How the digital revolution is affecting corporate design

Interview with Anke Wübbelmann of Basler AG

At the end of last year, Basler AG successfully relaunched its website. The Basler team took an unconventional approach: first they redesigned the website, then they adapted the corporate design. In this interview, Anke Wübbelmann explains why this was exactly the right approach and how digital channels and requirements influence corporate design today.

Anke Wübbelmann is Executive Director Communications and has been with the Basler Group, a listed company since 1999, for more than 25 years. Headquartered in Ahrensburg, Germany, Basler is a leading international manufacturer of high-quality cameras and camera accessories for applications in factory automation, medicine, transportation, and many other fields.

Ms. Wübbelmann, you’ve worked in corporate communications at Basler AG for many years. What do you like about this role?

The challenges of corporate communications have changed dramatically over the past 25 years, which makes my job particularly interesting. I remember when we decided to hire our first employee to focus exclusively on online marketing. At the time, we wondered if that person would be fully utilized. Today, after the paradigm shift brought about by digital transformation, almost all of the 50 people in our department are involved in online-related issues.

There are seemingly endless opportunities for optimization, and we’re constantly challenged to make the best use of our resources to delight our customers and differentiate ourselves from our competitors. Yet, as a B2B company, we often find ourselves lagging behind B2C companies in some areas. This can be frustrating, but it can also be exhilarating when you realize how much potential lies ahead.

The last few years have been about content marketing, storytelling, data analytics, personalization, lead handling and lead nurturing, while we’re currently experiencing the next revolutionary change in marketing departments with the introduction of AI.

I really enjoy experiencing these changes, leveraging them for the benefit of the business, and taking my colleagues along for the ride. Automated communication strategies, AI-powered chatbots, and predictive analytics are some of the topics that lie ahead.

What was the main reason for the website relaunch?

The main motivation for the website relaunch was to update and improve the web technologies, including the content management system, product information management, translation interface, and shopware. Our goal was to implement a technology stack that would enable automation and self-learning systems at all stages of the customer journey to meet growing demands such as providing localized and personalized content.

Another motivation was the desire to seamlessly integrate the website with the web store to ensure a better customer experience.

Ultimately, we were no longer satisfied with the existing architecture of the site’s content and design, which had grown over the years. The look and feel of the site no longer met our standards as a leader in the computer vision industry.

Why did you decide to relaunch the website first and then adapt the corporate design?

As a central element of customer interaction, it was important for us to design the website that clearly differentiated us from our competitors and underscored our leadership in innovation and technology.

Using web analytics tools during the relaunch process helped us make data-driven decisions about prioritizing changes. We also received direct feedback from users through A/B testing and customer focus groups, which we provided with a click dummy, on which we tested elements of the design needed to be improved to enhance usability and user experience. That allowed us to optimize the design on the fly to meet users’ needs.

Those practical measures ensured that adapting the corporate design as part of the website relaunch was not only strategically sound, but also effectively implemented. A purely theoretical refinement of the corporate design could never have achieved such a customer-focused result.

How did you find the right website design?

Developing the right design for our website began with a detailed analysis of the competition and a review of best practice examples from advanced technology and software companies. That, combined with the objectives I mentioned earlier, led to a detailed brief that we gave to two selected agencies with a dedicated focus on UI design. We didn’t have the necessary skill sets in-house at the time.

The agencies first developed basic design approaches and presented them to us using sample pages. We then chose a design direction and thus a partner for the project.

What criteria did you use to choose the fonts and colors?

When selecting fonts for our website, we followed the agency’s recommendations, which took into account technical factors such as load time, browser compatibility, cross-device accessibility, and licensing terms, in addition to good readability. We wanted to choose visually appealing fonts that had a positive impact on the user experience.

For color design, we used limbic codes. These are based on the knowledge that colors can trigger specific emotional responses and behaviors in users. For example, in color psychology, blue is often associated with calmness, trust, and professionalism. We used the limbic codes to check which colors best matched the emotions we wanted to achieve.

Through trend analysis, we found that our main persona, the developer, was most comfortable in dark mode, which means a light font on a dark background. Based on this insight, we chose this for our main entry pages, while choosing a light background for text-intensive pages to maximize readability and usability.

Following the basic design decisions, we developed a click dummy that we A/B tested with customers. The user feedback drove further detailed decisions, which we eventually compiled into a component library that now serves as a digital storybook or style guide. Components include call-to-actions, buttons, forms, headlines, and text blocks. In addition, visual language guides were developed for product presentations, photos, icons, and illustrations.

