This document summarizes the services provided by branding and marketing firm Ove to help organizations build strong brands. Ove helps clients achieve competitive advantage through branding strategy, design, and stewardship. Case studies describe projects Ove has worked on with various clients, such as developing new branding for BMO Financial Group, Grand & Toy, and Air Miles to update their images, as well as creating branding for new initiatives like Toronto Eaton Centre's Urban Eatery food court.

1. EVERY DAY, THE MARKETPLACE
IS FILLED WITH THOUSANDS
OF MESSAGES ALL VYING FOR
OUR ATTENTION. IN THIS
ENVIRONMENT IT’S DIFFICULT
ENOUGH TO MAKE YOUR STORY
HEARD, LET ALONE MAKE IT
MEANINGFUL TO YOUR AUDIENCE.

4. OVE HELPS
ORGANIZATIONS
CUT THROUGH
THE CLUTTER BY
BUILDING STRONG,
ENDURING BRANDS
THAT COMPETE
WITH THE BEST
IN THE WORLD.
OUR MISSION IS
TO HELP OUR
CLIENTS ACHIEVE
COMPETITIVE
MARKET ADVANTAGE
THROUGH INSPIRING
BRAND-BUILDING
STRATEGY, DESIGN
AND STEWARDSHIP.

5. Being memorable means being meaningful. Making your
value clear to the world. Helping people understand what
makes you different. And why they should choose you
over anyone else. That’s what branded experiences do.
People gravitate to brands they know and trust. And
every experience of your brand contributes to their
understanding of who you are, and what you can offer.
A branded experience helps you optimize every dollar
invested in your marketing and communications by
making each message more immediately recognized,
associated and trusted.
HOW WE THINK. HOW WE WORK.
It starts with an understanding. Of your organization:
what it needs, where it’s going, and what it will take to
get you there. Sometimes, the answer is clear. Other
times, you need to step back and discover what the real
question is before you can arrive at the right solution.
At Ove, helping companies get to the right answer is
what we do. We work closely with our clients to truly
understand their business, so that we can develop
strategic branding and communications solutions to
meet their specific needs. But more than that, we help
you see the larger picture. To identify your unique
opportunities in the marketplace, recognize what’s
coming down the road, and give you the best competitive
advantage to capitalize on it all.

6. THE
COMPANY
WE KEEP
From leading corporations to new market challengers, Ove
has worked with many of Canada’s most dynamic organizations.
We pride ourselves on creating strong, lasting relationships
as we help our clients build their brands and communicate their
message to the world.

8. BUILDING A
RELATIONSHIP,
BUILDING
A BRAND
OVE’S PHILOSOPHY OF
BUILDING STRONG WORKING
RELATIONSHIPS IS BEST
EXEMPLIFIED BY OUR PAST
AND ONGOING ACHIEVEMENTS
WITH BMO FINANCIAL GROUP.

10. THE CHALLENGE
Since 1991, Ove has been working closely with
BMO Financial Group as a key strategic branding and
communications partner, helping the organization
develop a strong, cohesive presence in the marketplace.
This long-term relationship has encompassed a major
brand realignment of the entire organization, the
launch of a pioneering credit card brand, as well as a
long history of award-winning annual reports that set
the standard for corporate reporting.
THE SOLUTION
Brand Realignment — Bank of Montreal had grown into
a company with a diverse range of business products and
services, including retail banking, wealth management
and investment banking. Equally diverse, however, were
the banners and brands under which these offerings
were being marketed. Ove worked with the Bank to
develop a unified brand identity and architecture system
that reflects the company’s expanding scope of financial
service offerings while supporting the distinct strategic
needs of its various lines of business. A single umbrella
identifier, “BMO”, now unifies the organization’s many
brands and serves as a beacon for the entire organization.
Original Logo

11. SIGNAGE
BMO signage is an integral component of the
organization’s visual identity program. From the top of
Toronto’s landmark First Canadian Place to its
nationwide network of close to 1,000 branches,
effective signage ensures that the BMO brand
manifests itself consistently and with maximum impact.
Through its long-standing relationship with BMO, Ove
provides experienced counsel, technical support and
design guidelines to help deliver a strong public
presence for BMO in the marketplace.
BMO FIELD
When BMO Financial Group purchased the naming
rights to the 20,000-seat stadium near Toronto’s
waterfront, Ove was brought in to develop BMO Field’s
brand identity, signage program and design guidelines.

