How Superunion and the London Symphony Orchestra issued in a new era with brand identity
The London Symphony Orchestra (LSO) and Superunion have worked together since 2004, winning one of two Collaborative Pencils at this year’s D&AD Awards. Most recently, Superunion collaborated with LSO to reinvent its brand identity after the appointment of renowned conductor Sir Simon Rattle in 2015.
The new brand identity, which launched in 2017 and has evolved since, aimed to reflect LSO’s pioneering spirit and engage a broader and younger audience. We spoke to Stuart Radford, Executive Creative Director at Superunion and Tim Oldershaw, Head of Customer Relationships at LSO, about the new brand identity and how they have successfully collaborated together over the years. Watch the video interview or get the takeaways below.
Starting with an audit to gain insight
After Sir Simon Rattle’s appointentment, both client and agency wanted to take the opportunity to rebrand LSO as a 21st century orchestra. To do this, Superunion conducted a “research, audit and interview stage”.
Speaking in context of the insight they got, Radford says, “One, it was very hard to distinguish one orchestra from another. And the other – we established this through a number of different interviews and research – is that, with regards to new audiences, and younger audiences specifically, that representation of the music was actually a barrier to them, in terms of reinforcing some of their negative associations of classical music, in that some people thought it was traditional and boring.”
London Symphony Orchestra, Superunion
Trusting the creative process when the idea is being established
To execute the progressive and innovative visual identity, Superunion needed LSO’s trust and support throughout the creative process.
“LSO were really up for trusting in the creative process,” says Radford. “That’s definitely a journey, particularly when you’re trying to do something that hasn’t been done before, and you're actually focusing on establishing and getting the right idea. We had a really strong idea that ultimately we were gonna create a visual identity that saw Sir Simon Rattle actually almost conduct this visual identity. But, when we were going through the early concept stages of that, we didn’t quite know what that was gonna look like… So, there’s a huge leap of faith that LSO need to take to see that journey through to its ultimate conclusion, and they were superb at going on that journey and trusting in that process.”
Challenging each other
Both parties agree that challenging each other leads to better results. “I think this idea of being challenged is really key, and it’s really healthy for a creative relationship,” says Oldershaw.
“The initial process that we went through was really in-depth, and it was very enlightening for the LSO as an organisation. They just really questioned many aspects of what it means to be a 21st Century orchestra, and what it means to present our work to our audiences, and being challenged on some of those points, and being happy to accept the challenge and have a debate about those points. It brought about some very healthy conversations and some excellent results."
London Symphony Orchestra, Superunion
A detailed brief provided a base understanding
“What was really interesting is that the briefing we got from the LSO was one of the most in-depth, intense briefing sessions I think I’ve ever had. I think that was really important in terms of us really immersing and getting our heads into the orchestra, and what it’s all about, and its history. So, I think that was a very valuable part of the process,” says Radford, adding, “There was just that investment in really understanding and getting our heads into the space of the orchestra and what it’s all about.”
Oldershaw agrees, saying, “I think that investment really paid off, because it means that each time we’ve come to look at a new season of concerts, and have come back to Superunion with a brief about what the new season is, musically, and then have ideas about how that might look visually, there’s a base understanding.”
London Symphony Orchestra, Superunion
Involving the wider team from the start
Speaking about the importance of the entire team’s involvement for proper collaboration (not just senior leads), Radford says, “I think great collaboration comes from working really closely with your clients, and that’s not just the leads of the project. Everybody involved in the project needs to have, and should be in the room in, all those important meetings. In fact, as many of those meetings as possible that you are having, the whole team should be involved in that process, so that you just really get that full insight across the team.”
Setting boundaries
Even when collaborating closely, Oldershaw recommends setting boundaries. He says, “Ensure that there is a robust structure in place to the way that you work together, not just creatively, but practically as well, so that there’s a structure and boundaries to working together. You might be going off in different directions in the creative process, but it’s always within these boundaries.”