How does digitalization affect corporate design?

Many companies have a corporate design that was created in an era when traditional forms of communication were prevalent and has evolved only slightly since then. However, digitization has created new platforms and media that have a significant impact on the creation and evolution of corporate design.

Corporate design must be consistent across these channels to maintain brand identity. This requires flexible and scalable design elements. Logos, fonts, and other design elements must look and function well on different screen sizes and resolutions.

The user experience in the digital environment is also critical. The corporate design must not only be aesthetically pleasing, but also enable intuitive and user-friendly interaction.

Last but not least, corporate design needs to be less rigid and more dynamic and responsive to market changes and new trends.

What are the demands on today’s graphics professionals?

In the graphics and design sector, we’re seeing a significant shift in the skills and knowledge required. While graphic design used to be focused on print media, a strong knowledge of digital is now essential, especially in the areas of user interfaces and user experience. Understanding the specific challenges and tools of digital design is essential. Good UI designers understand how people use technology and are able to develop solutions that are both visually appealing and practical.

How can employees keep up?

This evolution requires continuous education and flexibility. Given the rapid evolution of the digital world, it’s a misconception that simply mastering traditional design principles is enough. It’s imperative that designers stay abreast of the latest developments, tools, and technologies in order to survive and remain relevant in the job market.

The overwhelming variety and complexity of new technologies and tools can be intimidating. Designers may find it difficult to decide where to begin their education or what skills are most in demand.

To overcome these challenges, it’s critical that designers are willing to learn, open to personal development, and supported by their managers.

Do you see digital channels or formats that are an exception to the corporate design?

Our corporate design, which is reflected in various touchpoints, aims to appeal to a wide range of professional groups and personas among our customers. For a B2B company like Basler AG, the challenge is to effectively reach and engage these different personas. For example, the user experience and specific needs of software developers are very different from those of our customers’ purchasing groups.

In some cases, a more flexible application of design standards may be necessary, especially in rapidly evolving fields such as the software industry. This flexibility allows us to keep pace with current design trends and user expectations, and to keep our brand modern and relevant without the need for a comprehensive corporate design overhaul across all areas.

Large software companies invest heavily in research and development to make their designs contemporary, attractive, and functional. A corporate design based on such leading standards can also give smaller companies confidence in the professionalism of their software. Software developers, who work with a variety of tools on a daily basis, benefit from a consistent and intuitive user interface that increases their productivity and reduces the time they spend learning new tools. The corporate design should support these needs and expectations, not hinder them.

How do you keep the design consistent and recognizable despite these exceptions?

Our main takeaway from this website redesign project is that it’s no longer appropriate to rigidly adhere to fixed design specifications. The rapid evolution of the digital world and the changing expectations of our target audience require a more flexible design approach. At every touchpoint, we carefully examined what really made sense and tried to interpret our corporate design framework in a flexible way. The goal of creating a great user experience was more important to us than strictly following a design manual. At the same time, we’re convinced that our brand will remain clearly recognizable despite a more flexible interpretation of the design.

How do you get your new look across all formats and channels? Are there priorities?

To translate the new look and feel into different formats and channels, we first focused on those formats directly linked to our website. These include online banners, online ads, and our e-newsletter. That step was critical to ensure a consistent brand experience and avoid inconsistencies in the look and feel, especially for visitors who arrive at our site through these channels.

Other formats where the direct link to the website was less obvious, such as trade show booths or printed materials such as brochures, were adapted in a second phase. That adaptation was targeted and made only when the format became relevant.

Our goal has always been to ensure a consistent and recognizable brand presence across all touchpoints. However, we plan to spread the implementation of the design over a longer period of time in order to make efficient use of our resources while maintaining brand consistency.

What trends and developments do you see in the future of digital corporate design?

In the future, digital corporate design will follow aesthetic criteria, and also be influenced by technological innovations, social values, and user expectations. I expect that companies will increasingly develop dynamic design systems that allow corporate design to adapt quickly and efficiently to different contexts and user needs. This means a move away from rigid design manuals to more flexible, adaptable guidelines.

In addition, companies will increasingly need to offer personalized experiences tailored to the preferences and behaviors of individual users. This may require greater diversification in visual communications and corporate design to better appeal to different user groups.

Other trends include accessibility, sustainability—through the use of eco-friendly colors and materials in visual communication—or the use of AI in the design process to streamline workflows and open up new creative possibilities.