How to create a solid brand narrative for a leading group, Qualco Group’s Positioning.

Written by @Dora Papakonstantopoulou

In brief:

We defined and built the Qualco Group corporate narrative for the Greek & European markets.

Short Summary & Introduction

Qualco Group, a leading group of companies known for its tech-driven services and solutions in finance, aimed to unify its identity and narrative across its diverse portfolio. Τhis case study shares insights from the project dedicated to forming a compelling, cohesive narrative for this international player, working as one team.

The Challenge we had to solve

Qualco Group, originally launched in Greece, is rapidly expanding both internally and beyond national borders. Comprising different entities and multiple brands, the group faced a challenge: how to present a unified story amidst diverse brand identities, stories, and personas.

Given the Group's polyphonous portfolio, there was a vital need to craft a coherent, impactful narrative that would sit above its various brands and connect them in a clear and meaningful way. The REBORRN team stepped into this very demanding project, addressing a “problem” that is very common among large company groups or multi-business entities. The problem in one sentence?

“How can we succinctly and powerfully convey who we are?”.

The Methodology we used

REBORRN adopted an agile methodology, focused on brand sprints and an A-to-Z holistic challenge solving approach spanning across several weeks.

Step 1: Identifying the challenge and understanding the Group.

Brand Audit: Our team kick-started the project with researching, well-planned interviews with careful stakeholders across the system (employees, partners, consumers), and understanding the group of companies in full immersion. Fastly, we got a full view and understanding of the brand, the business, the services, the culture and the current narrative; along with a thorough deep-dive in decks, presentations, interviews with stakeholders and lots of reading. This audit led us to crafting our own State of the Union report -our own point of view and discussion starter, after evaluating the current status of the Group’s messaging confusion points and the gaps to fill moving forward.

Step 2: Tackling the challenge through an exciting, agile & fast-paced sprint.

Brand Sprint: At REBORRN we love sprints - this is one of our top ways to create and improve things efficiently. For this Qualco Group project, we gathered more than 50 people for a dedicated 3 days co-creating in brand sprint, as well as a REBORRN team, of course, of diverse skill sets. Rarely do we run a project where you don't see a mosaic of experts collaborating, and in this case, we put together a mixture of talents such as brand strategists, creative directors, storytellers, communications strategists, business intelligence consultants, and visual designers.

Socializing & "stress testing": Right after the sprint, with the key outcomes in place and the key points of a revamped Group narrative structured, we engaged with selected stakeholders for repeated content validation, with the blessings of the leadership team.

Solutions, Materials, Presentations, and Findings: An enhanced "Brand Bible" was developed which encompassed design, storytelling, a defined Brand Persona, Tone of Voice, and a new coherent Group Manifesto. This was later presented as a revamped Brand Book for the group.

Manifesto Key Statement:

“We are Qualco Group. We exist to build tech-powered solutions that change the world for the better.”

Step 3: The message that should reach the audience(s).

Right after, we jumped into spreading the new narrative across audiences, as the newly minted narrative needed the respective communication strategy to resonate across different touchpoints, amplifying the brand's positioning.

Following a more limited sprint session with key Qualco Group team members, a communication strategy playbook was developed, ensuring the Group's refreshed identity to be consistently communicated.

Step 4: How to implement the new narrative, in action.

Finally, to wrap up this thorough journey, we crafted a dedicated narrative training session at Qualco Group HQs, to build confidence and engagement with a selected few executives. The scope was for the people to be walked through the revamped Qualco brand statements, understand and expose themselves to the tone of voice and messaging and walk them through real-material examples for the Group’s communication.

Quote from Qualco Group:

"Bringing together tech innovators, business experts and creative minds, we rewrote our story, a complex symphony of businesses and offerings harmonising into a single brand narrative. This project charted our path toward a brilliant tomorrow, made possible through the unwavering support of the REBORRN team.”

- Pavlina Louki, VP Group Marketing at Qualco Group.

Lessons Learned

Crafting a narrative for a multi-faceted group requires deep immersion, agile collaboration, and iterative feedback loops. The success lay in challenging discussions, deep immersion in the group’s insides, easy and not-so-easy decisions, co-creation and constant iterations, and ensuring multiple stakeholder's voice was taken into consideration.

Conclusion

The Qualco Group's narrative project exemplifies the importance of a unified corporate identity, especially for diverse conglomerates. Through agile methodologies, real team collaboration, and a clear vision, REBORRN successfully created a narrative that not only unifies but elevates the Group's brand presence in the market.

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