Rebranding

Founded by a highly-respected team who have been at the forefront of Islamic alternative investments for more than 20 years, RiverCrossing connects Islamic investors with ethical, institutional real estate opportunities in core markets.

With their old identity no longer representative of their aspirations, they briefed us to create a distinctive brand experience that was visually appealing and understandable across many cultures.

As the discovery stage of our process progressed, we noticed that connectivity was a recurrent theme that was often spoken about with great enthusiasm. So, taking this fundamental characteristic as a basis for the brand strategy, “connecting capital” alluded to the idea that by aggregating their investors’ capital, and creating institutional-size commitments, they gave private investors access to opportunities they could not invest in alone. To paraphrase Aristotle, the whole in this business was definitely greater than the sum of the parts.

As we started work on the brand identity, we suggested that rather than talking about the crossing of the river, they should be more overt in describing themselves as the bridge that spans, joins and connects their markets. Aside from being an appropriate and recognisable metaphor, we also liked the idea that Shari’ah means ‘the path to the watering place’ in Arabic.

Focusing on the ‘O’ in the name, we created an iconic bridge and reflection to give RiverCrossing a logo that not only aligned with their brand narrative but quite literally, crossed the river.

Our solution for the new, responsive website simplified the complexity of their offer and provided an interactive solution that not only had a good user-experience, but also had an engaging tone of voice. The brevity of our writing told their story in an engaging way, and the dynamic photography gave them a strong visual language to apply across all collateral.

The new identity is now being rolled out across the business.

What we did
Brand strategy / Brand identity / Brand communications: Website / Promotional material / Copywriting / Art direction