In June 2024, Lunne emerged as an evolved agency with the best of LMG and treetree at its core—and with elevated standards for ourselves and elevated expectations for what lies ahead. With a sharpened focus on the industries we serve, the areas in which we shine, the services we offer, the clients we want to build relationships with, and the vision we aspire to achieve, the stage was set for a brand-new chapter.
Once the foundation was built, we went to work aesthetically. With support from our leadership team, Brand Creative Director Melissa Sass, an 18-year employee of Lunne, led the development of a visual identity that felt fresh and in perfect alignment with our new brand personality: human, smart, helpful. And as marketers know, working on your own brand is incredibly challenging (shoemaker’s children, anyone?) between the emotions, history, and personal preferences that, yes, even among an experienced agency team, can cloud the strategic discipline critical for a successful rebrand.
This was a labor of love for us. I personally have worked with Doug Lunne for over 30 years, and it was an honor to rebrand our thriving agency. We drew inspiration from a Leonardo da Vinci quote, ‘Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication.’ It takes a lot of rigor to create something powerful yet simple that embodies our personality. And we did just that! During our 20-year celebration as an agency, there is no better way to usher in the next 20 years than with a refreshed and renewed brand vision for our company.
—Melissa Sass, Brand Creative Director
Every color, design element, and typography choice was made thoughtfully and with intentional connection to our mission to redefine AOR as the Agency of Relationships. The story of Lunne had gone from concept to reality. And it looked great. On paper. Then it was time to give it a soul.
Dimensionalizing a brand: The places
With the Lunne rebrand in particular, we were not only evolving from LMG into something new visually and strategically, but we were also doing so while working to ensure a new and consistent brand experience across three very different office locations and with a hybrid model. But flexible time in the office doesn’t mean we can compromise impact. In fact, because companies are competing with the comfort of work-from-home environments, it’s critical that special attention and intention be given to the places employees spend their in-office time.
For Lunne’s three offices, we selected key impact moments that would be identical in design and materiality in all three locations. We also considered the little things like paint color, outside signage, and even office decor and pillows—ensuring no matter which office associates worked from—or clients visited—it felt consistent and cohesive. Even via virtual meetings.
Dimensionalizing a brand: The people
It’s not enough for a brand to exist in visuals and verbals. While important to the marketing of a brand, the look and language of a brand must be rooted in the people who represent it—and the places in which they collaborate. A brand must come to life in both spirit and dimension outside the traditional marketing print and digital mediums. And this happens from the inside out.
With all our brand work, Lunne guides clients to launch among associates first—and in a big way. We think of it like jolting the brand awake, electrifying its heart to begin beating. This not only creates early ambassadors for a brand; it also creates a groundswell of energy that catapults a brand forward, introducing it with credibility and confidence. From messaging, launch events, and hype videos to robust internal campaigns and employee swag, building tactics for your most important audience—your associates—is key to launching a brand successfully.
For Lunne, we held an all-employee in-person event that essentially served as our kickoff and birth of our new brand. Our leadership team spoke about the new branding elements—and more importantly—the why behind them. We rolled out new tools and templates. We spent time exploring the messaging and answering questions from the team. Doing this together allowed for singular vision casting, open discussion, and shared excitement. The event culminated in a red carpet-worthy launch party with photo ops, confetti cannons, and yes, even more swag. The result was an energized team with a shared understanding of our new brand and a unified view of what lies ahead.
Your brand is an experience
Regardless of the tools and tactics you employ to create or evolve a brand, it’s imperative that you regard your brand as a living, breathing entity. Even if your brand lives only as a logo, it is an experience. So when you consider your brand, your growth plans, your people, and your places, we challenge you to also consider the experience that will get you where you want to be. And we invite you to partner with Lunne to get you there.