12. Award-Winning Annual Reports — Ove has worked with
BMO since 1991 in the development of its award-winning
annual reports — both print and online. Our longstanding
partnership has firmly entrenched the organization as a
recognized leader in corporate reporting.
1991 — 2010, 20 years of consistent reporting

13. Mosaik Credit Card — When major U.S. players
began entering the Canadian credit card market,
BMO Bank of Montreal met the challenge by redefining
the whole nature of the credit card business by
introducing Mosaik MasterCard, the first customizable
credit card. For Ove the assignment involved initial
feasibility research, naming the program, brand
definition and logo creation, development of print and
Web site communications, as well as consumer testing
of all components.

14. FROM OFFICE
PRODUCTS
TO BUSINESS
SOLUTIONS
IN A COMPETITIVE AND
HIGHLY COMMODITIZED
INDUSTRY, GRAND & TOY
REVITALIZES ITS BRAND
TO SIGNAL A BOLD NEW
DIRECTION — SHIFTING
PERCEPTIONS OF THE
COMPANY FROM “SELLER
OF PENS AND PAPER” TO
PROFESSIONAL SERVICE
PROVIDER AND IDEAL
STRATEGIC ALLY
TO BUSINESS.

16. THE CHALLENGE
In the minds of most consumers, the Grand & Toy name
had been most often associated with stationery and
office supplies. Looking to transform perceptions of
the company as a commodity-based business,
Grand & Toy undertook an overhaul of its brand to
reflect a new business model focused on serving as a
strategic ally to its business customers. A new visual
identity was needed to help signal the change.
THE SOLUTION
The first step in the rebranding of Grand & Toy was to
work with the company on the development of a brand
architecture system, one that reflected Grand & Toy’s
new business model and encompassed the full range
of its offerings. The underpinning of this architecture
was the company’s name, which was shortened to
the punchier, more dynamic acronym “G&T”. Ove
developed a logo in which the acronym is transposed
onto a circle, with the letters breaking the boundaries
of this circle to express the idea that the company
goes beyond traditional office supplies. The new logo
retains the equity of the heritage green colour while
also introducing a new, more vibrant green, used in
the ampersand, which appears front and centre to
emphasize the spirit of collaboration.
Rollout of the new brand continued with a fresh new
look applied to all of the company’s trucks — essentially
taking the company’s message on the road. Guidelines
for the new visual identity were also developed by Ove
to help manage the new brand and bring it to life across
a variety of applications. The new G&T brand has
propelled the Canadian stalwart into the 21st century
and now reflects a vibrant, progressive company that
is focused on helping businesses by powering the
potential of people.
Original Logo

18. A RENEWED BRAND
TAKES FLIGHT
FACING INCREASING COMPETITION FROM
NEW LOYALTY AND REWARD PROGRAMS,
AIR MILES REVITALIZES ITS BRAND TO
REASSERT ITS STATUS AS THE CATEGORY’S
MARKET LEADER.

19. THE CHALLENGE
The AIR MILES®
Reward Program is Canada’s largest
coalition loyalty program with more than 10 million
collectors across the country. The value that AIR MILES
delivers to its Sponsors rests in how well it can help
Sponsors forge and strengthen relationships with their
customers. Given the competitive market for loyalty
programs and the recent relaunch of several major
Canadian brands, AIR MILES saw the need to update its
image to reflect a more contemporary and dynamic brand.
THE SOLUTION
During the rebranding initiative, research among
AIR MILES stakeholders revealed considerable equity in
the existing brand. While the AIR MILES Reward Program
today represents more than travel, the AIR MILES name
and logo are deeply entrenched in the minds of Canadian
consumers. Based on this insight, Ove and AIR MILES
focused on contemporizing the brand rather than entirely
revamping it. The AIR MILES logo received an updated
look while retaining its signature element – the airplane –
for which there was still a great deal of affinity. More than
simply travel, stakeholders saw the plane as a symbol of
a wide range of experiences and life pursuits. The new
brand identity developed by Ove centres on an updated
rendering of the old-style plane, retaining the allure
and romance of a bygone era while taking the brand into
the 21st century.
The elements of the new brand were also extended to
other facets of the AIR MILES program, including card
design, signage, as well as development of the sub-brand
initiative My Planet®
, which encourages consumers to
consider making greener lifestyle changes and rewards
them for choosing eco-friendly products and services.
The renewed AIR MILES brand brings a fresh, vibrant
energy to an already formidable market leader and makes
the program’s value proposition clearer to Sponsors,
helping them to ultimately build stronger relationship with
their customers.
Original Logo

