From insight to identity: Creating a brand that connects through brand principles

NHC Procurement approached our team at Cargo with one clear ambition: to reposition themselves at the forefront of procurement with a brand that reflected the strength of their team and the quality of their service.

At NHC Procurement, their people are their biggest asset. Their team is built upon individuals who are knowledgeable, approachable and genuinely committed to helping their clients succeed. The challenge for us at Cargo was to translate that spirit into a brand identity that would stand out ahead of the rest in a competitive landscape.

That’s where our brand workshop came in.

Creating space for honest conversations

The brand workshop wasn’t about us telling a business what they should be. Instead, it was about creating an open, equal space where every voice is heard with no hierarchy and no barriers.

For NHC, that means the team could speak candidly about how the business was perceived and where they wanted it to go, what their aspirations were and crucially, what kind of brand they’d be proud to represent every day.

This open, authentic approach was what guided everything that follows.

One of the most powerful moments throughout the workshop process was the “brand obituary” exercise, where we imagined what would be said about NHC if they ceased to exist today. This exercise provided the team with the chance to reflect honestly on the strengths and weaknesses of the business and identify opportunities for change.

To provide the team with a shared foundation for the journey ahead, we began by looking outwards. It was important to analyse NHC Procurement’s current competitors to understand the procurement landscape, where the organisation sat and where they aspired to be.

Aligning everyone involved

After detailed discussions about where NHC wanted their brand to be, we captured ideas in physical boards, notes and recordings, not only to document the creative process but to ensure the client’s choices and discussions shaped the outcome of the brand.

The NHC team explored associations with existing brands and imagery, building boards that captured their instincts and tastes. We used archetype-based scenarios to help define the personality they wanted their brand to embody, before closing with a more tactile “pick and mix” of visual styles to explore potential creative directions.

We successfully collaborated with NHC to support them in the co-creation of a shared vision for their tone of voice and visual identity.

From workshop to brand

The workshop culminated in a digital report summarising the insights and agreed outcomes. More than just a document, the report became an essential roadmap for the rebrand, ensuring every future decision for NHC Procurement – from internal communications to external materials – aligned with the principles we defined together throughout the workshop.

For NHC Procurement, this collaborative experience wasn’t just about branding.

It was about giving the team a collective voice, allowing ideas they might never have discovered individually to surface and setting a creative direction they were all in agreement with and could all stand behind.

For us at Cargo, it reaffirmed why we run these brand workshops in the first place: to help uncover clarity, confidence and consistency for clients, the ingredients of a brand that feels to true to its people and compelling to its audience.