Andela is led by the belief that brilliance is evenly distributed, but opportunity is not. To realize their vision for global change, Motto unlocked big-picture brand thinking at the leadership level. We moved them away from an undifferentiated brand to a modern brand that could help Andela grow and self-actualize.

Laying the foundation of a brand requires a methodical process. The Motto Method® has been honed and proven over 17 years to ensure the dots strategically connect. For Andela, our process gave voice to the vision, revealed a stronger position, and set the foundation for success.

Motto® began with 3 half-day strategic workshops with 20 executives participating from multiple countries. Together, we worked through “big brand” questions with key stakeholders. We synthesized inputs from global trend research, competitive analysis, and employee surveys and found core insights that drove our brand strategy.

We crystallized the brand strategy by focusing on four key insights: 1) Brilliance is evenly distributed, but opportunity is not, 2) Companies want to develop high-functioning teams to deliver on product goals faster, with higher quality and lower cost, 3) Talent wants to solve cutting edge digital problems with companies that respect, value, and understand them, and 4) Andela’s people want a purpose-built brand that steps into a space of global influence on the future of remote work.

Motto® synthesized the brand strategy into a clear and compelling value proposition, with unique voice persona and voice pillars, and crafted key copy beats for the brand to own. We wrote a manifesto to express the views, motives, and intentions of the brand. Inspired by the brand’s Idea Worth Rallying Around™—Connecting Brilliance to Opportunity. The manifesto became a tool to infuse the emotional “why” into the brand and introduce the new Andela to internal and external stakeholders in a powerful new way.

To carve out and cement Andela’s spot on the global stage, we designed a uniquely identifiable brand identity with a measure of quality and consistency across all fronts. The new logo symbolizes the spark created when people come together and make a positive impact. The new typography system and color palette reflect Andela’s human-centered strategy to differentiate against the sea of blue that most tech brands use.

The primary color palette is rooted in growth and sustainability. The green is bold and mature yet brings the warmth that Andela is known for. We drew inspiration from the three voice pillars (Grounded, Encouraging, and Curious) to develop the secondary color palette which offers support and conveys trust.

From strategy to visual to activation, Motto® developed art and creative direction for Andela’s vast core assets. Since humanity is at the core of Andela, new photography treatments highlight the real lives and locations of talent and companies within the global community. The use of motion creatively expresses ideas and possibilities spilling out and over each other to represent pushing boundaries and the limitless opening of the world. Our comprehensive art direction armed their internal creative team with a solid baseline to deploy our brand development across every communication channel.

Through the holistic rebrand, we established Andela with a sharply defined brand, expert positioning, and a clear voice. The process energized and rallied employees and resulted in a fully integrated brand system and toolkit that communicates the company’s value to the world.