Jefferies

Wall Street Brokerage Firm
New York, New York

Macy + Associates was initially retained by Jefferies to step in and build consensus in the development of a new corporate logo for the firm; a contentious task that had been underway for two years with another agency.

Challenge:

Create an updated, unified and distinctive brand for the publicly-traded space,international investment banking firm. Jefferies charged Macy + Associates with finding a way to bring together its fractious divisions under one coherent image worldwide. When Macy + Associates began this process, two ‘camps’ had formed: One that wanted a fresh, modern logo, and one that wanted to stay with the traditional look and feel of the hand-drawn heraldic lion that had been the previous logo for more than 40 years. The agency proposed retaining the ‘lion’ image and finding a way to update it; thereby linking established industry traditionalism with the forward-thinking, energetic culture that differentiates Jefferies from the rest
of Wall Street.

Results:

After the new identity had been created and unanimously approved in less than 6 weeks, Macy + Associates began a three-year program to help Jefferies embrace new marketing principles and new practices. The design team created print media campaigns including advertisements, brochures and direct mail that were used company-wide. The agency also created an entirely new corporate website. Ads were designed to slowly change from industry and division-specific traditional ads to a modern unified brand concept. Macy + Associates worked directly with marketing teams from different divisions to fulfill their specific sales and advertising needs. Through this process, the agency was able to demonstrate the effectiveness of a unified marketing approach; build trust and consensus among employees; and introduce a cohesive brand to a company with a tough-minded entrepreneurial spirit and ethic of independence.