Made
local-eh,
aligned
global-eh

Rebranding Aviva for a clearer, more confident Canadian future.

The Challenge

In the UK and Ireland, Aviva is a household name. In Canada—despite being the country’s #2 ranked insurer—brand awareness is low, and perception even lower. What little impression existed felt rigid, outdated, and out of touch with today’s customers.

The Global Brand Team began a top-down rebrand initiative, but it launched with only high-level principles and guidelines—no tools or templates. While markets waited, Canada couldn’t afford to. We had to reintroduce Aviva to the Canadian market quickly, credibly, and with purpose, all while building a scalable system that respected the evolving global vision.

The Insight

Aviva Canada didn’t just need a brand refresh—it needed a brand reinvention tailored to its market. While global principles gave us a philosophical foundation, they didn’t yet translate into usable assets or direction. We realized that simply applying a UK-centric approach would fall flat in a country as diverse, bilingual, and locally nuanced as Canada. This refresh had to resonate with Canadian customers and partners in a way that felt authentic and modern. At the same time, it had to work for the internal teams—marketing, broker relations, communications—who needed a brand system they could adopt quickly and use confidently, often with minimal oversight. The insight was clear: Canada needed to design not just for expression, but for usability, adaptability, and cultural relevance.

The Solution

As Creative Director, I led the creation of a living, scalable brand system that worked in real time—often ahead of the global rollout. We developed a modular toolkit that respected the essence of the evolving global Masterbrand but expanded it into a usable system tailored for Canada. This included category-level sub-branding, tone-of-voice guidance, and templates for every touchpoint: from B2C and B2B marketing to internal communications, digital products, signage, and beyond. We ensured the system was intuitive enough to be picked up by anyone—from seasoned designers to front-line communications teams—allowing rapid adoption across the business. The brand tools were created with flexibility and clarity at their core, enabling teams to execute confidently while remaining aligned with global standards. In essence, we didn’t just roll out a rebrand—we helped define what it would become.