Work · 2011

Versatel

Versatel ran Germany’s second-largest fibre network and wanted more business customers. But 45,000 kilometres of cable mostly thrill engineers. We switched the story from the cable to what it does for you: case studies from seven industries, a presentation that looks like the network itself, and a brochure that takes new colleagues by the hand on day one.

Services
  • Corporate publishing
  • Case studies and posters
  • Corporate presentation
  • Animated film
  • Employee brochure
  • Online campaign
Year
2011
Slides from Versatel’s corporate presentation in a semicircle: on the left the contents page drawn as a network with the Group chapter in red, in the middle the title slide with the red logo, on the right a photo of the headquarters with flags
Starting point

Versatel supplied private and business customers with phone, internet and data. The consumer market was saturated; the growth was to come from companies.

The strongest argument for it had long since been laid: Germany’s second-largest fibre network. Told in figures only engineers love.

Idea

Nobody buys kilometres. Companies buy availability, reliability and a partner who knows their industry. So the customers stepped to the front and tell, in their own words, what the network does for them.

Anyone can claim experience. Seven industries can prove it.

Case studies

Every reference became a case study with a fixed structure, in Versatel’s corporate design, which we developed further for the purpose. The same stories ran as posters and online.

One grid for all turns many single cases into a series. And every case study into a door-opener for sales.

«AutomotiveBankingITPublicsectorHealthcareMediaEnergy14.1 mm58.1 mm4.0 mmResultWho, where, whenClientSummaryOne column wideFull-bleed imageFive regionsClient’s voiceVersatel’s voice
  1. 01 / 05Seven industries, one grid. Bank, clinic or carmaker: every case study sits in the same three-column layout. Put two side by side and you compare solutions, not layouts.
  2. 02 / 05The result goes on top. The headline says what the client gained, the intro says who, where and when. The technology only gets in once the interest is there.
  3. 03 / 05Read one column and you know enough. Below the client’s logo sits the summary. Next to it, the details for anyone who wants chapter and verse.
  4. 04 / 05The fact box holds text and image together. The card with the key facts is exactly one column wide and reaches into the image. Two areas become one page.
  5. 05 / 05On the back, the client does the talking. The back page belongs to the quotes and the contacts from five sales regions. The example turns into a conversation.
Presentation

No document gets shown as often as the corporate presentation. Now every slide talks about the company’s own network instead of taking it for granted.

Plus an animated film that races through the fibre network right across Germany. What used to be a word is now something you can watch.

GroupVersatel AGCompany dataHistoryExecutive boardFibre networkSales regionsBusiness customersWholesalePrivate customersSolutions portfolioMarkets and solutionsTailored solutionsComplete packagesWholesaleReferencesCustomer solutions by industry5 sales regionsHeadquarters Düsseldorf€171m EBITDA€724.7m revenueVersatel AG corporate presentationContentsGroup | Company dataTitle lineFooter band
  1. 01 / 04Every slide wears the same frame. The title on top above a fine line, a band with the sender at the bottom. Click through and you notice the content, not the form.
  2. 02 / 04The contents page is a network. Chapters are nodes, topics hang off them like connections. The fibre network it’s all about is already arranging the second slide.
  3. 03 / 04The common thread is a fibre. A connection lights up from the company to the current chapter. The audience always knows where it is.
  4. 04 / 04Figures sit on nodes. Every key figure hangs in the network as a point, from revenue to headquarters. The company profile reads like a map.
Brochure

New employees should know from day one what their company stands for. The welcome brochure shows the network where it becomes tangible: on a map with every location.

A handbook people still open long after their first week.

Employee brochure “Willkommen bei Versatel” (Welcome to Versatel): cover with a photo of an employee holding documents in front of two colleagues and the red logo in the white footer, beside it the back cover with a blue-grey gradient
Spread from the brochure: map of Germany with fine network lines, above it blue-grey cards with the locations, the headquarters in Düsseldorf in red
The network as a map, every location a connection.
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