Stoke

Background
Colliers International is the world’s 3rd-largest real estate services firm, employing more than 15,000 professionals in 480 offices in 61 countries, generating in excess of $1.9 billion in revenues annually.

Challenge
For many years Colliers International operated as a global network of affiliated businesses, sharing a common brand (substantially, but not entirely) under an international licensing agreement. As the market for commercial real estate surged, the ability to consistently service clients around the globe became paramount. As client needs became more specific, and real estate assets became complex financial instruments, Colliers International was driven to provide highly-specialized professionals, operating from a shared services platform.

To service this demand, Colliers acquired several firms in key global markets, inviting discussion about how the brand was perceived by the market, and would be managed going forward.

Stoke was asked to conduct a global brand positioning assessment for Colliers International including customer needs and perceptions, competitive positioning, and a visual identity and communications audit.

A strategic recommendation was made to reposition Colliers from a distributed, transaction-oriented network, to a globally-integrated, advisory-oriented professional services firm – all under one brand.

Outcome
Stoke developed a brand position for Colliers based on "The Spirit of Enterprise." This versatile word, enterprising, captures Colliers’ organizational ethos and market strategy, including: a sense of drive and initiative; an active, creative mind; mastery of business skills, and; integrating a substantial global business.

Stoke’s brand design team (and including trusted friends at fellow Ballard studio, Turnstyle), developed a comprehensive brand launch program including a refreshed corporate logo identity, visual identity system, messaging matrix and brand tagline, services architecture, print collateral, Web site, corporate business papers, digital media, global signage program, and a global advertising campaign. A global visual identity standard was established, including imagery, iconography and typography. 

The change in strategy has been garnering quite a bit of attention from the press. "From a broader standpoint, Colliers is changing its branding. The firm will no longer assign geographic designations to its office; instead each firm will simply carry the Colliers International brand," said J.R. Lind of the Nashville Post.