20. A NEW
KIND OF CSR
REPORTING
CANADA’S LARGEST DEPARTMENT
STORE RETAILER DEMONSTRATES
ITS ONGOING COMMITMENT TO
CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY –
CREATING IN THE PROCESS, A NEW
PARADIGM FOR CORPORATE SOCIAL
RESPONSIBILITY REPORTING.

21. THE CHALLENGE
When Hudson Bay Company, Canada’s oldest and largest
department store retailer, became privately owned in
2006, the company was concentrating its resources on
making operational improvements across the enterprise.
This focus on restructuring the organization posed some
unique challenges for Hbc’s corporate social responsibility
report. In particular, it raised the question of how Hbc
would report on metrics year over year when the
parameters were changing. What we needed was a
communications approach that would help the company
clearly demonstrate its continuing commitment to
corporate social responsibility.
THE SOLUTION
Recognizing the need for a flexible reporting platform,
Ove helped Hbc harness the capabilities of the Web
to create an online CSR report. Unlike a printed report,
the immediacy of the Web enables the company
to continually update and improve the quality of its
reporting on an ongoing basis.
Designed with interactivity and usability in mind, the
report provides users with quick access to the
information most relevant to their interests, including
links to external initiatives referenced in the report.
The four reporting pillars of Hbc’s social responsibility
program are clearly articulated, highlighted by
significant activities and progress with respect to each.
The CSR micro–site and Hbc corporate Web site are
designed to work in tandem, so that current summary
information is easily found on the corporate site, with
related content in greater depth provided in the online
CSR — thus, providing a more holistic approach to
corporate communications and reporting.
The CSR now provides the company with an innovative,
efficient communication tool to reach new audiences.
By anticipating future reporting needs, we were able to
established a CSR framework that could be augmented
year after year and continue to be relevant. The success
of Hbc’s online CSR report is evidenced by the
substantial positive feedback received from educators,
interest groups and the general public.

22. REVITALIZATION
REVITALIZING TORONTO’S URBAN
SHOPPING ICON WHILE SUPPORTING
THE EATON CENTRE’S REDEVELOPMENT
INITIATIVES.

23. THE CHALLENGE
While still one of the top performing retail centres in
North America, Toronto Eaton Centre embarked on a
multi-million dollar redevelopment project to upgrade the
entire centre’s environments including the expansion and
complete redesign of its North Food Court. This initiative
is catapulting the Centre into a massive redefining of its
“raison d’être” and overall guest experience.
THE SOLUTION
Toronto Eaton Centre has sought the assistance of Ove
to develop brand, communication and design strategies in
support of both short and mid-term initiatives. Informed
by research and working closely with TEC’s senior
management, Ove’s role is to help redefine the Centre’s
overall brand experience at every customer touch point.
At the same time, Ove has been commissioned to develop
the “look and feel” of the redevelopment project on
hoarding and marketing materials in both traditional and
digital media.

24. TORONTO
EATON CENTRE
REVOLUTIONIZING THE TYPICAL
FOOD COURT CONCEPT, TORONTO
EATON CENTRE URBAN EATERY
PROVIDES A UNIQUE DOWNTOWN
FOOD EXPERIENCE – WITH STYLE!

