Benfield Group

Global naming architecture

The Business
The Benfield Group was formed in 1988 following a management buyout and grew through several mergers including that of Greig Fester, a London based brokerage firm in 1997 and the major US brokerage house EW Blanch in 2001. The Benfield Group decided to IPO on the London Stock Exchange in June 2003. In preparation, a brand and naming architecture was required to integrate all the companies under a singular name.

The Naming Strategy
The mergers had been based on some commonality between businesses and it was identified that the brand equity was held within the name Benfield and so a contemporary brand architecture was adopted that used the Benfield name without constraining the business.

The brand architecture was rationalised against the client’s experience of the brand. All reinsurance activities were housed under the Benfield name with sub brands such as specialist reinsurance, financial and advisory services and subsequent corporate risk insurance being named Benfield MSTC, Benfield Advisory and Benfield Corporate Risk, clearly defining them as having a different role / service in the marketplace but drawing on the equity of the Benfield name.



The Value
A structured naming architecture coupled with a quirky new visual language captured the essence of the brand and created a successful platform for the business. The naming architecture encouraged Benfield’s innovation and enterprising spirit as witnessed by the launch of the new sub brand Benfield Corporate Risk in 2005, a wholly owned subsidiary.

Benfield’s IPO in 2003 was 11 times over subscribed and they had a market capitalisation of £579m. In August 2008 Benfield was sold to Aon for £844m. "The project has been widely acknowledged as a success and we are indebted to the quality of strategic thinking, professionalism and commitment shown by The Brand Architects throughout. We look forward to continuing to work with The Brand Architects in the future." Benfield





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