Two trophies for Dacia at the 2022 Top/Com Awards: Best visual identity & Best sonic identity

THE NEW BRAND IDENTITY WINS ACCLAIM WITH TWO TOP/COM AWARDS

The TOP/COM Corporate Business Awards just took place in Paris for its 24^th consecutive year. Composed of professionals working in marketing, communications and HR departments, the jury bestowed two accolades upon Dacia for recent changes to its brand identity. The new visual and sound identities were each awarded the gold trophy in their respective categories.

CONSISTENCY ACROSS THE BOARD

In the summer of 2021, Dacia took the world by surprise once again as it unveiled its new visual and sound identities as part of its new brand platform. The logo and emblem, along with the sound and visual identities made their first appearance on communication channels. The change came to a head towards the end of the year with the whole range and the first points of sale finally bearing the fully fledged identity.

In the world of Dacia, everything happens for a reason, and marketing is no exception. Essential, simple, authentic, and robust products: these values were primary drivers of the creative process as Dacia’s Design, Marketing, and Communications teams worked in close collaboration with creative agencies Sixième Son, Carré noir, and Black Foundry. In running a cohesive and simultaneous campaign, the brand was able to leverage simplicity for greater impact.

ESSENTIAL AND AUTHENTIC

The new logotype, emblem, and visual universe portray a contemporary take on Dacia's values of essential, affordable products and reflect the brand’s simplicity, sturdiness, and authenticity. The lettering is deliberately minimalist and pared-back. Julie, Lead Designer in charge of the visual identity, says, “In designing the logo we were inspired by objects found in garages and mechanics: gears, chains, tools... all of them were objects that are often associated with being robust, reliable, and functional.”

The new colour palette and iconography is evocative of nature, the great outdoors, and the brand’s authentic side. The visual identity is in perfect harmony with the sound identity.

The new Dacia sound is a custom-made proprietary sound that combines three main components:

• A main theme that embodies the ‘arrow’ created by the ‘D’ of the logo
• A feeling of outside motion and the open air conveyed through a vibrating expanding rhythm
• A simple, unique, and recognisable melody

Harris’ brand performance platform shows that a brand’s sound identity, when created specifically for the brand, is more effective than piggy-backing of the success of known theme. The creative process Dacia chose helped convey a more efficient, long-lasting, and authentic message. According to Harris polls, 80% of people believe that Dacia’s new sound scape and logo are a perfect match for each other, 70% see themselves as prospective customers, and two-thirds feel closer to the brand.

Xavier Martinet, Dacia SVP Sales and Marketing, reiterates how wide reaching the message is:

"Dacia likes to throw away the rule book of automotives by constantly rethinking what is essential in a car as it designs no-frills products and services that are robust, efficient, and in synch with the current era.
We just launched five major products in under 18 months, and all are selling fantastically well.
The new identity is set to reflect the momentum and modern spin being given to the brand without undermining Dacia’s original promise of offering unrivalled value for money. So, I am very proud of these two awards that highlight and acknowledge all the hard yards put in by our teams in such a short span of time."