Nors

Client.

Nors

Refreshing businesses. Branding. Brand Architecture. Brand Strategy & Positioning. Mobility.

A new brand, the flagship of a unique identity made of self-love and confidence in a future that has been growing for over 90 years.

The entire Nors rebranding project was the result of a leader's will and vision to make the brand a strategic tool for global business development and for affirming a culture of excellence, where the human capital of the team — which the organisation dominates —is at least as important as the reputation of the brands it represents.

Challenge.

We were selected for the Nors Group's 2022 rebranding project, which involved implementing a monolithic brand system. The Nors brand, which was previously mainly known within the institution, was going to replace well-established commercial brands such as AutoSueco (in Portugal, Angola, and Brazil), StrongCo (in Canada), and AgroNew (in Brazil), among others.

Context.

The origins of the Nors Group date back to 1933, when Luis Óscar Jervell took over representation of the Volvo brand in Portugal. More than 90 years later, CEO Tomás Jervell now leads a group with operations on 3 continents, almost 3000 employees and a turnover of more than 1.5 billion euros (2023). The diversification of business areas and brands represented (Volvo Cars, Volvo Trucks, Renault Trucks, etc.) has fueled growth, bringing with it challenges from the point of view of brand architecture.

Brand Architecture.

The strategic option of building a monolithic brand aimed to consolidate a single global brand and culture. It was a response to a growth process based mainly on the acquisition of companies in new markets.

The shift from a House of Brands to a Branded House presented numerous challenges. One of the main obstacles was establishing a distinct brand purpose, culture, and values that stakeholders and employees with varying backgrounds and roles across different locations could embrace. Additionally, it was important to ensure that teams fully supported and believed in the new brand's potential.

In order to capture the business development strategy and communication opportunities, our Brand Strategy team conducted a series of interviews with business leaders and other internal and external stakeholders. From this work, we built the positioning and core content of the Nors brand in collaboration with the Executive Committee.

3 continents, almost 3000 employees.

Concept.

In conjunction with the Brand Voice team, we created the tagline ‘Making it Work’, which sealed the transition from the institutional Nors brand to an action brand, guaranteeing a clear commitment to partnership and quality of service to all customers. A culture that is historically rooted in the group.

Reflecting Nors' activity across different business areas, we created the Trucks and Buses, Construction Equipment, Parts, Agro and Ventures segments. This allowed Nors to verticalise its message industry by industry, country by country, even when acting as a single brand.

Visual Identity.

The next step was to transform Nors' visual identity. Our Brand Design team had the challenge of incorporating attributes such as performance, solidity, and capacity, creating a universe that could be adjusted to both institutional and commercial contexts, made of a much greater diversity of touchpoints. Bearing in mind that the closer the moment of sale came, the more the manufacturers' brands - such as Volvo or Renault Trucks, among many others - had to stand out.

The process of building the new Nors was, therefore, the result of a revision of the old brand’s narrative, typography and colour palette. It also required the creation of a more modern image bank, where the scale of the business, its human dimension and the mechanical component go hand in hand.

Over a period of months, and in close collaboration with the Nors management team, we defined the rules for applying the brand to the day-to-day business: institutional presentations, digital, signage, uniforms, merchandising, and stationary, among others.

Thus, one of the Portuguese groups with the greatest international presence was reborn, with the brand at the centre of its strategy, making it work.