Own the future

Positioning
Identity

Guidelines

Sales materials

Brand launch

A sharp tagline and brand to drive a successful acquisition

Jack Ma's Mainland Chinese fintech group took over a Hong Kong life insurance firm to launch a new brand. Uncertainty ensued. How can employees, investors and customers feel confident?

I created a motivating idea and tagline to build the brand on, Own the future, which helped it launch positively in Hong Kong, the capital of samey insurance brands.

YFLife still invests in brand awareness and repetition. You'll see it's the only brand with its logo visible from both sides of Hong Kong's skyline.

Positioning

Taking research from audience perceptions of this acquisition and to evoke the promise of insurance as a way to take control over one's life, I created the positioning idea and tagline: Own the future

Identity

"Own the future" inspired other statements and messages that helped guide and define the company culture and brand expression, including the visual identity.

Sharp, right-corner-pointing triangles signaled growth and confidence. The dark blue and grey signaled calm, wealth and technical power, connecting to the insurance brand's financial service group brand.

Guidelines

I helped our branding team write extensive, accurate brand guidelines to support the correct implementation of the new identity to touchpoints.

There were rulesets around the use of the triangle graphics.

Sales materials

I rewrote a few of their sales material as a way to set the standard for how to express a bolder, more confident brand.

The sales brochures used simpler and more playful language to make the insurance products feel more accessible.

Brand launch

Besides celebration in Chinese-language press, the new brand was unveiled at a private conference for staff at the HKCC in Hong Kong.

Jack Ma came in person to give a speech and welcome the new brand to the world. Acrobats, fireworks and a dance routine made the rebrand feel good.

There's something special about seeing a phrase you came up with put up in lights and celebrated by the people who can't wait to live it in their work. More like this, please!