In SMPL Q+A, we interview Siegel+Gale practitioners on all things relevant to branding. Here, we speak with our West Coast team about our rebranding work for the global business and cloud consultancy SADA. Read the official news from SADA here.

Account Management/Strategy

Why did SADA engage Siegel+Gale?

SADA had recently sold off its Microsoft business and gone all-in with Google Cloud. And after 20 years, it had also grown and evolved into one of the top award-winning Google Cloud partners, year after year via organic, entrepreneurial growth. It just wasn’t telling this story.

Partnerships and people are integral ingredients to SADA’s success. They needed to partner with a firm that truly understood their culture and vision and would also be a natural extension of their team.

Why is this investment in brand such an important milestone for SADA?

Scaling to meet extraordinary demand required SADA’s leadership to consider how to communicate its “never give up” culture to new talent and set expectations for excellence with new clients. Given their ability to drive impact at scale, SADA was ready to assert its leadership role in the cloud ecosystem.

Business Analytics & Insights

What role did research play in this partnership?  

Kristen Berry-Owen: Leveraging EyeOpener quantitative research, we uncovered drivers specific to the cloud marketplace and showed opportunities to leapfrog the traditional systems integrators. We also engaged SADAians in focus groups to bring them into the process and socialize the coming brand transformation.

Brand Communication & Strategy

How does the new brand story elevate the positioning of SADA in the market? 

SADA often sold Google Cloud but it wasn’t clear why Google Cloud with SADA mattered. We helped articulate why someone would want to partner with SADA in a Google Cloud deployment so the company could better tell that story. Ultimately, it’s the performance SADA delivers so that when it comes to the Google Cloud ecosystem, it’s not an add-on but a must-have, changing the way companies can work and harnessing the power of what the technology can do.

What was the concept behind the logo & identity system? 

Matthias Mencke: Various inputs that led to the final identity system: SADA’s culture is a strong driver for helping SADA’s clients transform their businesses. To capture the idea of performance and determination, we looked at the visual vocabulary of automotive brands. This allowed us to emphasize the organization’s dynamism and capture a sophisticated elegance and simplicity that mirrors SADA’s technical prowess and its diligence in developing flawless cloud solutions. Additionally, we needed to express the collaborative spirit with which SADA approaches all engagements. One of the areas where we could codify that is in the interlocking bowls of the initial S in the name SADA.

Brand-led Change & Activation

Where did SADA focus their activation efforts, and why?

As a professional services company, SADA has to demonstrate its brand promise, not just talk about it. Through the research and immersion, we helped create a brand story that’s true to who the company is while leaving room to evolve, grow and deliver even more effectively. At the very center of everything the company stands for is its people. The company is truly made up of a collection of individuals united by a can-do attitude and the drive to deliver—every single time.

Experience

How does the new website help deliver on SADA’s brand promise? 

Jenna Isken: The new website focuses on showcasing what SADA does through the lens of why it matters to their clients and partners. We partnered with the SADA team to rethink the site structure to simplify and streamline the experience—and give users a reason to return for more. Unexpected interactions and bold movements are used to engage, delight and highlight SADA as different in their space.

Strategy 

How does SADA’s rebrand create differentiation in the short-and long-term?

SADA’s rebrand conveys how it combines an “all in” attitude with collaborative teamwork to stand out from the competition with a performance brand orientation. Like the pit crew for a race car or an Olympic training team, SADA jumps into their client’s businesses and brings them up to a world-class level with speed and expertise. Much nimbler and more responsive than traditional systems integrators and more focused and dedicated than new-breed cloud transformation consultants, their new brand poises them to attract the most energetic talent and the most interesting client assignments.

Our SADA team includes Gina Kim, (Former) Group Director, Brand Communication; Matthias Mencke, Group Creative Director; Shana Orth, (Former) Group Director, Account Management; Kristen Berry-Owen, Director of Insights; Matthew Loebman, (Former) Sr. Strategy Director; Jenna Isken, Group Director, Experience; Sean Carney, Director, Experience Production; Steve Fan, (Former) Sr. Designer; Kaitlin Smith, Strategy Director; Kate Floyd, (Former) Sr. Strategist, Brand Communication; Maureen Perry, Design Director; Josephine Law, (Former) Designer; and AnaCristina Tamasese, Senior Account Manager.