Telling a complex story in a consistent and entertaining way
Information technology solutions? Perhaps it’s not the first thing that comes to mind when you think of fun or exciting business. However, Savvis, Inc, with the help of Switch, succeeded in making services like managed (web) hosting, collocation and network connectivity, understandable, consistent, and even entertaining.
After re-branding their corporate headquarters, Savvis recognized the value of extending their image to other locations. With millions of square feet devoted to computer servers all over the US and across the globe, the Savvis datacenters house, protect, maintain and upgrade their customers’ valuable servers. They keep networks and websites running and enable important global commerce.
Data isn’t the only thing these locations house; both Savvis and client’ employees work at them year round. In addition, the datacenters are often the first point of contact that prospective clients see as they tour with Savvis salespeople. Because of this, the datacenters represent the face of the company much of the time.
Before the interior branding project began, many of the office spaces were rather anonymous and cold, devoid of all but the most basic and slapdash identity—not a place you would happily anticipate going to work every day. Inconsistent and somewhat drab, it was hard to identify the spaces as part of the Savvis family.
With the goals of upgrading the spaces, injecting the company’s personality and unifying the look and feel, a plan was created to communicate the Savvis’ identity, and make both clients and employees feel valued.
Knowing that budgets where tight, and dollars available for branding would fluctuate by location, Switch proposed a catalog of interior branded elements to communicate and extend the new identity. Design elements included: paint and carpet recommendations, custom furniture and finishes, and a variety of graphics, signage and interior accessories like clocks, vases and mirrors. Our proposition: “Don’t say you’re committed to quality by hanging a framed poster from Successories.; show you’re committed to quality by creating something of quality.”
To do this, Switch visualized Savvis’ brand characteristics; innovative, energetic, personal, simplifying, secure and trustworthy …through the idea of “capturing light”. It became a visual metaphor for the intangible aspect of information technology itself. The vast majority of the design elements were more subtle and integrated, but the Savvis “burst” logo is obviously important and proved to be very versatile. Switch gave the logo a range of looks: enlarged, cropped and abstracted, turned sculptural, screened back on a photographic image. Recognizable? Yes. Standard and expected? No.
In 2009 Switch completed Savvis Headquarters and 6 datacenters. Twelve more datacenters will be completed in 2010, and the balance in 2011. In these times when everybody has been cutting back, it was a bold acknowledgement by Savvis of the importance of building and sustaining brand equity through design.