Opportunity: The rise of a global leadership powerhouse 

Born from the visionary Misk Foundation, the Saudi Leadership Society (SLS) emerged as the next bold step in realising its purpose: to nurture and empower the next generation of Saudi leaders. SLS provides a vibrant home for these leaders to grow, forge connections, and create collective impact. Although still in its early stages compared to other leadership societies, SLS harbours the ambitious goal of standing out on the global stage.  

The time had come for SLS to begin its transformative journey into a member-led, independent global leadership society, with an image reflecting the exceptional calibre of its members. Despite the clarity of this ambition, the transition posed organisational challenges. While imminent, it was crucial not to lose the credibility associated with being part of the esteemed MISK Foundation. We needed to work swiftly and strategically to catalyse the society’s evolution, ensuring it was ready for the new cohort at the SLS Annual Assembly. 

Concept: Circles of Influence 

The visual expression of the proposition’s pillars of Grow.Connect.Impact, strikes a balance between a modern, digital-first design system and a subtle, contemporary interpretation of the Saudi aesthetic. This identity possesses the flexibility to evolve into its full expression when the society’s governance is handed over to its members, empowering them to take control of their destiny and create lasting impact that propels Saudi Arabia towards Vision 2030 and beyond. 

Solution: Igniting impact through influence 

In partnership with SLS, we engaged key stakeholders to craft an effective strategy for signalling to the world that SLS is an established society with a clear purpose: accelerating the realization of Vision 2030 and beyond through Collective Impact. Operating within Misk’s brand architecture, we created an identity that deftly pushed governance principles to forge a unique, dynamic visual identity. This identity reflected a crystallised, purpose-led proposition co-created with key stakeholders in the SLS ecosystem.

Governance and Activation: Bringing the brand to life 

With the proposition defined and brand identity created, we worked closely with the SLS team and external providers to ensure that the new brand was fully expressed at the inaugural 2024 Annual Assembly across all communications. We equipped SLS communications teams with a comprehensive Brand Toolkit detailing all visual and verbal elements, containing the core components needed to create compelling communications and collateral.  

Beyond the identity guidelines, we developed clear plans for brand activation on three levels: current touchpoints, campaign communications, and future experiences. Armed with these tools and plans, SLS is poised to bring their brand to the world with coherence, consistency, and lasting impact.

In a world of information overload, the ability to create a logo that is both bold and simple, yet memorable, is key.

A logo serves as the visual face of your brand, representing its values, identity, and promise to the world. If you want your logo to make an impact, there are some fundamental principles you need to follow:

A logo should be memorable. Memorable logos are usually uncomplicated, leveraging the power of simplicity to leave a lasting impression.

A logo should resonate with your target audience. This means understanding your audience’s preferences, and values. It should evoke emotions and feelings that align with your brand’s identity. It should reinforce your brand’s identity and make it easier for your audience to connect with your mission and values.

A logo should be adaptable, whether digital or physical. In the age of multimedia, your logo should look just as striking on a billboard as it does on screen. Many brands in the physical world, have now undergone simplification for digital, for example, Mini and VW.

Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication — bold and simple go hand in hand when it comes to logos. Think of some of the most iconic logos in the world, such as Apple, Nike, or McDonald’s – all are straightforward and easy to recognise.

When your logo is memorable, resonates with your audience, versatile, and aligned with your brand’s character, it becomes a powerful tool in building a lasting connection between your brand and your customers.

Dustin has been transforming business strategy into strategic brand stories that unite people inside and out for over 15 years.

Working across categories and countries has given him a breadth of experience to understand the importance for brands to balance scale with local relevance. He has worked in leading independent and global corporate brand agencies in Johannesburg, Sydney, UAE and London.

Working with global brands the like of EY, Siemens, Fidelity International, Capgemini and Bayer. He also has experience in communications planning working with the likes of Philips Healthcare and IBM. Dustin has extensive consultancy experience advising companies on brand insights and analytics, brand strategy, brand operationalisation, brand activation and engagement and building enduring stakeholder relationships through engagement.

Originally graduating from University of Surrey, Sarah brings over 20 years’ experience in first-class client services.

Her experience spans Branding, Design and Corporate Communications, extensively in B2B and more recently in Moving Image as a Producer.

Sarah has delivered complex and award-winning branding, employee engagement and campaign programmes for global organizations including Reckitt, Mubadala, BP, Kaust, FIFA, Canon, GKN Automotive and Williams F1 Racing.

Sarah provides highly skilled-project management expertise and will be pivotal in planning, co-ordinating and delivering the project on time, on budget all whilst exceeding quality expectations.