25. THE OPPORTUNITY
As part of a $130 million revitalization initiative, the Urban
Eatery is Cadillac Fairview’s answer to providing its guests
with an upscale food experience with real dishware and
high-end finishes – an unparalleled concept amongst
Canadian shopping centres. Following many years of
planning and design, the Urban Eatery was developed
to set a new standard in quick service dining for Toronto
downtowners. From the name to its overall brand perception,
the Urban Eatery had to inspire and convey the spirit behind
the concept: a unique food experience that challenges
conventional food court perceptions.
THE SOLUTION
Ove worked closely with TEC’s senior leadership
team and marketing partners to develop a design and
communications platform that would promote the
uniqueness and revolutionary nature of this project.
The overall look and feel of the program had to work at
two levels: a name and identity that embodied the feel of
the overall interior design and upscale service, as well as
the “urban hip”/contemporary feel that one would come
to expect from a Centre located in the heart of Canada’s
most vibrant city. The team developed the overarching
theme, “Join the Urban Food Movement”, and designed
a series of graphics and messages from a base thematic
design, which were then repurposed and applied on a wide
series of communication tools in both print and digital
media for advertising, promotional and environmental
use – from billboards, interior signage and uniforms to
streetcars, promotional events and vehicles.

26. FLYING HIGH
REBRANDING TORONTO
PEARSON TO BETTER POSITION
ITSELF AS NORTH AMERICA’S
PREMIER PORTAL TO A WORLD
OF POSSIBILITIES.

28. MAKING YOUR
VALUE CLEAR
WHEN YOU’RE THE PARENT COMPANY
TO A RETAIL GIANT, HOW DO YOU MAKE
YOUR OWN DISTINCT VALUE EVIDENT
TO INVESTORS? WESTON’S ANNUAL
REPORT SHOWS HOW A SOLID
COMMUNICATION STRATEGY CAN BRING
A COMPANY’S UNIQUE CORPORATE
STRENGTHS TO THE FORE.

29. THE CHALLENGE
Weston’s biggest challenge with its annual report
each year is to make its own distinct value evident
to investors, in light of its ownership of Canadian
retailer Loblaw. While the latter’s performance plays
a significant role in Weston’s value creation, the
imperative for Weston is to make its own corporate
objectives and operating principles clearly understood.
Furthermore, Weston has been progressively moving
toward the Web as its primary reporting channel, which
poses considerations for how to most effectively use
both the print and online mediums to reach investors.
THE SOLUTION
Over the years, as Weston restructured its business to
focus on core disciplines, the company’s printed report
likewise has become a simpler and more streamlined
document. At the same time, Ove has been helping
Weston leverage the capabilities of the Web to create
robust online reports that can be continuously updated
as developments warrant. In this way, Weston’s online
report is less about a specific point in time and more
about providing a current and comprehensive source of
information about the company and its performance.
As the more static corporate information was shifted
to the Web, the printed annual report was transitioned
into a cost-effective, self-cover financial document
wrapped in a concise annual summary. These summary
reports provide a clear explanation of the company’s
operating principles and its business focus, specifically
how its distribution channel Loblaw fits within the
company’s strategic plan.

30. BUILDING ON
A SUCCESSFUL
HISTORY AND
POSITIVE GLOBAL
REPUTATION
THE CANDU BRAND EMERGES AS A SYMBOL OF
RENEWED ENERGY AND FOCUSED VISION.

31. THE CHALLENGE
With the recent acquisition of Candu by SNC-Lavalin, the
Candu brand needed to be repositioned to represent far
more than just a product. There was a desire to create a
broader brand that encompassed the intellectual capital
of Candu’s technology while also combining SNC’s strong
reputation for corporate vision, backed by deep know-how.
THE SOLUTION
Ove worked alongside the Candu leadership team through
the crafting of a brand strategy and differentiated brand
positioning. The process involved a series of executive
interviews and workshops, and an in-depth review of the
industry and its competitive environment. In a parallel
stream, Ove also developed a series of brand expressions
and manifestation of the “new” Candu Energy Inc., from
brand identity to marketing communication materials.
A series of design options were developed for consultation
with the leadership team and various internal groups as
part of an engagement process.
“Powering Prosperity.” Candu Energy Inc.’s new tagline
was created to support this new strategic direction –
positioning it as an organization whose past as one of
Canada’s technological leaders is celebrated, while also
charting a bright future fuelled by renewed energy.

