Wolff Olins

A London-founded brand consultancy, set up in 1965, that creates brand strategy, identity and experience design for organisations.

About Wolff Olins

Wolff Olins is a brand consultancy. Its site groups what it does into three areas. Brand covers insights, purpose and brand strategy, brand architecture, and verbal and visual identity. Culture covers employee value proposition, culture strategy and workplace branding. Experience covers experience strategy, innovation and design. Case studies on its site include Lloyds, Decathlon, LG Electronics, The Met, Bergdorf Goodman, Patreon and Bite Back.

In its own words, the firm is "ambitious for the work and optimistic for the world". It says it helps clients "defy convention, redefine expectations and ignite positive change", and that its aim is to create "transformative brands that move businesses, people and the world forward". It calls its team "a bunch of sharp thinkers and creative makers on a mission to do the best work of our lives".

Wolff Olins was founded in Camden Town, London, in 1965 by designer Michael Wolff and Wally Olins. Wikipedia says its main office is still in London, and its site title lists offices in New York, London, Los Angeles and San Francisco. Wikipedia says it has been part of the Omnicom Group since 2001 and has about 150 employees. Past work listed there includes identities for BT, Orange and the BBC. We did not find a London street address.

The team page lists 53 people across Design, Engagement, Management, Marketing and New Business, Operations and Strategy. Named leaders include Sairah Ashman as chief executive, Emma Barratt as global executive creative director and Ariadna Navarro as managing partner. The team page is the company's own listing, not a total headcount. A 2016 design-press visit (as at 2016) found about 100 people in London, a flat system with a team for each project, departments called "communities", new starters given a coach, flexible hours and a studio-wide lunch around 1pm. That article places the studio at that time in Bayswater, west London. A trade article on its latest refresh quotes global principal Thomas Wilder: "Ultimately, our goal is to help brands become transformative", and its site shows work for GSK, LG, Uber and TikTok.

Those team areas show the kinds of jobs: designers who make identities and visual systems, writers and strategists who shape what a brand says and stands for, people who work with clients day to day, and operations and marketing staff who keep the studio running. Wikipedia notes some of its work, such as the 2012 London Olympics logo, drew heavy public criticism, which is a useful reminder that brand work happens in public.

What they do

• {'desc': 'Strategy, naming, visual and verbal identity.', 'title': 'Brand'}
• {'desc': 'Employer brand, culture strategy and workplace branding.', 'title': 'Culture'}
• {'desc': 'Designing how customers and staff meet a brand.', 'title': 'Experience'}

Key facts

• Founded 1965 in Camden Town, London, by Michael Wolff and Wally Olins (Wikipedia)
• Offices listed in New York, London, Los Angeles and San Francisco (own site)
• Part of Omnicom Group since 2001 (Wikipedia)
• Team page lists 53 people across six areas

Website: www.wolffolins.com