VdS brand system: one set of rules, countless applications
VdS brand system: one set of rules, countless applications
The VdS brand system is a set of rules from which both the corporate design and the corporate website of VdS Schadenverhütung emerged. Both were developed at the same time. What followed — new sub-brands, product campaigns, an anniversary campaign — draws on the same rules.
Customer
Industry
Performance
Period
VdS Schadenverhütung
Corporate security and safety
Brand architecture
Corporate design
Corporate website
Interface design
Information architecture
Brand implementation
since 2018
Umbrella brand
Sub-brands
Endorsed Brand
pages in one information architecture
languages
publications made accessible
Bringing grown brands together under one recognisable sender
VdS Schadenverhütung was using two logos at the same time. The two looked similar, but they were not identical. On top of that, each business area communicated on its own. In the market, this never added up to a single picture.
The web presence had also grown over the years. It held more than 800 pages in several languages, from certification data to technical publications. Users struggled to find what mattered. What VdS needed was therefore not a new appearance, but a system.
Both tasks ran in parallel. The corporate design started in early 2018, the website was built the same year. As a result, the rules could not be finished in advance.
That was exactly where the difficulty lay. Every decision had to work on more than 800 real pages straight away. The content was also spread across many sources. This is why the VdS brand system needed firm rules from the outset. A visual appearance alone would not have been enough.
Following the analysis phase, VdS and CRENEO set down a brief. Four points took priority:
One sender. All business areas appear under a single logo.
One set of rules. Design, applications and website follow the same specifications.
One place. Certificates and publications are no longer scattered.
One editorial team. The team maintains the content itself in the backend.
The VdS brand system was meant to hold up in everyday work, not just in a presentation.
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System
One set of rules. Two disciplines. Six brands.
Two logos became one sender. Six brands now sit beneath it: the VdS umbrella brand, four sub-brands and the endorsed brand PROVE.
Corporate design and corporate website draw on the same foundation. What applies to one applies to the other — from the logo and the colour palette to the visual language of the interface.
Further development
The VdS brand system carries tasks it never knew
„
The structured, fast and highly professional way of working on this complex project makes CRENEO an ideal partner.
Stefan Haase
Marketing & PR,
VdS Schadenverhütung
Result
What VdS Schadenverhütung can do with it today
Two brand logos became one sender. More than 1,000 pages now sit within a shared structure. And over a thousand guidelines, safety regulations and information sheets can be reached in a few clicks.
What matters more, though, is what came after the launch. The VdS brand system has kept growing ever since. New modules went into the website, new applications into the corporate design. Campaigns, product launches and joint appearances with partners followed — all drawn from the same set of rules.
None of this required starting over. Every addition follows the rules established in 2018 and 2019. That is what separates a system from a visual appearance.