Before

Legacy Adecco branding showing a clean corporate layout with the red Adecco logo, simple typography and minimal imagery, representing the brand’s previous visual identity before its ‘Real work. Real people.’ redesign.

After

Updated Adecco brand identity featuring bold red typography, candid imagery of people at work, and the message ‘Real work. Real people.’ in a warm, human-centered visual style.
The challenge

A global brand for 
a global business

Despite its global footprint, Adecco didn’t look or feel like a global business.

There was no connecting thread. In each of its 65 markets the brand was being interpreted differently, with campaigns and imagery varying widely from country to country.

At the same time, the recruitment industry itself had become generic. Brand audits showed a sea of cold, corporate design and stock imagery. For an category built around people and work, most brands barely reflected either.

Inside the business, the reality was very different. Adecco’s consultants are passionate about helping people build careers and connecting businesses with talent, but the brand didn’t reflect that humanity.

Our task was clear: we needed to simplify the identity, unify global execution, and create a brand that could operate consistently across markets while still allowing local teams to express their culture.

Adecco office space featuring modern interiors with integrated red brand accents, clean layouts and people-focused messaging, reflecting the ‘Real work. Real people.’ campaign within a contemporary workplace environment.

Photography

Imagery that shows real working life

The photographic style plays a central role in bringing the brand to life. Moving away from the staged, generic imagery typical of the recruitment category, the new approach captures work as it really is: raw, immediate and unfiltered. Using a distinctive ring-flash style, the images feel closer, more human and more honest, reflecting the environments and experiences of real people at work.

More than an aesthetic choice, the photography is a direct expression of the brand idea Real Work. Real People. It shows the diversity, individuality and reality of working life, not an idealised version of it, helping Adecco present itself with greater authenticity and connect more meaningfully with both candidates and clients.

Adecco digital screen displaying bold red branding and simple, confident messaging, showcasing the ‘Real work. Real people.’ campaign within a clean, modern interface.
Global markets

Global brand. Local soul

We helped Adecco move from a fragmented identity to a coherent global system.

That meant delivering an identity that is:

  • Simple enough to deploy globally.
  • Flexible enough to localize.
  • Distinctive enough to stand out in the category.

A campaign in Japan might look different from one in France or the US. But the underlying brand DNA would remain unmistakably Adecco.

This approach allows the brand to operate as one unified identity with the flexibility to adapt across regions.

To ensure the direction resonated across markets, the work was validated through multiple rounds of testing.

Multiple creative routes were tested with candidates and clients across key markets.

Feedback helped refine messaging and confirm that the final direction resonated internationally, giving us an evidence-based final result.

Adecco branded tote bag featuring bold red typography and clean, minimal design, showcasing the ‘Real work. Real people.’ campaign in a simple, everyday carry format.
Adecco mobile app screen showing a clean, modern interface with bold red branding and people-focused content, highlighting the ‘Real work. Real people.’ campaign within a streamlined digital experience.
“Adecco poster series featuring bold red typography and candid images of people at work, using simple, confident messaging to express the ‘Real work. Real people.’ campaign.
Activation

Bringing the brand to life

The new identity was designed to live in the real world.

In Milan, the brand launched publicly with a bold tram wrap carrying the “Real Work. Real People.” message across the city. A confident, unmissable statement that cut through the noise and brought the new identity into everyday life.

At the same time, the brand was ignited internally through a cascaded launch, building momentum market by market while allowing teams to make it their own. Reaching over 25,000 employees globally, it was supported by a keynote presentation, brand film and toolkit designed to inspire teams and embed the new identity across markets.

In the UK, this aligned with its annual Managers Day leadership event and included a fully immersive brand experience, giving branch managers a powerful first look at the new identity and what it stands for.

These activations proved that the simplified system could travel easily across channels, markets and cultural contexts.

Adecco-branded tram wrapped in bold red graphics and ‘Real work. Real people.’ messaging, moving through a city street as part of a large-scale out-of-home campaign.
Adecco-branded tram wrapped in bold red graphics and ‘Real work. Real people.’ messaging, travelling through a city as part of a high-impact out-of-home advertising campaign.
Adecco-branded tram wrapped in bold red campaign graphics and ‘Real work. Real people.’ messaging, moving through a busy city street as part of a high-visibility out-of-home campaign.
Ambition
Dynamic montage of Adecco campaign visuals showing posters, digital screens, mobile interfaces and real people at work, unified by bold red branding and the ‘Real work. Real people.’ message.

Awakening a sleeping giant

The new identity transforms Adecco from a large but fragmented organization into a brand that behaves like a global business.

Crucially, it gives Adecco’s teams something they previously lacked: a clear and confident way to express what makes them different.

In a sector full of generic messaging and corporate imagery, Adecco now shows work as it really is, through the lens of real people doing real work. A brand to match the scale and ambition of the business.

Back to main case study Explore the digital experience Learn about the verbal identity
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