32. CONNECT
BRAND
STRATEGY
WITH
BUSINESS
STRATEGY
WHEN SIGNIFICANT GROWTH
AND SUCCESS HAD RESULTED
IN A PROLIFERATION
OF BUSINESS ENTITIES,
DUNDEE SECURITIES SOUGHT
TO UNITE ITS DISPARATE
COMPANIES UNDER A UNIFIED,
COHESIVE BRAND.

34. THE CHALLENGE
Dundee Securities’ strategic focus on “building its
book of business” had resulted in significant growth
for the company, but had also led to a proliferation
of seemingly disparate entities and brands — with
little to no relationship among the different brands
and little room to harness the brand equity of the
organization toward benefiting its components. The
task of connecting all of the various entities under
a cohesive brand was made more challenging by a
highly decentralized organizational structure where
individual companies and a wide Network of Advisors
serve as the key touch points for the majority
of customers.
THE SOLUTION
Ove worked with Dundee Securities to develop a central
theme for the Dundee brand and establish the key
tenets of this overall brand. The concept of “Wealth”
became a primary brand communications platform —
with a view to redefining the idea of wealth as a
holistic, values-based and personalized concept that
every individual investor can relate to. In order to
better reflect this view, Dundee Securities thus changed
its name to the more encompassing DundeeWealth.
The 2006 annual report and AGM provided the launch
platform for the new identity. The annual report serves
as a key tool in communicating the new “Wealth” brand
platform as well as the corporate structure of the
organization by articulating clearly the relationship
between the various entities within the Dundee family
of companies. Immediately on the heels of the AGM,
Ove and DundeeWealth launched an ambitious and
accelerated rollout program that saw the visual identity
extended to the organization’s various entities.
Today, the DundeeWealth family of companies all speak
to their various audiences as a unified, cohesive and
consistent brand.
Original Logo

36. DELIVERING
A BEST-IN-
CLASS
BRAND
CANADA’S LARGEST
COURIER COMPANY IS
ON A MISSION TO BUILD
A STRONG, CUSTOMER-
FOCUSED BRAND THAT
IS THE ENVY OF ITS
COMPETITORS. A COHESIVE
VISUAL IDENTITY WAS AN
IMPORTANT STEP.

38. THE CHALLENGE
As part of a long-term initiative to transform its
corporate brand, Purolator Courier has been working
closely with Ove to establish the underpinnings of a
consistent brand presence in the marketplace for
Canada’s largest courier company. An important facet
of this work was the task of refining the company’s
logo and streamlining a fragmented visual identity
and nomenclature system.
THE SOLUTION
Given the requirements of a phased implementation
approach, any new identity system for Purolator
needed to retain a connection to the existing style, as
both would likely be seen by the public through the
period of transition. To that end, Ove developed a logo
that retains the equity and brand awareness of the
current identity, while giving it a fresh, new, modern
approach. Type was simplified and streamlined to
enhance legibility and to update the wordmark, while
the “angular” italic treatment was retained as a
unique, ownable visual element — the angles signifying
action, responsiveness and movement. The new visual
style also retains the primary corporate colours,
while enhancing the secondary colour palette with a
predominant use of brighter blues — enabling the
company to own the colour blue within the category.
A photography style emphasizing the customer-focused
imagery was also introduced.
Ove subsequently worked with Purolator to roll out
the new identity across the company’s fleet of vehicles,
and also developed extensive brand identity guidelines
to ensure its consistent implementation. The new brand
identity and visual style has Purolator on track towards
achieving its long-term goal of a strong, consistent
brand presence in the marketplace.
Original Logo

40. SIGNALLING
A REVITALIZED
TELECOMMUNICATIONS
BRAND
FOLLOWING A MAJOR FINANCIAL RESTRUCTURING,
AT&T CANADA LOOKED TO CREATE A NEW BRAND THAT
WOULD HELP THE COMPANY RESTORE THE CONFIDENCE OF
INVESTORS AND CUSTOMERS, AND SIGNAL THE EMERGENCE
OF A VIABLE, FORMIDABLE — AND MORE HUMAN —
TELECOMMUNICATIONS COMPANY.

