Corporate Identity for FUNKE Mediengruppe

The new corporate identity of FUNKE Mediengruppe

The corporate identity of FUNKE Mediengruppe brings together more than 30 sub-brands and over 590 product brands under a shared visual logic. Since 2018, CRENEO has developed a clear brand architecture, a variable FUNKE brand design and a binding set of rules. One goal stood above all others: today, teams and external service providers work with it independently.

Customer

Industry

Services

Period

FUNKE Mediengruppe

Media and publishing

Brand consulting
Brand architecture
Corporate design
Brand implementation
Brand communication

since 2018

Strategy process

Workshops

Pillars of brand architecture

30 +

Sub-brands

590 +

Product Brands

Bringing together more than 30 sub-brands under one recognisable identity

Initial situation

FUNKE Mediengruppe grew through acquisitions over many years. With it, the number of brands, units and senders kept rising. Each unit communicated on its own, and the parent brand receded behind them. Design guidelines did exist, yet they were neither binding nor intended for a brand landscape of this scale. The initial brief was therefore to harmonise and modernise the brand design — while preserving its established brand characteristics.

Challenge

The real task, however, lay one level deeper. A new visual appearance would have treated the symptom, not the cause. Without a robust brand architecture, even the best design would have drifted apart again within a few years. Then there was the sheer spread: more than 30 sub-brands, over 590 product brands, plus specialist departments and locations across Germany. A design that fits everything would have distinguished nothing. Conversely, a separate design for each unit would have dissolved the parent brand entirely.

Objectives

The new visual identity was to support FUNKE Mediengruppe’s ambition to become Germany’s leading media company. From this, CRENEO and the FUNKE brand team derived four objectives:

Simplify the brand architecture and make every unit’s affiliation visible
Develop a FUNKE brand design that stays variable and remains recognisable
Reduce effort and cost in the production of media
Centralise brand governance so that consistency does not depend on individuals

System

The corporate identity of FUNKE Mediengruppe as an operating system

CRENEO did not deliver a visual appearance but a structure of rules. It comprises a monolithic brand architecture with three pillars and a group anchor that defines the affiliation of every sub-brand. A variable layout system with fixed parameters was developed alongside it. A set of rules also describes what is typical and what is not. This is why the corporate identity of FUNKE Mediengruppe works like an operating system today: it sets rules and allows scope within them. What CRENEO built is therefore not a visual appearance but a brand system.

Group anchor for sub-brands

Further development

A FUNKE brand design that grows with the group

How robust the structure is became apparent in 2025. The recommendation to develop a proprietary corporate typeface dated back to the start of the project — it was implemented seven years later with FUNKEsans. The typeface was designed by the Berlin type foundry Just Another Foundry, accompanied by CRENEO throughout, and built on the previous typeface. Because the design parameters are defined centrally, the new typeface could be carried into logos, templates, manuals and the brand portal without touching the underlying system logic. A FUNKE brand design can therefore evolve instead of being rebuilt.

„

CRENEO managed to penetrate the complex brand structure of one of Germany’s largest media houses and, with the help of an extensive brand and design process, created a strong foundation for strengthening the FUNKE umbrella brand. The new, modern and fresh appearance corresponds to the desired future-oriented corporate spirit and lives the motto “We are FUNKE!“.

Claus-Dieter Grabner
Head of Brand and Event Coordination & Klartext Verlag
FUNKE Mediengruppe

Result

What FUNKE can do with it today

Communication materials are no longer created from scratch. Instead, teams draw on master templates, defined colour sets and an approved icon set, which noticeably reduces effort and cost. In 2024, CRENEO developed the FUNKE brand portal for this purpose — a platform that bundles all elements and gives internal teams and external service providers access to the same current state. New brands are classified by the FUNKE brand team itself, because the architecture already provides the criteria. This is why the corporate identity of FUNKE Mediengruppe holds up even as the group continues to grow.

Disciplines

Brand consultancy

Brand architecture

Corporate Design

Brand Portal

Brand implementation

Strategy

Analysis, workshops, architecture

Design

Logo, layout system, colour palette

Implementation

Business stationery, brochures, on-air

Rollout

Manuals, templates, brand portal

Similar initial situation?

Many of our projects start with a concrete situation — not with a finished brief. If what you’ve seen here resonates with you, let’s have a short conversation.

Alexander Willuweit takes 30 minutes to understand where you stand — and whether we are the right partner for your next step. No pitch. No pressure.