How to Communicate
Complexity.
Do you happen to know how the parking garage barrier data is weighted in the department store forecast? Or how to set up comprehensive driver-based planning in a logistics company in order to determine the impact of oil production volumes from OPEC countries on a fleet of cargo ships in real time? Or how to set up an AI-supported knowledge management system that doesn't annoy anyone in the company?
Yep, exactly: you can't know everything. Nobody at the HICO Group would say otherwise.
It's all pretty complex.
What a relief that there are experts for such topics and issues. Under the HICO Group roof, we flock together over 100 of them to form a diverse team. Data geeks whose expertise is lined up along the data value chain.
They help corporate departments to find the right data strategy - sounds somewhat abstract? Right – that's why they also implement it - in a very practical way.
They share their expertise in various sectors: From retail and suppliers to banking, pharmaceuticals, logistics and insurance.
They implement state-of-the-art software for a number of use cases in the FP&A world. We offer software that supports experts in BI, controlling and finance in their day-to-day work to make good decisions collaboratively and based on market and company data - and then present them to the relevant committees and teams.
It's quite a lot that has piled up in the more than 15 years of our existence and growth.
You could see that in the HICO brand and our digital presence: Our website was bursting at the digital seams. And to be honest, it hasn't aged particularly well either.
We have therefore given it some thought:
How to position a people-first tech company
We can't say that the market for BI and analytics consultancies is empty. There are a lot of great, highly qualified colleagues out there. We are partners with some of them, and we are in sporting competition with many of them.
How should we stand out? In a series of workshops conducted with the HICO workforce in 2024 by long-time positioning expert Joost de Kok, it became very clear what the team took too much for granted to see: We are a people-first company. For HICO, one thing is clear: data is a people's business. All technology, all processes, all strategies must be subordinate to what helps our customers and makes them successful. Not the other way around.
Our new appearance had the task of conveying this insight.
Being loud. Not being strident.
The world of management consultancies is blue-grey. Okay, sometimes there are also muted shades of orange or green. This is supposed to convey seriousness, calm power and so on. In reality, it's usually pretty dull. A bit boring.
We are not like that at all!
We are not a hoodie-wearing Berlin coke-nose hipster digital agency. We are over 100 HICOians who build state-of-the-art digitalization solutions in Zurich, Cologne, Berlin, Frankfurt, Düsseldorf, Augsburg, Singapore, Johannesburg and Cape Town. And yes: also in Singen (Hohentwiel). Don't worry. Most of us here had to google that too.
Our new brand and the new visual identity therefore had three tasks: to reflect this internationality and cultural diversity, to bring HICO out of its old-fashionedness and into the present without tearing down bridges and to convey our courage to do things the HICO way. Colors, logo, fonts, the entire brand architecture has the mission: Cut Through the Noise.
With the help of a small, highly specialized team over at Cubezoo in Johannesburg, these specifications were implemented. From the website to presentation templates and trade fair banners.Very cool, we think. Many thanks to:
- Marianna Drozdovskaia (Design)
- Lisa Schultz (Account Management)
- Daniel Christensen (Website Frontend Development)
- Nick Carapanagos (Project Lead)
How to communicate complexity
On the communication side, it was a matter of processing the multitude of information ... but without “overcoming content”, as many a marketing team would like to do. This is the crux of the matter for a company like HICO. Trust is created when you have the feeling: Okay, these people know what they're talking about.
Many management consultancies like to remain vague - partly so as not to make themselves vulnerable. Partly because someone once said that customers don't buy drilling machines, they buy the hole. And partly because the marketing and sales departments lack in-depth technical expertise.
We did something different here too: we tried to turned technological deep dives into a relaxed get-together at the corner bar - without sacrificing seriousness and professional depth. After all, that's what we mean when we say: data is a people's business.
Voices from the corner office
Bastian Lossen, Managing Partner and CCO at HICO and responsible for sales, marketing and internal functions, summarizes:
This relaunch marks an important milestone in HICO's development: we are proud to present our completely revamped brand image and our new website.This step was more than overdue. Our previous brand looked increasingly old-fashioned and could no longer convey the HICO claim in a contemporary way. With our carefully renewed appearance, we are now becoming bold - without appearing overdone.
A crucial aspect of our realignment is that we do not shy away from complexity, but consciously acknowledge it and convey it to the outside world. Many marketing experts advise simple messages, and yes, many people long for uncomplicated solutions. But we can see where this leads us every day in the news.
At HICO, we deliberately take a different approach. And this approach is rewarded: The renowned BARC Institute confirms that we are on the right track. More importantly, our customers prove us right - the current NPS values speak an impressive language.
The new HICO website embodies this philosophy perfectly. It illustrates how we present complex relationships in a transparent and comprehensible way without oversimplifying them.
By the way: Of course, the website is not yet “finished” - it will continue to grow and develop together with our team. True to the motto “May makes everything new”, we have now gone live - in the best sense of agile working.
I would like to take this opportunity to express my sincere thanks to the entire project team, our agency partners and everyone involved in making this relaunch possible. You have done a great job! I am looking forward to the next phase of our company's history with this new, authentic brand identity.