Steering Team DSM
communications in
the right direction
Steering Team DSM communications in the right direction
Our partnership with the Team DSM cycling team (formerly Team Sunweb) represents a hugely exciting new chapter in our branding – and company journey.
It comes at the ideal time, as we strengthen our end-market orientation and continue our transition towards delivering health through nutrition and sustainable living. The opportunities are clear. So how do we communicate this relationship from a brand perspective? Here’s what you need to know.
The partnership
Fuelled by our bright science – both inside and out – the team benefits from everything from high-performance apparel featuring Dyneema® and Arnitel® materials; to nutrition-boosting solutions like life’sTMOMEGA. In turn, these elite athletes are helping us better understand refine and develop solutions that improve health and performance – and create brighter lives for all.
The branding opportunity
Through this partnership, the DSM name and brand will gain a new level of international exposure, thus strengthening our brand image and the credibility of – and advocacy for – DSM solutions. Our Simplified Logo features prominently on the riders’ clothing & equipment. When combined with the stories we tell through our various brand activations, it will provide a fantastic opportunity to amplify what we stand for with both current and future stakeholders in nutrition and materials.
Epic imagery
From a branding perspective, the centrepiece is undoubtedly the eye-popping, epic imagery – which invariably features the DSM Simplified Logo displayed prominently on the riders’ chests. We already have a wealth of imagery, which can be downloaded here.
Company-branded communications
To give you an idea of how it works, take a look at these three examples: a company-branded advertisement (1); a multi-product branded advertisement (2); and a company- branded social media post (3).
The brand hierarchy is simple:
Level 1: We promote the DSM brand through epic imagery that puts our Simplified Logo in the spotlight.
Level 2: We promote the Team DSM partnership typographically, via text (Fira Sans typeface, in bold, always on the same line).
Level 3: All this sits within our standard DSM brand identity.
Product-branded communications
The same principles apply here, except of course the product brand (in this case Dyneema® (4) & (5)) is the hero endorsed by DSM.
DSM ‘at the track’
This relationship also presents us with many new opportunities for promoting the DSM brand in the race environment itself (as seen in examples (6), (7) and (8)).
Company-branded advert
Multi-product-branded advert
Product-branded advert
Product-branded social media
Company-branded social media
Race environment advertisements
B2B versus B2C messaging
So how do we tell the brand story of this partnership – from both a B2B and B2C perspective? After all, it will give us a whole new level of exposure to the public.
Right now, our relationship is still at the starting line, but these examples show some early ideas on where it could take us.
Establishing relevance
In all cases - and especially where we use Team DSM photography – we need to be extremely clear that our message comes from DSM, not Team DSM. Advertising in particular is all about establishing relevance. We therefore need to be smart in linking the value that our products bring to the Team DSM partnership with the benefits they deliver to our B2B and B2C audiences.
B2B versus B2C
Because of the increased focus we will now be placing on our end markets, it’s highly likely that a fully defined B2C branding communications strategy will be developed. Of course, communicating to consumers involves several new nuances (and challenges) – as the examples on the right show.
For B2C audiences the language we use needs to be different (simpler, more personal, less technical).
This audience is less likely to know about DSM solutions.
Thus, we want to create awareness/demand for our ingredient solutions - while making it clear that consumers cannot actually ‘buy them’.
- Meanwhile, in some cases our story will go beyond solutions, to address broader topics – like advocacy for sustainable animal protein.
Just to reiterate, these examples are purely speculative. We appreciate that for any ‘live’ campaigns you will need to produce a thorough brief for your agency based on your objectives, audience and overall approach.
Company-branded advert B2B
Company-branded advert B2C
Product-branded social media banner B2B
Product-branded social media post B2C
Two different brand identities
The most important thing to remember is that there are two different brand identities.
- SMS Cycling – the owner of Team DSM.
- DSM!
Each one has its own brand identity, assets and look & feel.
SMS cycling owns the Keep Challenging strapline and the blue stripes (1)
displayed on a black background, not DSM. (For their complete brand identity see www.teamdsm.com).
DSM of course owns all the brand assets that you’re very familiar with: eg, our simplified logo, color palette, and bright look & feel (as seen on www.dsm.com).
The one and only place they come together is via the Team DSM brand identity.
The Team DSM brand identity: how it works
The DSM Simplified Logo can be added splitting the blue vertical stripes (2). This is applicable for existing cycling clothing and merchandise only (3). The bottom line: because DSM and Team DSM are two separate brands, we need to ensure they work together in harmony.
New joint product initiatives
Creating new nutritional and materials innovations is a major aspect of our Team DSM partnership. Eventually, we may want to explore ingredient branding opportunities (or produce samples and giveaways) that are created as a direct result of the partnership.
The Team DSM label
Therefore, for activities that are exclusively related to the Team DSM partnership we created. A customized dual-branded label (4).
This is the proof point – the seal of quality – that identifies new nutritional and material-based solutions that emerge from our partnership. Its role is to be displaying on these solutions – thus making what we produce tangible and authentic.
With this in mind, Team DSM doesn’t have a ‘standard’ dual-branded logo like other DSM partnerships (5). The rationale is simple: creating a new logo with the DSM wordmark repeated twice would be extremely confusing for everyone!
Here we see the Team DSM label displayed on the Team DSM website (6) (because it refers directly to them). However, on our DSM website (7), we stick with DSM branding because the content is not directly referring to the partnership.
In all cases, always ensure that in the first instance you consult the Global Trademarks Center of DSM Intellectual Property for advice on how to proceed.
The Team DSM descriptor
If you want to refer to the Team DSM relationship in more detail, we recommend that you simply use the following partnership descriptor.
Team DSM is a professional cycling team competing at UCI WorldTeam level. At DSM, we’ve applied our science-based innovation – both inside and out – to help these elite athletes reach new performance heights and maximize their potential in one of sport’s most demanding disciplines.
Team DSM branding
Team DSM branding
Team DSM label
‘Dynamic’ branding opportunities
Dynamic applications like a digital noticeboard or virtual reality booth might be used to promote Team DSM on one day, but a different DSM-related topic the next. Here, the physical branding would always remain set as DSM, featuring our Simplified Logo. The Team DSM branding would come via the content itself, or dedicated giveaways (like VR goggles or confectionery).
Merchandise
For merchandising – eg, giveaways and goodie bags that are not directly related to a co-created product – you have two options:
- Use DSM branded merchandise.
- Use Team DSM merchandise, which you can buy here.
We will not be producing any other co-branded merchandise.
Can customers use the Team DSM brand?
The short answer is no. The only way that customers can refer to Team DSM is via a factual statement. For example: Team DSM uses products containing Fruitflow®.
To reiterate, no other usage is allowed (especially if the customer has no relationship with Team DSM).
Related downloads
Team DSM Label
(zip-file)
Team DSM requirements
(PDF)
Team DSM Imagery
(Dropbox)
Team DSM Merchandise
DSM Web Shop
