How Brand Hierarchy and Visual Identity Helped TechPoint Scale Confidently

Tech companies are in a constant battle to attract the best talent, and growing tech companies need access to resources. Because of this struggle, local organizations play a critical role in supporting and advocating for Indiana’s reputation as a tech pioneer.

It is precisely this mission that spurred the creation of TechPoint, a nonprofit industry-led growth accelerator for Indiana’s tech ecosystem. Through talent programs, company advancement, community engagement, and valuable insights, TechPoint connects and advocates for the success of Indiana tech.

Problem

TechPoint first approached Innovatemap with the idea to spin off a content platform from the TechPoint homepage in the fall of 2017. They had worked hard to foster the tech community in Indiana and created the foundation for a thriving ecosystem.

TechPoint had a wide variety of resources to serve the Indiana tech community, and had begun to establish their reputation as a network and leading source information in Indiana, but the site made it difficult for people to fully understand their offerings.

To maximize their brand awareness and clearly communicate the TechPoint parent brand , they needed to create two separate platforms: one for written content and tech news, and one for TechPoint’s community initiatives such as talent programs, events and awards.

This expansion would allow the TechPoint parent brand to visually support their growing reputation, which they achieved through connections, events.

Solution

TechPoint engaged with Innovatemap to explore the future of the TechPoint platform. Splitting the TechPoint offerings into multiple platforms would have ramifications for the brand and future growth.

After an initial discovery to understand their vision and goals for the project, we conducted in-depth market landscaping of other tech ecosystems and best practices of content platforms. We updated TechPoint’s brand hierarchy and identity to support the outcomes they were looking for.

TechPoint had the reputation and weight to be elevated as the parent brand, and all of their other initiatives could live beneath the TechPoint umbrella, within their own sub-brands. We then conducted an in-depth brand hierarchy workshop to “clean out the garage,” and organize all of TechPoint’s initiatives, offerings, and programs beneath the TechPoint parent brand.

Once every initiative had a place beneath the TechPoint umbrella, we started the rebrand process. TechPoint needed an updated visual identity to elevate it as the parent brand that would be able to support everything else beneath it.

In addition, the new categories that had been created to organize TechPoint’s offerings needed their own visual identity that complemented the TechPoint parent brand, while also being able to stand alone.

We worked closely with the TechPoint team to rebrand TechPoint, including the TechPoint Index, the Mira Awards and the Tech 25 awards.

Takeaways

Through our engagement, TechPoint established a visual identity that represents who they are and where they are going. TechPoint is elevated as the parent brand, and their offerings are now organized into three main buckets: talent, events, and content. Each of these buckets also received their own sub-brands that complemented TechPoint proper, while still having a strong visual identity that allowed them to stand alone.

TechPoint wants to be viewed as a national example of what it meant to be a successful tech accelerator, and they now have a visual identity to support that reputation. The new brand hierarchy and organized platform establishes TechPoint as the go-to source of information and connections for all of Indiana tech.

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