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Simply brilliant. Brilliantly simple.

Tuesday 28 July 2009, 12:20PM

By Mark Adams

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Gem tracks multiple interconnections between all your contacts, creating a business network focused on you.
Gem tracks multiple interconnections between all your contacts, creating a business network focused on you. Credit: Mark Adams
Simply brilliant. Brilliantly simple. Launch banners.
Simply brilliant. Brilliantly simple. Launch banners. Credit: Mark Adams
Product information simply and clearly presented.
Product information simply and clearly presented. Credit: Mark Adams

Re-branding and re-positioning Gem Networking software.

Entrepreneurial local company On2it Software has developed a product that brings an entirely new dimension to Customer Relationship Management (CRM). However, its existing branding was not helping it in a sophisticated international market. Approached by branding expert Mark Adams, the company completely overhauled its branding and is now in a strong position to vie against its competitors.

“I saw On2it’s presentation to a local business group. Its product was clearly different to conventional CRM. It looked like a product with great potential,” says Mark Adams, brand design consultant.

“However its name—Relationship GEM—didn’t do the serious business software justice. Product information was presented in a very dense fashion, and the overall brand had a rather home-made feel about it.”

Adams offered to help. “I was happy to volunteer some time to initiate a re-branding exercise. I thought we’d at least level the branding playing field in relation to its competitors and see where things went from there”.

Like its competitors, Relationship GEM performs as a customer and sales business application. But it differs in an important way, as it tracks all the relationships that exist between every contact in the database. In this respect it is something like a social networking website. Other CRM systems don’t do this. And despite the complex data it handles, it is simple to use.

New name, new look, new message

Adams proposed a new brand name, brand logo and typographic scheme. “I was proposing softer, more people-oriented branding. Suggesting networks and networking in a non-complex, approachable way.”

The new name—Gem Networking—and new branding, was a major step for On2it, but Adams took the process further.

On2it had used a faceted gemstone as part of their original brand image. “A little obvious perhaps, but it is a strong and memorable image. I thought we could do a lot more with it.”

Adams re-purposed the original gemstone idea, as the basis of a promotion campaign—‘Simply brilliant. Brilliantly simple’.

Brian McGuigan, Chairman of On2it Software, launched the new Gem Networking brand at the Bizzone Expo.

“Mark early on grasped what Gem was about, and how it differed from other CRM systems. The new name helps when we talk to potential customers and resellers, and the new branding clearly stands out from our competitors. It has definitely given us a step up.”

“I have to say it is simply brilliant!”

Mark Adams creates brands and tells their stories. A consultant with 30 years experience in brand and communication design, he creates memorable and engaging brands that capture the essence of a company, product or service. Based in Auckland, he works with clients throughout NZ. Visit www.adams.co.nz to view recent work.