Westfield’s immersive branding revitalizes culture

The challenge: Take a legacy brand with over a century of history and breathe fresh life into its rich heritage

Getting its start in 1848, Westfield began as Ohio Farmers Insurance Company when a group of farmers got together to insure their properties. Today, 175 years later, Westfield is among the largest non-public companies in Ohio and provides personal insurance, commercial insurance, and surety products.

With so much rich history, Westfield felt the need to revitalize its heritage in an exciting and engaging way. JLL Design Solutions was brought in to embark on the Westfield Workplace Transformation Project to create an immersive visitor and employee experience.

To celebrate Westfield’s past while guiding it into a positive future, JLL set out with the goal of injecting brand experience into the new campus addition as a catalyst for transformation.

The team determined that to achieve an exemplary branded campus experience, the refresh would need to deliver on five core tenets:

1. Consider the big picture
   Reinforce what the Westfield brand means to customers

2. Show off the Westfield personality
   In a unique and ownable look, feel and tone of voice

3. Balance the old and new
   Acknowledge Westfield’s history but demonstrate evolution

4. Set a pace for change
   Refresh content to keep new and existing employees engaged

5. Treat all spaces equally
   Thoughtfully consider all touchpoints along the journey

Kicking off with a visioning session, JLL DS worked with Westfield to identify and align on opportunities for meaningful environmental branding across key spaces.

To ensure every touchpoint was infused with brand heritage from the moment someone walks in the front doors, JLL DS analyzed both the employee and visitor journey throughout the campus. This culminated in the creation of a roadmap highlighting key experience zones with the potential to have the greatest impact.

Wayfinding is a crucial brand-building element for any space, so JLL DS developed a new campus-wide system for navigating the buildings, leveraging the new brand voice as a filter for decision-making.

Bold, simple and intuitive, the wayfinding was functional while also uniquely on-brand. Brand patterns and textures were used to subtly reinforce the brand language in the environmental décor. From logo treatment to the color palette to the photography used, consistent, bold and memorable brand elements were implemented throughout the campus—every finish, light fixture and pattern was selected to represent the brand experience principles.

The goal of the system was to help visitors and employees find their "New & True Way” with memorable landmarks.

Within the home office, the “connector” was developed. A physical conduit that connects sections of the building, JLL DS designed the brand experience for the “connector” to be an embodiment of the "New & True Way" brand vision.

This concept was brought to life through a visual panorama of Westfield's past that led into a dynamic future. Spanning three floors, the connector is where people are captivated by a visually engaging timeline of the growth of Ohio Farmers Insurance Company into Westfield Insurance. This tangible timeline provides an opportunity to learn more about the brand's history and feel connected to where it’s headed

To further ingrain the "New & True Way" throughout every brand touchpoint, JLL DS maximized all opportunities to express Westfield's heritage. Vignettes of historic storytelling with lasting cultural impact were expressed through graphics, murals, original artwork, historic artifacts and more. These elements created a cohesive, elevated environment while providing unique and meaningful ties to the company’s roots.

Tying back to the “new” portion of the updated vision, digital monitors prominently feature "Westfield Today" moments such as company events, announcements of employee promotions, celebration of agent anniversaries and more.

The headquarters’ brand experience design was translated into a guidelines "playbook" to ensure consistent implementation across all offices. Easy to use and providing everything from brand typefaces and color palettes to guidelines for selecting and placing artwork, the playbook will help cement the Westfield brand positioning and ensure the brand's expression strengthens over time.

The refreshed home office now exudes Westfield pride in a modern, more evergreen way across each significant touchpoint. The success of the home campus transformation led to an ongoing extension of additional refreshes and was approved to be scaled across over 40 service sites across the country. The transformation project has resulted in an increase in brand and cultural engagement, strengthening overall company pride and perception.