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Tuesday was Brand-day for SYNTAX. Not one, but two SYNTAX-created brands were launched. The two companies could not be different, and we’re really happy the spectrum of our assignments is so wide. The big brand we helped bring to life yesterday was Miyahuna, the 1200 people company that delivers water to Amman’s 2.6 million residents. (The second brand that was launched was Akhtaboot, a new web 2.0 dot-com!).

Miyahuna is the new brand of the the Jordan Water Company, the successor to LIMA, which ran Amman’s water for the past 7 or so years (and which was was managed by a French-Jordanian partnership).

Miyahuna is owned by the Jordanian government, but operates on private sector principles. The company is the answer to the challenge: how can the water and wastewater needs of Amman’s millions of people be met. This is no easy task, considering that Jordan is one of the poorest countries in water resources.

LIMA, the French-Jordanaian company which ran Amman’s water utility before Miyahuna took over played an important role in upgrading various aspects of water service provision, especially in the field of customer service. While LIMA had a management team dominated by French expatriates, Miyahuna will be run by a Jordanian management team. This has created a sense of challenge: proving that Jordanian talent can match and exceed the performance of the predecessor company.

Branding a public utility that provides a critical resource to citizens and businesses is a challenging task. Our branding process started with an extensive research program, which was conducted in cooperation with Analyseize, a Jordanian market research firm. The research covered citizens from all over Amman as well a cross section of Miyahuna’s workforce.

The research revealed how Amman’s citizens perceive the water utility, water quality and customer service. What we found is that while many gaps exist, there is, nonetheless, a good base of quality and service to build on. Throughout the project we worked very closely with Miyahuna’s new management team as well as the consultants from Segura Consulting, to build the new brand values for Miyahuna, which are to become the guiding principles for the organization whether dealing with employees or customers. These values are based on quality, technical/engineering excellence, respect and social responsibility.

One of the remarkable aspects of our work with Miyahuna, was how far SYNTAX was integrated in the process of communicating the new values and philosophy of the company. Not only were we part of numerous management meetings but we were also part of a series of company-wide meetings where the new management team, headed by CEO Kamal Al Zu’bi, addressed and listened to every employee in the company. SYNTAX’s role was to present the findings of our research, explain the principles of brand building as a true expression of corporate culture and a set of believable ideals that the company should strive for.

One of the key messages of the new CEO to the employees was to challenge them to imagine a future where Miyahuna becomes one of most respected brands, not only in Jordan but also across the region.
Branding a service/engineering company like Miyahuna, in a market like Jordan, means that a lot of focus has to be put on the internal audience, ie the workforce of the company. People working in an organization that is making the transition from government bureaucracy, to a professional corporate entity, need to be rallied around new goals and new ideals. Across Miyahuna we found qualified, committed people who really believe in the importance in the role they play in providing water and wastewater service to Amman citizens. The hope is that using brand communication as well as tangible incentives and the recognition of personal achievements will create a stronger, quality oriented corporate culture.

Only then can the company project a credible, respected image to consumers.

On the design level, Muyahuna’s management opted for an accessible image. Miyahuna’s logo consists of a modern logo type accompanies by an emblem representing a water drop stylizied with water waves and a green upper tip. Over the next months, the new logo will start appearing on water bills, company vehicles, employee uniforms and building signage.

Over the past few years, SYNTAX has worked with a number of Jordanian organizations, both large and small, on branding projects which happened in tandem with restructuring and reform processes. We always end up giving those organizations a set of ideas/ideal as well as new visual icons that make these ideas more tangible. But we also learn something with each assignment: that reforming companies and organizations in Jordan is a tough, but ultimately hopeful endeavor. What makes it possible is that it is still possible to find committed people who truly want to do a good job despite the challenges that exist.

[Read what my colleague Sha3teely had to say about the matter]

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3 responses to “Branding water: SYNTAX creates identity for Miyahuna”

  1. Talal Avatar
    Talal

    This logo is so 1984…which isn’t necessarily a bad thing. It reminds me a lot of the Masafi look in the 80s and early 90s—exact same colors, same rounded font, and I’m pretty sure there was a waterdrop somewhere. I just find the similarities very interesting.

    Great job, guys!

  2. khalid Avatar
    khalid

    i like the brand look n feel, and the emotional connection, the type is good, but the over all design does borrow some masafi aspects…the drop is a bit over used in design…but all n all, good job..
    khalid

  3. tariq Avatar
    tariq

    Who designed the syntax website its cool