Young entrepreneurship is important for the Frisian economy. With the growth of more and more qualitative startups and a changing market, it was time to give the Frisian startup ecosystem STERK Frisian Entrepreneurship a complete rebranding and lift it to a new level. Because beautiful things happen in Friesland. Time to discover that. Through our developed clarity process, we came up with a new brand positioning, followed by a complete rebranding of the brand. Strategically. Visually. Verbal. A project with adjustments and surprising twists. Not only in Friesland. Also in Groningen.
Strategy for clarity
Through an extensive strategy phase, in which we clarified the insights around the brand, the users and the objective, we established the positioning and strategy of the brand. This brand strategy included the brand claim ‘The guide for entrepreneurial talent, startups and innovative entrepreneurs’, which became the common thread for that new brand identity and platform.
Because the brand was going to change so much, a complete rebranding was needed, starting with the brand name. All brand elements had to have a clear reference to the brand claim of the ecosystem. And so we developed the new name ‘Noard’ together with the tagline ‘navigate constant change’.
Noard
For thousands of years, the north has been an important direction for all exploration in the world. North on the compass is the guide of the course. In addition, north is a dynamic place. Depending on where you are, north is always somewhere else. North stands for constant change.
A sharp turn in the project
We defined a comprehensive brand handbook that described the strategy, the verbal and the visual components of the brand. This brand handbook was 95% complete when we received a call from Erwin, program manager of the Frisian ecosystem. “Please sit down. There are new developments. To give the Frisian and Groningen startup ecosystem even more strength, we are going to connect and work together even more closely.”
We have developed an exciting new brand that truly embraces the exploration of entrepreneurship. They guided us through the many choices in strategy, branding and design and together with us created the place for young Frisian entrepreneurship. We are really very happy with the result. Mission accomplished!
Founded in Friesland
This close collaboration had as a consequence that the brand name ‘Noard’ had to be changed into ‘Founded in Friesland’. This way a connection could be made between Founded in Groningen and the new Founded in Friesland. After extensive testing, the newly developed brand strategy and visual identity could be maintained with only minor adjustments to the whole.
A fitting and self-governing platform
We conceived and designed the platform to fit the brand claims of Founded in Friesland and Founded in Groningen. Our friends at Sigbar brought this platform to life on the powerful Neos CMS. The platform is the guide for ideas, stories, ambitions and programs. A place where young talent, startups and innovative entrepreneurs can find their way. A central place for discovering and connecting. From start to growth.
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