41. THE CHALLENGE
When AT&T, one of the world’s largest and most
recognized brands, pulled up stakes in Canada and
declared bankruptcy, the principle bondholders of
AT&T Canada were faced with the challenge of
reengineering the company with a new brand —
one that would signal its long-term viability and new
status as a fully independent Canadian business.
THE SOLUTION
Working with the Publicis/Ove team, AT&T Canada
reemerged as Allstream, a new brand with a positioning
that looks beyond technology to focus instead on the
people behind the data, and the continuous flow and
exchange of the value they create.
As part of this transformation, Ove developed a
new brand identity that reflects the dynamic and
continuous connection between people and technology,
communicating the agility, vibrancy and approachable
character of the new company. Ove also developed
a set of brand standards for managing the identity,
which was implemented across a variety of applications
including stationery, collateral, fleets and signage.
Our relationship with Allstream further extended to
work on a brand essence guide to help the company’s
employees understand how to express the new brand
in tone and spirit.
Transition to the new brand was so successful that
Allstream achieved 100% retention among its 2,000
key customers. In addition, the company saw its share
price increase 143% in six months and its Allstream
brand achieve 40% unaided awareness among
key prospects.
Original Logo

42. BRINGING
BRAND
STRATEGY
TO LIFE
AS CANADA POST UNDERTOOK TO EVOLVE
ITS BRAND, THE CORPORATION NEEDED A
WAY TO VISUALLY SIGNAL THAT CHANGES
WERE TAKING PLACE, WHILE HELPING ITS
PEOPLE UNDERSTAND HOW TO EXPRESS
THE NEW BRAND IN THE MARKETPLACE.

43. THE CHALLENGE
Canada Post had been working with Publicis to develop a
new brand framework in support of the organization’s
evolution from a product and services company to
an innovative turnkey solutions provider. As part of
the Publicis network, Ove was called upon to develop
a brand style that would help the company visually
express the elements of this new framework. The task
was to communicate that Canada Post was changing,
but to do so without replacing all the elements of its
existing identity system.
THE SOLUTION
Leveraging the existing equity of Canada Post’s identity
and corporate colour red, Ove created an updated
visual style that could be applied across a wide range
of communications channels — from direct marketing
to online collateral to general advertising.
Once the visual style platform was developed, we also
needed to help people understand that achieving true
consistency required more than just a grasp of the
technical components of the brand. This second phase
of our work involved the creation of an online brand
essence guide to help users understand intellectually
and emotionally how to bring these elements together
in creative applications. The guide is a tool for Canada
Post’s employees and agencies to ensure that what they
develop and produce is not just technically consistent,
but accurately expresses the tone and manner of the
new brand.
Our work with Canada Post has provided the organization
with the visual platform and tools to communicate
with a unified look, voice and approach. It has
allowed employees to embrace the Canada Post
brand and understand how it needs to be perceived
in the marketplace.

44. COMMUNICATING
AS ONE
SUN LIFE’S INTERNATIONAL SCOPE
AND NETWORK OF OPERATIONS
HAD FOSTERED AN IMPRESSIVE
RANGE OF SERVICE OFFERINGS,
BUT ALSO LED TO A DIFFUSED
CONCEPT OF WHAT THE COMPANY
WAS — OR WHAT IT STOOD FOR.
IN AN INDUSTRY WITH MANY STRONG
GLOBAL BRANDS, SUN LIFE NEEDED
TO SOLIDIFY ITS OWN NAME IF IT
WAS TO COMPETE AS A NEW
PUBLIC COMPANY.

