Swiss RE A very tall order.

Swiss RE, designed by Lord Foster, is a magnificent 40-story tower in London. This unique building is an elegant cigar-shape - not only innovative in form, but also the UK's first environmentally sensitive commercial property. However, with the post 9/11 economic recession and a nickname of "the erotic gherkin," Swiss RE was having difficulty attracting prospective tenants. We were asked to create a brand identity reflecting the spirit and the functionality of the building. We also had to find ways to communicate this through the decision-making line of commercial agents to the prospective financial services and legal firm tenants.

While Swiss RE owns the property, for commercial reasons we did not want their name to be directly linked with the building itself. Icon and logotype identities were implemented across all forms of communication material for the project. For this type of property, we had a potential tenant target of sizeable financial services and legal companies. A range of communication materials were created, including targeted B2B press advertising, a pocket guide for chief executives, a very detailed technical guide, website, CD-ROM presentation for the agents and a four-room marketing suite.