The Campaign

The APEC 2015 CEO Summit’s brand identity together with the Living Logo was a product of integrating data and design. The color assignments and vertical bars with their corresponding values identified and featured all 21 member economies. The colors used were neutral and did not favor a member economy’s flag or national colors. The brand identity’s circular orientation, an effective visualisation of connectivity and unity, served as a strong representation of the summit’s theme — inclusive growth. This execution also reinforced the summit’s headline “Creating the Future: Better. Stronger. Together.” What made the brand identity more meaningful was it also functioned as an informational tool for all participants, highlighting comparison points in terms of specific data. From online to on-ground, the application of both the logo and color band was effective, seamless and single-minded.

Creative Execution

With data being the driving force of the summit, the branding process was all about integrating relevant information with the theme. To visualise growth, each member economy was assigned a specific color. And then, their GDP per capita statistics were translated to vertical colored bars. Using a map, with the Pacific at the center, the bars were plotted out based on the location of the economies they represented. Laying them out in a circular manner, and with some connected together, provided a strong visualisation for inclusivity and unity. And strategically placing the title in the middle of the Living Logo strengthened the overall branding and ownership of the summit. This was then applied to all assets of the summit. On ground, the logo and its color bands were on centerpieces, displays, screens, transportation decals, advertising, identification materials, and more.

Indication of how successful the outcome was in the market

The APEC CEO Summit’s brand identity, with the Living Logo and its colors, was presented to all 21 member economies, summit participants, media, and the rest of the world. This visual execution was highlighted on several news articles and photos both online and in traditional media. Mr. Bill Luz, the summit’s COO shared that the brand identity was a success in terms of providing meaning and relevance to everyone involved. He further added that it can be “a very powerful tool for teaching people.” From the website, on-ground display, center pieces, advertising materials, up to the smallest design surface, the brand identity was strong, single-minded, relevant and was as meaningful as the summit itself.

To make the CEO Summit’s brand identity strong, ownable, and true to its theme, any form of visualisation should be detached from the host nation. For it to be inclusive, the idea had to be neutral yet valuable to every member economy. This is where data served as an inspiration. Information has always been at the core of the summit’s programs. So data like GDP per capita, land area, population, to foreign investment and more were used as starting points for the ideation. After collecting and computing, the data points were translated to a visual icons. The branding elements came from components such as colors, the bars with varying lengths, and geographic locations. And with the summit’s theme of inclusive growth guiding the creative process, the brand identity was formed.