reflect the company history from offshore oil and gas to the wider green renewables sector.

Outcome

Within 7 weeks Ocean Installer had a new visual identity and the project team were ready to reclaim the name. To support the brand change we also helped bring the new identity to life by delivering:

An updated website
PowerPoint template
Business card template
Word templates
Teams backgrounds
Business card template
Launch presentation input
LinkedIn templates and imagery

Feedback from the client following the launch was extremely positive, with employees embracing the new identity.

Although we don’t generally recommend a 7-week visual identity project timescale (!), it was fantastic to be able to achieve the client’s goal. Thanks to the project team within Ocean Installer for their close cooperation to achieve this.

Services

Visual identity
Logo design
Brand guidelines
Website design
Template development
Social media templates

“Project Neon really understood what we wanted to achieve, to bring back the positive brand equity we believed the Ocean Installer name still carried, but with a fresh new look that really reflects our future in all offshore energy markets.

Despite our extremely ambitious timeline, Project Neon worked closely with our re-branding team and delivered the brief on time, with an overall design that has been instantly embraced by all at Ocean Installer and very well received in the wider market. We will look forward to working with Laura and her team again in the future”

Kevin Murphy

CEO, Ocean Installer

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