Shining new light on a global consulting firm

Mercer, a global human resources consulting firm, was at a crossroads. On the one hand, it had undergone an intense period of growth, emerging as a leader in redefining the world of work, reshaping retirement and investment outcomes, and unlocking real health and well-being. On the other hand, it wasn’t being recognized for this leadership and performance. Mercer needed a partner that would help vault its presence in the highly competitive marketplace of human resources.

Enter Lippincott, tasked with shaping a new future for the firm. The result is an inspiring brand story, grounded in the reality of its business, and a vibrant new visual identity, both activated for an audience of 25,000 employees around the globe.

Through executive and client interviews, internal workshops, global “sounding board” calls, and rigorous competitive analysis, Lippincott was able to pinpoint the key strategic advantage that the brand needed to leverage: an unusual talent combination of high IQ and high EQ. In short, Mercer was an extraordinary people company, in the business of people. We built this insight into a new brand platform that emphasized this strong differentiation.

To then bring this story to life, the visual approach demonstrates Mercer’s perspectives with conviction, optimism, and warmth. A high contrast sharp serif, balanced with a simple geometric sans, elevates the brand’s words. Bold, colorful gradients add dynamism, and a bright, people-inspired photography style brings emotion and human connection. All together, these elements create a vibrant platform from which to speak, be heard and be noticed.

We then delivered a suite of supporting tools to manage and communicate the brand story and its visual expression with impact and consistency. This included a brand architecture blueprint, along with guidelines for brand governance and voice, and a new tagline: Welcome to Brighter.

Our thinking proved especially effective. It propelled the global launch into the most highly attended event in Mercer history – doubling the previous record. We also trained 160 brand activation leaders virtually, to enable them to cascade the brand in their local markets following the global launch.

Further building on the success of the brand refresh, Mercer has seen significant increases in engagement and traffic to its digital platforms, with a 30 percent increase in the number of visitors to its website, a 72 percent rise in content downloads and sign-ups, and a 50 percent increase in email marketing opens and clicks.