Bannenberg sails ahead with identity by Zulver & Co

Branding consultancy Zulver & Co has created a new identity for super-yacht company Bannenberg.

Appointed in December 2008 on the strength of previous branding work for some of the company’s yachts, Zulver & Co was asked to refresh the brand following the death of company founder John Bannenberg and a change of personnel at board level.

The company – rebranded Bannenberg Rowell – is now run by John Bannenberg’s son Dickie and Simon Rowell, who developed a brief with Zulver & Co to build on the company’s legacy and dissociate it from what is seen as the yachting industry’s dated image.

The new identity and communications rely strongly on typography and visual language. ‘We didn’t want it to be too yachty,’ says Zulver & Co director Andrew Zulver.

Pairings of words make graphic visuals, including ‘sparkling new’ (pictured) and ‘yachting beyond’ on the new communications, and a jotter pad for clients is inscribed with the words ‘thinking scribbles’.

‘A lot of Bannenberg Rowell’s business is won through referral, so we needed to speak to its clients in a more contemporary way, to reflect the youthfulness of the company,’ Zulver says.

The tagline, ‘It starts with one person’s imagination’, is a quote from the late John Bannenberg, which Zulver says serves a dual purpose, ‘reflecting on both client and designer’.

The new identity will launch on 16 May at the Super Yacht Awards, where Bannenberg Rowell is in contention for several honours.