DMA Making buildings work, together. Brief Research, define, design and reposition an established business with a unique heritage dating back to 1803 DMA Group are a property management specialist taking care of all the building and support services throughout the entire lifecycle of buildings. An independent, privately funded family business with a proud 200 year legacy leveraged from Denne Joinery, the interior and joinery division of the group. Medicine Man was approached to help crystalise DMA’s consumer proposition and review its existing brand identity, considering how to best reposition the business against competitors in what is already a saturated market place. Client: DMA Group Website: dma-group.co.uk Services: Rebrand, digital, print Approach It was crucial to determine key factors about the business before we could delve into defining strategy and propositions. We carried out an initial research phase which consisted of interviews and questionnaires for internal teams, customers and suppliers. The insight gained was fundamental in giving all involved in the project a clear and transparent report on the business performance, strengths and weaknesses, as well as how DMA were perceived at various levels. The findings revealed DMA’s greatest strength as a business was in its teams. Their ability to establish lasting relationship through open communication, a pro-active solution based customer approach and general enthusiasm made them stand out from the crowd. Collaboration and partnership became our central focus. Our starting point was the positioning tag line. By maintained the existing sentiment, we added the word ‘TOGETHER’ to put greater emphasis on DMA’s strength to partner, support and reassure. Our challenge was to redefine a brand logo in an ocean of DMA acronyms without looking the same! The brand development needed to be approached from a slightly different perspective. The design team needed to avoid the cliché pitfalls, find alternative ways to incorporate and lockup the three letters to make sure it didn’t become another DMA logo without substance and relationship at its core. The final logo captures all of the positive attributes highlighted throughout the research stage. DMA has a rich culture and environment that encourages open dialogue and is seen as a unique place that is constantly engaged with their people. The logo aims to reflect these strengths whilst also hailing the intelligent commitment DMA has taken to embrace digital solutions to enhance project management and reporting The logo is designed to become more than just a logo. The playful nature lends itself to be fused into the visual language, extending the use and allowing it to be used a decorative and supportive graphic. A dynamic and confident visual language that is not afraid to be different The new brand identity and visual language system is a combination of a powerful three-way colour scheme used alongside a confident, but slightly soft edge, sans serif typeface. Additional layering of collage imagery and further extended background pattern schemes, inspired by the three service offers, have also been created to add additional distinction to the overall new DMA brand appeal. Results Delivering improved online presence as a result of new website and supported on-going lead generation and email marketing campaigns. The DMA brand refresh has continued to make a significant difference in the way the business story is now told and how the service offers are sold. With greater value and emphasis placed on partnership and people, DMA can now confidently reach out to prospective clients and engage with openness – continuing to strengthen the relationships formed. Our ability to question and challenge through our honest relationship with DMA’s senior team has proven to be our greatest strength, and we continue to work as an extended part of the team, supporting DMA’s transformation from digital to print. One thing is for sure, DMA definitely doesn’t blend into the masses any more! “Right from the start, Medicine Man became an integral part of our team. By leveraging their skills and experience, they continuously pushed our thinking. We trusted their judgement and secured a magnificent outcome as a result!” Steve McGregor, Group Managing Director DMA