DXC Technology (NYSE: DXC) is a new company formed by the merger of Computer Sciences Corporation (CSC) and the Enterprise Services business of Hewlett Packard Enterprise. The new company, which launched on April 3, is the world’s leading independent, end-to-end IT services provider, with an expected $25 billion in annual revenues and nearly 6,000 clients in 70 countries. Siegel+Gale collaborated with DXC on nearly every aspect of brand development: from overarching strategy to brand architecture, identity, messaging and activation. In this SMPL Q&A we speak with Matt Egan, senior director, strategy and Anne Swan, group creative director, about our engagement.
Matt Egan, senior director and global technology practice lead
Why did DXC engage Siegel+Gale?
We were initially engaged to conduct market research related to naming the new company. In October, the leadership team determined that a completely new identity would best support the future goals of the business and we then expanded our remit to include brand strategy, visual identity, experience and activation.
How would you define the new DXC brand?
DXC is about change and helping clients succeed in the face of the accelerated changes experienced by every industry today. DXC is incredibly well positioned to help global organizations tackle digital transformation. Not as a one-time event, but as an ongoing journey that will fundamentally change the way businesses operate and succeed. The new tagline, Thrive on Change, brings the promise to life in a simple and active way. It’s something DXC employees and clients alike can hold onto.
What were some of the unique challenges of creating the new brand?
Aligning to a fresh vision for a new brand is always the first big challenge. Beyond that, we endured a highly compressed time frame. We had to parallel path our strategy, identity, experience and activation work—which makes for a very dynamic process. Fortunately, the CSC and HPE ES teams were willing to work extraordinarily closely with our team, so our typical cycle times were greatly reduced, which enabled us to make informed decisions quickly.
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Anne Swan, group creative director
Tell us a little about the concept behind the visual identity?
At first glance, the mark itself is incredibly simple. But the layers of meaning portray the mission of the newly formed company. There’s the literal representation of the name: DXC. Beyond that, the X conveys the transformative role of the company. The broader design system expresses boldness, authority and confidence. It establishes an assertive visual persona focused on clients and driving results.
Matt Egan, senior director and global technology practice lead
This was a rapid brand engagement, what challenges did that present?
The speed of this engagement was a challenge in and of itself. The idea of discreet work phases seems to be a thing of the past. Now we work in parallel work streams and stay in close alignment with our client as work progresses. For DXC, we were deep into planning for the digital build and brand implementation before we had an identity, or even a new company name. It goes with the territory today. We are growing accustomed to the process. However, for some client organizations, it can be a challenge to work so quickly. In this case, we worked hand-in-hand with the CSC and HPE ES teams on the DXC brand transformation. They were terrific partners in building the brand in record time and this was a big contributing factor to the overall success of the engagement.
What made this assignment unique?
What our team will remember is the client team’s open minded approach to new ideas and change. We continuously pushed them throughout the process. And they certainly pushed back. But it felt like one giant team each step of the way. Given the enormity of the task, the openness and the collaboration were refreshing and definitely helped to create stronger outcomes.
