ID Watchdog Rebranding

The client

ID Watchdog is a leading provider of identity theft protection services both directly to individuals and through employee benefits programs. In August 2017, ID Watchdog was acquired by Equifax^®.

The challenge

As the company transitioned into the Equifax family, the B2C ID Watchdog logo, website, and all marketing assets needed to be redesigned to reflect the distinct visual identity of the Equifax brand and its guidelines. Our goals included:

• using Equifax's brand recognition to strengthen competition against other well known brands
• increasing public perception of value beyond identity theft protection
• retaining ID Watchdog's distinct identity within the product suite
• rolling out the new identity to existing customers in a carefully controlled manner

Our response

As a seasoned Equifax partner for over a decade, Skyward was perfectly poised to guide the ID Watchdog team through the intricacies of Equifax's brand standards. We started with an audit of the competition within the identity theft protection marketplace, analyzing color usage, tone, and imagery styles. The client stipulated the new branding should:

• utilize Equifax's corporate color palette
• align stylistically with the existing suite of Equifax properties
• use a logotype rather than a logomark
• include the Open Sans typeface from the Equifax corporate style guide

We suggested using a red shape to harken back to the Equifax dot logo but decided on a square to represent that while the two companies are connected, ID Watchdog's product offerings are distinctly different. The typography we chose reflects Equifax's B2C voice shifting towards a more approachable tone. The “from Equifax” parent branding is carefully tucked inside the white space created by the descender of the “g”, helping balance the weight of the red square. The outcome is a refined mark with an air of authority; the red square highlighting 'id', as the centerpiece of the ID Watchdog product offerings.

Skyward then mapped out the information architecture for ID Watchdog's fresh B2C web properties, merging existing and new functionalities. It was important that the new aesthetic remained light and approachable and that components could be easily white-labeled for use by their premium clients. We also crafted new product videos and assisted the Equifax technology team with content management leading up to the new site launch.

The redesign effort of all of the B2C marketing assets, social media presence, and internal documentation were strategically planned in a cascading process timed with the employee benefits sales cycle and customer communications to create a seamless transition for clients, brokers, and consumers over the course of the year. We continue to assist various ID Watchdog teams as needs arise.

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