Summit: 20 years old this year and still setting the standard for performance marketing

2020 is the year. It is our 20^th birthday, but with everything that is going on in the world, it is also going to be a huge year for digital change. In recognition of our birthday milestone, plus the need to be ready to adapt to the new digital normal, Summit: Changemakers in retail have an updated brand and vision to ensure future success for our performance marketing clients. 

The result? A simplified approach. A simplified Summit: 

“Our mission is to make the complex simple  and  transparent;  with our people, technology and experience we empower our retail partners to maximise customer engagement and ROI.”

Our milestone birthday this year marks 20 years’ experience in performance marketing, and we have achieved a lot during this time. We started as a small agency based in an East Yorkshire prison and have now grown internationally and partnered with some of the biggest brands in retail. And this growth will not stop here. It is important that we continue to develop a differentiated position in the retail market aligned to our proprietary technology, unique values and vast experience in this sector to ensure we will always be at the forefront of performance marketing. 

So, what did we do? 

We took a consultative approach to our 20^th birthday rebrand, understanding what we needed to future proof our proposition and using the best of our internal people and expertise to make it happen. 

Darren Wright, Product Strategy Director at Summit, talks us through the thought process behind our new strategy and proposition. 

“In April this year we set out to review our strategy and left no stone unturned in a bid to set the correct course for the next 12 months and beyond, with a focus on being changemakers in retail and using performance marketing to help retailers sell online.” 

“The outcome is a new mission statement that truly encapsulates everything that is great about Summit. Each word was carefully chosen because it represents part of what makes Summit so unique and I’m really excited about the new journey we are on.” 

Then there was a video. The newly appointed branding team made a story board, sourced videos, and listened to so much music as we excitedly created our first brand video. From the inspiring, captivating music to the specific clips identifying our office locations, every second tells part of our story and mission. 

Adrienne Burns, Client Strategy Director at Summit, shares the vision she had for the new brand video. 

“We decided that we wanted to create something that would bring the spirit of Summit to life, and what better way than to create a video. We didn’t want to launch with an explainer video nor did we want to make a typical corporate video – as that is not reflective of who Summit is.”  

“Videos have the biggest impact when combined with sharp messaging and a great soundtrack. So, having just created our mission statement, the brand team and I looked to bring those words to life with dynamic imagery (and a little bit of animation) portraying our roots, against a soundtrack that evoked the right feeling for our new vision and future.” 

Using our internal teams and skillset, we redesigned Summit and created a brand that aligns to our new 2020 and future vision. The exciting, but mammoth project, was managed internally, using people from all parts of Summit to complete the rebrand and showcase our internal capabilities, creating the best version of Summit from the inside out. 

Our UX team wireframed a completely new website that was clear and engaging, showing the customer exactly what we do and taking them on a journey through our site and performance marketing offering. 

Our design team were given the brief and tasked to create a modernised Summit, without straying too far from our Summit identity. The result? A Summit that represents us: Warmer tones. Sleek design. Modern visuals.  

Emily Welham, Design Manager at Summit, lets us know her thinking behind the redesign and which part is her favourite. 

“We wanted to refresh the brand whilst also staying true to its original design. Building upon the existing wave logo which we expanded out into a library of bold, eye-catching designs that better reflect the great people and culture we have at Summit. We really brought it to life with a more modern and friendlier colour palette that’s instantly recognisable.” 

 “My favourite things to design were the shape and pattern elements that we’ve created to support the logo. They’re a bold and creative way to evoke the Summit brand across various different media.” 

And by combining all the above, we have the new Summit, for 2020 and onwards. We have redesigned Summit and created a brand that brings our performance marketing expertise to the forefront. We have a new website and assets, but more importantly we have a renewed sense of identity and purpose for the future, ensuring measurable value and making performance marketing more simple, transparent and valuable than ever. 

We know who we are. We know when we are at our best. And we are setting ourselves up to bring the best out of Summit for many years to come.