46. THE CHALLENGE
As a collection of companies operating in a host of
countries around the globe, the Sun Life name had
come to mean different things to different people —
an insurance company, wealth management services,
banking and mutual funds. The company needed to
become more clearly defined in the public’s mind.
So when Sun Life Assurance Company of Canada
demutualized to become a publicly traded company,
the timing was ideal to launch a major restructuring
of its brand.
THE SOLUTION
Ove worked with the company on a process to bring
its disparate operations together under one common
umbrella. Beginning with a change in name to
Sun Life Financial — to shift its focus away from
insurance — every step along the rebranding process
conveyed the image of a consistent, global company
with a comprehensive range of financial services.
We created a new brand image for Sun Life Financial
that embodied its promise of customer service, value
and excellence, and emphasized its ability to offer
customers lifetime financial solutions. We also
implemented a launch program to help employees
embrace the new tone and spirit of the company —
not only from a technical standpoint, but also from
an intellectual and emotional level.
With the conversion of its advisor network — Clarica
to the Sun Life Financial brand — the company worked
with Ove to align the network’s communications, both
visually and in terms of language, with the overall
brand. This work encompassed a broad range of
channels including advertising, signage, collateral
and Web.
As Sun Life Financial, the new brand now reflects a
wider scope of products and services, and a unified
vision that stands for more than any individual offering.
It’s also a company that feeds off the strength of its
people and encourages them to stake a claim in the
management of the Sun Life Financial brand.
Original Logo

48. SHAPING
HOW A
COMPANY
SEES ITSELF
AS ROGERS MOVES TO
ALIGN ITS BUSINESS
UNDER A UNIFYING BRAND,
DEVELOPING THE VISUAL
LANGUAGE FOR A NEW
IDENTITY WAS AN
IMPORTANT STEP. EVEN
MORE CRITICAL, HOWEVER,
WAS GETTING EVERYONE
ON BOARD.

50. THE CHALLENGE
Telephony giant Rogers Communications has undergone
a transformation to align all of the company’s business
units — from wireless to cable — under a single brand
with a converged service offering. It’s a process that
has encompassed a great deal of change, both within
the company in terms of its operations and culture, as
well as externally with its public-facing identities. Ove
has been working with Rogers over the past few years
to facilitate the company’s evolution on a number of
fronts. This work has ranged from the development
of brand standards across a highly matrixed company,
to helping the organization update and operationalize
its corporate values.
THE SOLUTION
Brand Standards — It doesn’t get any more complex
than telephony. And so the success of this project lay
in our ability to develop brand standards that were
as progressive as the company while managing to get
all the various lines of business on board. To do so
we ensured that the standards were relevant to all
the different stakeholders, showcasing in the guide
examples of the identity applied in the context of the
various lines of business. Beyond simply documenting
standards, our work drove the identity development
and set the foundation for how the brand would be
applied across various channels, including advertising.
The identity standards were also the catalyst for
subsequent work that came out of this relationship.
Corporate Values — At heart, Rogers has always been
a family business, and the corporate values initially
defined by the family needed to be recast to align with
the company’s new model of convergence. Working
directly with a Rogers family member, Ove was actively
involved in the process of restating the corporate
values. Client participation was critical to the process,
which culminated in total organizational agreement on
what the values for the company should be. These values,
which had been the missing piece of the company’s
existing brand framework, ultimately served as the new
underpinnings of the framework. Our work garnered
accolades from the client not only for the end result, but
the client engagement that helped us achieve consensus.
Employee Engagement — For Rogers, transforming
the business also meant developing new policies and
procedures to ensure that the company’s operating
principles were actionable. Ove worked with Rogers to
consolidate a strategic document that captured the intent
of these operating principles. This led to a communication
strategy to support an internal employee program called
Customers for Life, which emphasizes the company’s
commitment to doing the right thing for customers.
Ove’s work with Rogers has helped the company articulate
its values and given visual and verbal language to how
the company now sees itself.

52. ENERGIZED
FOR TODAY
AND TOMORROW
BC GAS INTRODUCES A NEW BRAND TO
UNITE ITS OPERATIONS AND SEND A CLEAR
MESSAGE ABOUT WHO THE COMPANY IS
AND WHAT IT OFFERS.

