W
olff Olins is one of the biggest
names in the world of branding,
and for good reason. Majestic
in its size, impact and legacy, the global
consultancy has become the natural go-to
for many of the world’s biggest brands.
Founded in 1965 by Wally Olins and
Michael Wolff, the company has remained
ahead of the creative curve ever since. And
its ground-breaking and boundary-pushing
designs are rarely out of the headlines;
most notably its branding of the 2012
London Olympics, which attracted a level
of controversy that reverberates throughout
the profession today.
We chatted to global CEO Sairah
Ashman and chief design officer Chris
Moody about the advantages of scale, how
they find the best talent, and the power of
being weird.What’s the story behind Wolff Olins?
Sairah Ashman: We were born in London
in 1965, a time when it felt like anything was
possible; when you could change the world
and a lot of people felt motivated to do so.
This underlying drum beat is a huge part of
how we’ve grown up, and intrinsic to who
we are today. It’s also no coincidence that
we think effortlessly in a very left- as well as
right-brain way; strategically and creatively.
Our original founders, Wally Olins and
Michael Wolff, each came out of strategy
and design. So this notion of fusing the
two together is a natural and specific part
of our DNA.How does the company operate today?
SA: Right now, we have studios in London,
New York and San Francisco. Our US
studios cover North and South America,
while London serves Europe and beyond.
There are around 140 of us full-time. Our
scale means we can assemble teams from
around our studios and bring in specialist
partners to amplify our impact. We’re big
enough and experienced enough to take on
the most ambitious, global and complicated
of assignments, while being small and agile
enough to find the smartest way to operate.
Chris Moody: Our teams are built on
a troika of creatives, strategists and
programme managers; we have our focusbut we encourage blurring of the lines.
We’ve had designers that have become
strategists and vice versa. That’s especially
great for clients because they buy a team of
broad talent, not a seductive, but limited,
couple of egos.What’s it like working with some of the
biggest companies in the world?
CM: One of the reasons I love working here
is that our direct clients tend to be very
senior and influential. This means we
have to be on our game, but it also means
what we do together can have genuine
impact, quickly.
SA: We want to create significant change in
the world, but we recognise that at our scale
we won’t individually change the world.
However, our clients certainly have the
ability to.
CM: Our rich heritage and background
knowledge gives us the strength to be almost
naive in the early stages of a project. Being
bold enough to ask the dumb questions
everyone is thinking, but usually too scared
to ask at the start of a project makes for
smarter work at the end. This probably helps
us create transformative work.So what have you been working on
recently?
SA: The sheer variety hits me when I reflect
on the work we’ve been doing recently. There
are the big global clients and rebrands such
as Uber and McKinsey that we’re well known
for. These types of assignments typically
take six to 18 months, depending on how
large the stakeholder group involved is and
how well geared up their in-house teams are.
We’re often working with multiple external
partners too; everyone from specialist
research agencies to digital shops and
advertising agencies, alongside typographers,
illustrators and photographers.
We also work with smaller, less well-
known, but no less ambitious clients such
as Sage Therapeutics – tackling brain and
mental health disorders in the US – and
Treatwell, Europe’s number one health and
beauty platform, where we’ve been working
on their B2B proposition and activation.
Both have gone live in the past six months
and took about 12 weeks to completeSTUDIO PROFILE
ABOVE
The logo and branding
for the 2012 Olympics
were created in 2007.
“WE WERE BORN
IN LONDON IN
1965, A TIME
WHEN IT FELT
LIKE ANYTHING
WAS POSSIBLE”