Case Study: Everything’s Going Forward! – A Thriving society

“We are living a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to come together and co-create a more ample world of possibilities for people, both individually and together”

stc, digital leader and one of the most valuable brands in the Middle East, is together with the region going through a moment of exponential change that’s faster and more relevant than anything the region has ever experienced.

This is not a mere cosmetic change but a cultural revolution, based on a previous business strategy that was condensed in the acronym DARE (digitalize, accelerate, reinvent and expand), and on the pursuit of ambitious goals:

Reinforce stc as a digital innovator that goes beyond the telco business. From telco to digital buisiness.
a digital innovator that goes beyond the telco business. From telco to digital buisiness.
Transform stc into a regional leader generating impact beyond key markets. From local player to regional reference.
Build stc as one big family, simple, clear and meaningful. From different brands within the portfolio, to one family with a singular experience.
Turn stc into the company that leads the change into the future and the one that tells a new story that engages with the new generations.

In The Business Of Enriching People’s lives

In order to prepare the stc brand for the future while maintaining its authenticity, it was necessary to define a new, clear and meaningful vision.

For this reason, stc’s new purpose transcends the capabilities of a traditional telco operator and instead connects to people’s needs: “Creating and bringing greater dimension and richness to people’s personal and professional lives”. This is the ambition that will guide stc in internal and external processes, accompanying an evolution in their corporate culture that highlights drive, devotion and dynamism.

Brand Idea And The ‘Slider’: “You Make Everything Go Forward”

stc’s new soul is condensed under the claim “Everything’s going forward!” and is what inspired the renewal of the visual identity. The aim was to create a visual expression under a clear premise: enriching stc brand’s visual vocabulary through a simple design system that operates as a single team, telling a powerful story.

The new stc speaks about the future and seamless progress. But how can you imagine an idea of the future without repeating stereotypes? It was necessary to find a way to express the future in a simple, human and innovative way, creating a new metaphor that emanates from the brand strategy. The answer was in a digital and human movement that transforms, discovers, activates, opens, facilitates and is omnipresent when people interact with screens: the “slider”. The power to go forward and change is – and always has been – at our fingertips.

This “slider” or “forward gesture” serves stc to express three superpowers: link (taking you from one positive point to an even better one), reveal (a window to new possibilities) and transform (an agent that changes the environment).

It’s dynamic because it invites the user to act. It’s interactive because it’s user centric and doesn’t work without people. It’s creative because it’s a tool that allows people to do things they couldn’t do before and shows them what’s yet to come.

Logotype. Building on the name.

The “slider” – as a continuous energy towards the future – works as the essence of the new stc visual identity. This energy is encapsulated in the new logo – specifically, the “slider” resource intervenes in a simple and iconic way on the “t”.

The logo no longer has a symbol and it doesn’t need one. The name becomes stc’s new symbol, moving from capital letters to small letters to convey more closeness and to use a younger and more digital expression. In addition, the descriptor that previously formed part of the logo has been eliminated so it transcends the meaning of its initials.

Fewer but more iconic elements, all telling the same story through the “slider”: “You make everything go forward!”.

Colors and typography. Building on the purple.

The new visual identity rests upon three main colors: a new, more vibrant and digital purple (the color that stc maintains, the color that people already identify with the brand and a color that communicates creativity, inspiration and imagination), “Air” white (representing clarity, light and simplicity) and coral (a highlight color that gives a more youthful touch to stc and transmits collaboration and energy).

Likewise, the font stc Forward has been developed, an ad hoc typography that encompasses the Latin and Arabic families and incorporates the history of the “slider” in its hyperextended horizontal strokes.

What does stc sound like?

A brand is not only cosmetic, it’s an experience. That’s why music becomes a key element to transcend and become iconic in other media. stc now has its own musical melody, with different versions that were recorded in the prestigious Abbey Road studios in London.

A strong new family of visual assets: imagery, illustration, iconography and more. One system, one visual story

In order to enrich stc’s visual language, the photographic style is touched by the light of stc itself, with fewer elements and more contrast, always with a sense of movement and the presence of the brand through color.

In addition, an iconographic and illustrative style has been created under the same premises to imagine a future for the region, reflecting its cultural reality (traditions, clothing and behaviors). A system of individual elements was designed that can be flexibly combined to create larger stories.

Looking forward

This is less a rebrand and more a rebirth. It is the unleashing of something powerful. New services beyond telecom (entertainment, fintech, insurance, apps and more) and new markets beyond the origin country. A new name, visual and verbal expression, personality and attitude that finally match what is being transformed – from a local telco to a regional digital powerhouse.