53. THE CHALLENGE
BC Gas had expanded both its geographic reach and its
lines of business. Growing beyond gas and beyond British
Columbia, the company was operating under a variety
of names, which did not allow it to be seen as one
organization or to communicate its collective strengths.
THE SOLUTION
Ove worked with BC Gas to unite its various
subsidiaries under the new brand Terasen, a name
that combines Terra, Latin for earth, and send to
connote “sent from the earth.” The new name allows
the company to express the full range of its water,
petroleum and natural gas activities, and also capitalize
on new opportunities for years to come. Ove worked
with Terasen and its brand implementation firm Brand
Active to manage the complex rollout of the new
identity system, with its vast range of branded items
including 15,000 pipeline markers and nearly 1,000
vehicles from pickup trucks to helicopters.
Launched to the public with a television and newspaper
ad campaign, the Terasen brand now enables the
company to express a wider range of activities
today without limiting its opportunities for growth
in the future.
Original Logo

54. INSPIRING
BELIEF IN
CHANGE
WHEN THREE DOWNTOWN
TORONTO HOSPITALS
MERGED TO BECOME ONE
ORGANIZATION, THE TASK
OF REBRANDING WENT
BEYOND CREATING A NEW
NAME OR LOGO. WHAT WAS
NEEDED WAS A WAY TO
INSPIRE STAFF AT ALL
THREE HOSPITALS TO
EMBRACE THE CHANGE.

56. THE CHALLENGE
To communicate the value of change, an organization
must believe in it first — at all levels, in all areas. When
the Toronto General, Toronto Western and Princess
Margaret hospitals merged to become one organization,
the new entity needed a name that would express
the value of this merger, and allow staff at all three
hospitals to embrace the changes that were happening
around them.
THE SOLUTION
Ove recognized that the new organization needed to
reflect the contributions of three hospitals, as equals,
and enable each hospital to draw upon its own legacy and
expertise. We developed the name University Health
Network along with a new identity that reflects the
combined strength of three partners working together.
The brand also provides a platform for the organization
to expand its reach beyond these three hospitals should
other organizations join the network in the future.
The University Health Network brand has now enabled
staff in all parts of the organization to support the
changes, and view themselves as an important part
of something greater.

58. BRINGING BRANDS TO LIFE IS OUR PASSION
For more than 30 years, Ove has been forging a reputation
as one of Canada’s leading branding and strategic design
firms. We provide a full range of integrated services in the
areas of:
n
Brand Strategy
n
Naming and Identity
n
Corporate Reporting
n
Corporate and Employee Communications
n
Marketing and Promotion
n
Signage and Environments
n
Interactive Media
Passionate about ideas, driven by insights, our experienced
team of brand and communication strategists, designers,
project managers, technical and administrative support
has the expertise, creativity and depth to help you develop
successful branding and communications solutions from
a holistic viewpoint.
As a member of the Publicis worldwide network, we also
draw upon the resources of the world’s fourth-largest
communications company, with offices in more than 80
countries and 150 cities.

59. OUR CAPABILITIES
BRAND STRATEGY
n
Brand Positioning
n
Brand Framework
n
Stakeholder Messaging
n
Brand Architecture
n
Brand Workshops
NAMING AND IDENTITY
n
Corporate and Product Naming
n
Cultural and Linguistic Evaluation
n
Corporate Tagline Development
n
Nomenclature Systems
n
Identity Development
n
Visual Design Systems
n
Identity Guidelines
CORPORATE REPORTING
n
Annual Reports – Print and Online
n
Corporate Sustainability Reports
n
Annual Reviews
n
Annual General Meetings and Road Shows
CORPORATE AND EMPLOYEE COMMUNICATIONS
n
Corporate Brochures
n
Marketing Communications
n
Employee Communications
n
Newsletters
MARKETING AND PROMOTION
n
Package Design
n
Sales Materials
n
Advertising
n
Tradeshows and Special Events
SIGNAGE AND ENVIRONMENTS
n
Signage and Wayfinding Systems
n
Retail Design
n
Environmental Design
n
Digital Merchandising
INTERACTIVE MEDIA
n
Online Audit and Recommendation
n
Needs Analysis
n
Online Communications Guidelines
n
Visual and Interface Design
n
Content Development
n
Information Architecture

60. To learn how Ove can help bring
your brand to life, please contact us:
Ove Brand|Design
111 Queen Street East
West Entrance, Suite 555
Toronto, ON M5C 1S2
Michel Viau
michel.viau@ovedesign.com
tel 416 423 6228 x5550
cell 416 428 9164
Adam Starr
adam.starr@ovedesign.com
tel 416 423 6228 x4241
cell 514 892 9429
www.ovedesign.com
A member of Publicis worldwide group of companies