Is it possible to express MARCO's identity and personality visually?

Anyone who has been following us for a while knows that 2023 was a year of big changes for MARCO.
One of those changes was a rebranding with in a second phase a matching website. 

Jill De Ranter

CHIEF MARCO

How do you translate a brand identity into the right visual concept?

How can we translate MARCO's identity and personality into the right branding in the right way? This question market the start of an extensive process in which we worked intensively on our own marketing. For the first time since MARCO was founded, we reflected on our own identity and core values. And that's only normal. Because our mission has also been adjusted somewhat in the last 2 years. And that is very typical for a start-up.

In the beginning you are mainly concerned with fine-tuning your offering, looking for the right customers, etc. Only when your story is very clear, it can be translated into a strong brand that radiates the right vision.
And it was also time for MARCO! 

Our approach

In each project we work in 3 phases. And this was our approach.

Analysis

Our core values ​​have remained unchanged since the beginning: challenging, partnerships, simplicity & trust. That is the core of our existence. But a number of 'minimum requirements for playing' have been added, characteristics that are simply in every MARCO and that characterise our way of working. Everything we do, we do out of a certain curiosity, with a lot of optimism, openness to all our partners, a grounded knowledge and always very sincere. Our own archetype? The wise one, MARCO belongs to the sage brands! These are brands that focus on sharing their knowledge, that serve others and are a helping hand. MARCO's therefore have a lot of wisdom that they are happy to use for the benefit of others 

 

Strategy

During our strategic phase we explored our own 'WHY' (based on 'The Golden Circle' by Simon Sinek) and our ideal client! Our mission? To be a long-term partner to call on when you don't have a large marketing team! Why are we doing this? Because we can only make an impact by looking for the core of a company's DNA. Only by focusing on your own story will you be able to effectively communicate it in the right way to all your stakeholders – externally and internally. Think of us as a plug-in marketing partner who coordinates everything related to your marketing and ensures that your DNA is carried through to the smallest detail.

Implementation

Our action plan was clear and therefore: time to implement it! MARCO stands for a very personal approach. The name is also a recognizable name for good reason. For us, MARCO stands for every partner we work with. Everyone within MARCO can be themselves and is – literally – given a face. Besides the fact that we wanted to work with 'an icon', it was also important that the M could stand on its own. A short and powerful logo that was clear and – just like our core value – simple. Because sometimes the expression 'less is more' is just true. And so our creative gurus Noémie and Emmeline got to work on this. They developed a more than successful branding with a cheerful color palette, a soft & friendly typography, elements with a silly touch and, above all... with the now famous 'MARCO's' who literally gave a face to the entire team!

“I wanted to thank you for the pleasant and smooth cooperation.
This was a textbook example for me.” – Emmeline (Illustrator)
 

The result?

Super enthusiastic MARCOs who are still very proud every day when someone gives a compliment about our branding!
Especially because we can now finally extend this to this new website. Because a marketing agency without the right website... That wasn't it! 😉