Redesigning the Structured Cable Industry

For most workplaces, there exists a top-notch high-speed network, a whole universe of thought, labor, and physical parts and pieces tucked away inside office walls. Until nflexon came along, most companies who installed networks were beholden to mega-distributors, forced into uneven loyalties that didn’t help them woo small businesses lacking the budget to be up-sold whenever the maker came out with a “better-than” product.

nflexon envisioned the structured cable industry as more accessible and human, helping serve the mid-size companies that were feeling lost when communicating with the corporate big dogs. So, we wondered, how do we simply yet effectively brand and market a company with not only a complex, uber-proprietary offering but an ambitious vision to change the entire IT industry’s business model?

Finding the Brand

We started by dissecting nflexon’s purpose and building it into brand installers and customers alike could relate to. Dawn is the “inflection” point between night and day—a birth of sorts with renewed chances and most importantly, an opportunity to do things differently. We realized what nflexon proposes is a “new day” for the IT industry; a chance for small installers to break free from the traditional distributor model and partner up with someone who could offer them more—an ecosystem in which everyone, including customers, work together to ensure IT installation and management works for everybody up and down the chain. We turned this into an optimistic brand position with a smart but simplified voice: It’s a New Day for IT.

Empathize with the Audience

At its core, the nflexon brand is built on the understanding that installers are humans. So are customers. Both needed each other to be successful. And nflexon could help. To help the company get the word out that it was in the game to change the rules, and make things easier, we created a brand strategy built on four pillars: Disruption, Transparency, Loyalty and Community. We created web and brochure content that served as a rallying cry, inviting installers to join nflexon’s network and customers to consider the company a candid partner who pulls no punches and installs great fiber.

A Friendly, Humanized Logo

With the brand defined, it was time to bring it to life. When people look at nflexon, we want them to see a company designed for everyday people. The wordmark was crafted to be fluid and flexible with lowercase lettering that makes it approachable and friendly, just like the company. Softly curved letters humanized a simple word while a subtly converging “x” represented an inflexion point, crossed paths coming together while the points, not too dissimilar from the head of an arrow, move forward towards a new day in the world of IT.

A Pop of Color in a Dark IT World

Yellow was a key element in the overall design. In a corporate sea of dark greens and blues, nflexon freshened the IT world up with a bright, energetic and uplifting palette. Every piece of packaging was designed with the nflexon ‘x’ brilliantly overlapping as an intersection or inflexion point. We stamped the company’s logo and signature converging “x” on dozens of the company’s products from cables and patch panels to wall jacks and couplers, ensuring anyone who looks can connect and collaborate digitally to the sunny IT company with plans to change the industry for the better.

Each piece of product, from t-shirts to business cards and letterheads, displayed the new welcoming colors and logos letting the IT world know there was something new and different in the industry ready to shake things up. Photography included perfectly coiled cables and cords, showing the simplicity and ease of what would otherwise be perceived as a convoluted technical company.

Welcome to the New Normal

For corporate websites, the unwelcoming colors and high-tech jargon can confuse any visitor who doesn’t know exactly what they need. We wanted nflexon’s site to sound like visitors were talking to a friend. The easy human language created an understandable website for users while warm colors and pleasing imagery invited customers to stay and find exactly what they’re looking for. Welcomed with copy such as “Embrace the New Normal” meant nflexon’s impact on a troublesome cabling industry left both installers and customers feeling empowered.

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