Making sure your business can call and be reached by your customers. That's what Voys does, but in a unique way. 15 years ago at TNO, Voys developed a product that would radically change the telecom world: telephony in the cloud. And over the years, more and more companies became fans of it. As Voys grew, they noticed that technology alone would not be enough.

How do you make sure everyone in your company can work with and for the customer? That was the question Voys asked itself in 2012. Following that, Voys decided to embed equality with the customer and equality among themselves in the way they organize things. Since then, the company has been working with the Voys Model, an organizational model without managers and functions. By now, more than 12,000 companies are optimally accessible by phone, Voys and sister company Devhouse Spindle work with more than 120 colleagues, and the telecom provider operates in four countries. Whereas Voys serves the SME market with its product Freedom, with One the company offers the communication solution for large business in the Netherlands.

With such heady growth comes a brand that can continue to grow with it. That is why Voys engaged Fitbrand in 2020. I spoke about the search for the new brand image with Wouter Brem (marketer at Voys), Peter van der Steege and Jeroen Broersma.

The reason for this rebranding

Voys is a progressive company that has experienced considerable growth over the years.Last year, Voys had a clear idea of what it should stand for and was ready for a look that matched that and could also grow with the company. Voys' goal was not to completely overhaul the entire corporate identity. What Voys needed in terms of branding was structure.

Wouter Brem: "Two years ago we went in a different direction with Voys in terms of branding. We no longer wanted to be "middle-of-the-road" and show color. We'd rather have 50 people who are really behind us than 100 who think we're okay". And about content, Wouter says the following:

"We want a lot with Voys: internationalization, sustainable business, meaningful business, continue to improve our product and create more content. In recent years we've been spending more and more on advertising when we feel we could put that same money into creating valuable content that people want more of. "

Why Voys chose Fitbrand

Voys oriented itself to several branding agencies but got back from most that a complete rebranding would be the solution. This was different at Fitbrand. Because Peter van der Steege kept asking the why question, it became clear to him that Voys did not need a complete rebranding, but rather the right structure and a set of good guidelines.

Peter van der Steege: "I saw the challenge with Voys mainly in the consistency of the brand. So many people, so many ideas, so much valuable content, so many designs. So I proposed to start working on a new direction that would focus on a consistent tone of voice, a clearer value proposition and the choice of more distinct designs that would better match the content."

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Step 1: The start

The first strategic session still physically took place at the Groninger Forum. During this meeting, several teams from both Voys and Fitbrand were present. This meeting was all about gathering information (also known as divergence ) through brainstorming, discussion and assignments with post-its.

The first and immediately the last 'live' session in the Groninger Forum.

Step 2: Strategy

Subsequent brainstorms were organized online due to tightened coronagraphs. Using shared presentations and Google Jamboards, we worked together to provide input for choosing and selecting the best ideas: converging. Based on this input, Voys further filled out Fitbrand's brand strategy workbook. The resulting information, combined with Fitbrand's additions, were incorporated into a strategic document.

This comprehensive document included a listing of the challenges, brand touchpoints, the purpose, goals, persona archetypes, tone of voice and brand personality.

Google Jamboard lent itself well to collaborative ideation during the online meetings. As seen here in one of the mood boards on typography.

Step 3: Visualize

This strategic document formed the basis for the rest of the visual process. As with the strategic side, the methodology of divergence and convergence was also used in this phase. Graphic designers Jeroen and Melinde went to work with different style scapes.

Stylescapes are a carefully collected combination of images, textures, typography and colors to convey a particular look and feel of a brand, website, interior space or other design project. Think of them as next level mood boards.

In the divergence phase, Fitbrand developed three types of Stylescapes. The first one most closely matched Voys' existing style. Only a few sharpenings had been applied. The second stylescape featured more changes from the existing style. The stylescape consisted of a mix of existing and new elements. The third stylescape was completely new from the existing style. In this stylescape, Voys' corporate identity was completely overhauled.

With these three stylescapes, Fitbrand came back to Voys. The different styles generated many discussions and questions. While some people were very enthusiastic about the new elements, others found the changes too radical. Together with Voys, Fitbrand worked back to one style cape(convergence).

Impressions from the one of the intermediate products: the Voys brand strategy book. This formed the basis for the further elaboration of all components in the new brand manual.

Step 4: Finalize

Fitbrand went to work with the feedback on the various style scapes and designed one final stylescape. This stylescape became the final basis for the visual section from the brand manual. This visual section shows more about the logo, typography, colors, design elements, illustrations and icons, photography and visual examples.

The 3 stylescapes (Allegiant, Insurgent and Divergent) that were designed differed greatly in the way they showed the way to Voys' new branding.

Fire manual

All elements from both the strategic and visual parts have been merged into the renewed brand manual. Voys and Fitbrand both look back on a process in which intensive cooperation was essential and the end result has become something both parties are proud of.

For Fitbrand, the challenge was mainly in the process. Peter made sure that everything ran smoothly and as many ideas as possible were generated. Jeroen and Melinde then made sure that all the ideas were visualized.

Voys was pleased with the collaboration and how much influence they had on the process. It was important to Voys that there would be clarity in the branding and that happened. Everything stands as a house.

Overview of key pages in Voys' new brand manual.

The sequel

Voys is already making full use of the brand manual. The partner companies responsible for online marketing and social media are already using it, and the 5 different personas are now also being used in the new campaigns. So keep an eye on Voys and maybe you will see the renewed style yourself.

Brand manual, social media section.

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