NYAB
The joint name of the combined companies gives life to a new beginning, which is now supported by a new brand identity implemented with a co-design working model.
The client
The Swedish NYAB, specialized in infrastructure projects, and the Finnish renewable energy builder and developer Skarta Group joined forces at the end of March 2022, and SkartaNYAB was born. The merger aimed to accelerate the pace of building a clean future. In December 2022, the company introduced a new brand and the NYAB name in Sweden and Finland.
More than 70 percent of the group’s turnover comes from Sweden, where NYAB has achieved exceptionally profitable organic growth and built a solid corporate culture and a respected brand.
The challenge
NYAB is known in Sweden for its high quality and reliability as a cooperative brand. After the merger, the company wanted to strengthen the common culture and simplify the brand portfolio by adopting the NYAB name in both Sweden and Finland.
The common name breathes life into a new beginning, even though the name already has quite a long history. With the new brand identity, we wanted to better communicate the company’s goals with society, customers, and investors.
The project’s schedule was tight, as large corporate reorganizations require time-consuming integration work. Kaimana met the challenge and offered a comprehensive package, from brand work to website design and implementation.
Kaimana’s transparent and cost-effective co-design working model based on working together played a central role in achieving the goal. With it, the customer’s needs and goals become shared, and we work on them together.
The solution
Kaimana helped NYAB design a new brand look and modernize and harmonize the look and functionality of the company’s website.
Kaimana’s co-design model was at the core of the design process, which was nimbly adapted to fit the project according to the customer’s wishes. The model was used not only in joint workshops but also in background interviews of key personnel.
The starting points for the design of the visual identity were a somewhat simplified look, keeping an eye on the future, and emphasizing renewable energy and sustainable infrastructure. We wanted to stand out from our competitors and other traditional players in the construction industry, who are often very masculine and have dark colors.
We wanted to clarify the operational areas, bring them to the fore, and design our images and icons. Skarta’s turquoise color and NYAB’s name were brought in from the looks of the previous brands, and the combined business marks of both logos were included in the new logo, slightly modernized. The rest of the color palette was designed around turquoise, and electric green was chosen to pair with it, communicating future energy solutions and other sustainable development projects. In the image world, objects are elegantly presented with aerial photos, but the people behind the projects are also highlighted as personal photos.
The brand book was implemented in two languages to be used in both Finland and Sweden. The manual included ample examples of implementing the look, such as construction site boards, outdoor advertisements, light advertisements, car stickers, and work clothes.
The results
The new brand has been well received at NYAB, and the logo, colors, and identity are perceived as successful. In the end, the change was more significant in Sweden, where people were very attached to the previous identity and company logo, which had been used for a long time and was well-known in the industry. In the internal discussions, the need for change was emphasized, and the needs related to the inclusion of a new business area, renewable energy, and the visibility of the company operating as a listed company were brought up in particular. Thanks to the agile cooperation between the actors, the whole is now intact and functional. Co-design and precise project management ensured that the project, typically taking months, was carried out successfully within the set strict schedule
The meaning
NYAB’s new, brightened brand consistently communicates the inspiring story of the infrastructure company that re-created itself in building a clean future for all of us. Informing the organization about the upcoming change in good time also enabled a tighter schedule in the project so that the employees perceived the new brand as truly meaningful and supportive of the new entity. However, growing and becoming attached to something new always takes time.
“NYAB’s employees have well received the new brand identity amid all the changes. We tried to keep the staff aware of the upcoming change and collected feedback and wishes through surveys and discussions. On the launch day, we celebrated the new brand with cake and coffee at all our locations in Finland and Sweden. In this way, the personnel could participate in the change journey. This is also emphasized in co-design work and was felt to be important.“
Minna Koistinen
Chief Communications & Marketing Officer
