Publyon
culture
strategy
expression
Mar 2023
Story: Publyon
As founders pass the torch, a new generation steps forward. For Dröge & van Drimmelen and Dr2, we helped unite a network of consultancies into one brand, Publyon, with a shared purpose, a human story, and an identity built to innovate for a more sustainable world.
Publyon
Two well-respected consultancies in Dutch and European public affairs, Dröge & van Drimmelen and Dr2, arrived at the same turning point on slightly different tracks. The founders who had built the firms were passing the torch. A new generation of partners was taking over, and they didn't want to just keep the lights on. They wanted public affairs work that did more than manage reputations in Brussels and The Hague, and they wanted it under one roof.
The easy version of that plan is a new logo and a press release. The harder version is to figure out what these two firms actually stand for, together, and then commit to it in public.
Listening to the partners, not to the press release
We worked directly with the new partner group, plus teams from both firms, through intensive co-creation. Structured sessions with honest conversations about what the firms were already doing well, what they quietly pretended to be doing well, and what they actually wanted to be known for ten years from now.
Using 23plusone we tested which of the 24 fundamental human drivers were shared across both cultures. Mastery of complex systems, all the way. Responsibility towards society, strongly. And a quieter one that only came up once the partners stopped giving the polite industry answer: optimism. A real belief that policy work, done with the right intent, can still move things in a better direction. That became the sentence the new brand would have to carry without irony.
"BR-ND People helped us unite not just our labels, but our visions under one flag that we all stand behind with pride." Publyon partner
A name, a narrative and a promise that goes past lobbying
Out of that came Publyon, launched in March 2023, with a tagline that does actual work: Beyond Public Affairs. A clean forward-facing identity that replaced the founders' names without erasing their legacy, and a promise that the firm is here to contribute to a better society, not just to keep a client's quarterly story tidy.
That promise matters in this industry. Beyond Public Affairs is only credible if the people living the brand actually want it to be true. The co-creation was what made sure they did.
View the Publyon brand book on Issuu
Turning a founder-led firm into a next-generation brand?
If your organisation is going through a generational shift, or bringing two legacy firms together under new leadership, there's a way to honour what the founders built while giving the next generation a brand they can actually carry with conviction. Let's talk about it.
Reach out to Kim or Alexander if you're looking for something similar