A new chapter for a 150-year-old enterprise

How do you help guide the shift of a 150-year-old enterprise from pure holding company to the active heart of four global businesses at the forefront of risk, strategy and people?

For Marsh McLennan & Companies, its 150th anniversary and COVID-19’s impact on the industry landscape signaled an opportunity to unify Marsh, Guy Carpenter, Mercer and Oliver Wyman under one enterprise. On a tactical level, the shift would efficiently consolidate certain shared functions and centers of excellence, like HR, technology, and legal across the firm. Strategically, the single enterprise approach aimed to closely engage clients with tailored solutions and experiences. The company chose Lippincott to bring the “one enterprise” experience and culture to life.

At the outset, Lippincott was charged with two goals: modernize the brand to shift the enterprise into a new chapter in its evolution and galvanize all 76,000+ colleagues by re-examining the enterprise purpose and commitments.

To set the table for the single enterprise, our first recommendation was the pivotal migration of the business name from Marsh & McLennan Companies to the simpler Marsh McLennan. This foundational change signaled a modern and cohesive enterprise and set the tone for our entire engagement. We undertook efforts to evolve the brand platform and visual system, recognizing that to be successful, we needed to honor the unique strategies and systems of each of the four businesses, while also enabling them to come together as a whole when it adds value.

For most of a decade, Marsh McLennan has stood behind its purpose of “making a difference in the moments that matter.” In re-examining the enterprise purpose, we came to realize that it not only is more important and relevant than ever before, but it also aligns with and elevates the brand strategies of the four distinct business brands. As a result, we refreshed the brand platform by balancing the existing enterprise purpose with a set of newly evolved commitments and design principles intended to emphasize a more human, expert and agile organization at all levels.

Finally, with all the strategic elements in order and inspired by the new brand platform, we tackled the logo and identity. Our exploratory landed on a singular, bold variation of the existing multifaceted infinity logo symbol. The new logo celebrates coming together as one enterprise and is intended to be a shared symbol across the businesses. The logo is complemented by a more human upper- and lower-case typography expression as well as a modernized visual toolkit that is expanded for flexibility and impact in a digital-first world. The system is also built to bring together the unique systems of each of the businesses.

The refreshed Marsh McLennan was revealed to external audiences in a launch ad in the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and Financial Times in March 2021, with associated events and communications to galvanize colleagues around the exciting new direction. The revitalized brand is rolling out purposefully across the businesses throughout 2021 as Marsh McLennan celebrates its 150th Anniversary.