SureSync has gone through a comprehensive overhaul, not only revamping its brand identity but also redefining the approach to customer engagement. Sicco Brakema, our Marketing Manager, shares the motivations and strategic insights behind the rebranding initiative, and UX Designer Ivar Lundin sheds light on the intricate design process that brought the new brand and website to life. Discover the efforts it took to shape a cohesive brand identity and elevate customer experience in only a few months.
Hi, Sicco! What was the main motivation behind the rebranding of Visma Connect to SureSync?
“Our company was going through a transformative phase. There was a need to streamline our product portfolio into a cohesive information exchange platform. This demanded a rebranding effort that would reflect our evolving brand values, and establish a refreshed approach for our future customer journey. Simultaneously migrating our website from Episerver provided momentum to synchronise these efforts seamlessly. By aligning our brand with our vision, and implementing a new website using HubSpot templates, we wanted to better represent our brand’s values and enhance customer engagement.”
SureSync’s logo, colour scheme, and typography
How would you describe SureSync’s values and new brand identity?
“SureSync’s new brand identity is closely aligned with Visma’s core values of entrepreneurship, responsibility, dedication, and inclusion. We conducted a Golden Rules workshop, based on the experience principle framework that guided our interactions with customers, decision-making processes, and communication strategies under the new brand.”
The 3 Golden Rules
To achieve an organisational alignment, we established 3 Golden Rules. These principles guide Visma’s design teams in understanding their critical role, ensure a unified journey for both the teams and companies, and align with the stages of a typical customer journey. By identifying customer-centric values, and integrating them into daily operations and long-term strategic objectives, we try to create a seamless experience for everyone involved in a rebranding process.
The Golden Rules are:
- Embrace my needs and perspectives
We must understand and value each customer’s unique requirements. By doing so, our teams will be able to customise interactions and services effectively for the rebranding journey. - Engage me as a partner
We should transform every customer relationship into a partnership. A collaborative dynamic with shared feedback and joint development ensure a better process for everyone involved. - Nurture and delight me
Our focus should be on building lasting loyalty by exceeding expectations with exceptional care.
“The Golden Rules were instrumental in shaping our customer journey touchpoints, and enhancing our brand’s value proposition,” Sicco explains.
Examples of merchandise and outdoor prints
How did you decide on the name “SureSync”?
“SureSync was a deliberate choice because of how the name reflects the core essence of our company. As vendors of information exchange, reliability and trustworthiness are essential to our operations. ‘Sure’ embodies these qualities, while ‘Sync’ underscores our commitment to seamlessly connecting information and fostering collaboration. After carefully considering several options, we felt confident that SureSync was the right choice.”
Can you tell us more about the website development and domain migration process?
“The website development process was a collaborative effort. We received a lot of support from HubSpot and their product branding team. Leveraging HubSpot’s user-friendliness, we migrated to the new domain while simultaneously implementing a new design and refreshing our content. We enhanced our website performance through the activation of a Content Delivery Network (CDN) via Cloudflare.
Thanks to the support and hard work of this collaboration, we experienced no decline in total traffic throughout the entire migration process. The smooth transition enabled us to communicate our offerings effectively to potential customers, strengthening our brand presence.”
What were the roles of our internal teams, and external teams or agencies, in this rebranding project?
“The rebranding project primarily relied on the support of internal Visma teams, and partnering with HubSpot, as well. Our internal team has been absolutely crucial for the final result, unwavering in their efforts to bring our rebranding vision and plans to life. HubSpot has been pivotal in facilitating our marketing campaigns and integrations, serving as a key marketing automation tool for inbound marketing, sales, and customer service. ”
Examples of SureSync’s social media profile and posts
Is there anything you would’ve done differently in the rebranding process or website implementation?
“Looking back, we truly are very satisfied with the outcome and results of the rebranding process and transformation journey. Every step of the way was carefully planned out, which contributed to seamless transition and ultimately stronger brand identity for SureSync.”
Ivar, can you tell us about the design process of creating the new website?
“We worked on the website project in parallel with the brand development process. It was roughly divided into one process before implementing the CMS and one process after. I was initially given a ‘look and feel’ landing page design as my role was to scale it to an entire website. We start every single web project by learning about the design space, and creating a good framework proved to be extra important in this particular instance. SureSync’s audience and product offerings are very different from previous projects I’ve done.
Together with all stakeholders, we dove into all details of our communication goals in workshops. As an external contributor, this exercise is really useful as it highlights where stakeholders’ perspectives and knowledge intersect and diverge. The importance of this became evident when we were framing the product pages. There were significant gaps between different team members’ visualisation of it.”
“After gaining a better understanding of the product offering, we were able to analyse and evaluate the current website and its performance compared to how an ideal website typically performs. This was our starting point for the new website, with the new brand identity applied. We started out with rough wireframes that we continued to build upon in alignment with the new visual profile.
We went through multiple iterations of the wireframes and content, repeatedly looking through the visual execution. This was key to meeting the requirements of the webpage, while also providing insights and ideas that could enhance the creative process for the visual designer, rather than relying solely on a single brief from start to finish. When we finalised the design drafts, I started helping Sicco with the implementation in HubSpot and dealing with any challenge that might present itself.”
Website mockups
How did you ensure consistency across various touch points – such as the website, marketing materials, and social media – with the new brand identity?
“We tested out the guidelines thoroughly and on as many touch points as possible. In turn, we discovered the need for more design assets so that we wouldn’t have to re-use the same ones too frequently. When we create more assets, it’s crucial that we remain consistent throughout. The biggest challenge is how we can scale and produce a variety of assets without being too repetitive.”
“The dedication, expertise, and unwavering support of everyone involved have been instrumental every step of the way.”
Sicco Brakema, Marketing Manager at Visma Connect B.V.