Observing the evolution of the Beekeeper Group brand is like watching the arc of a company finding its own unique identity within the public affairs space. Our brand journey clearly reflects growth from a foundational, industry-specific identity to a modern, colorful, unique brand presence.
Let’s break down the brand vibe of each stage:
Stage 1: The Bee and Honeycomb
Vibe: Energetic, approachable, literal, and industry-rooted.
When the four founding partners of the firm were building Beekeeper’s brand, they knew they wanted to emulate community building and the ethos behind grassroots advocacy. A suggestion of a “Beekeeper” concept, leveraging the literal bee as a symbol of community, hard work, and industry, felt like a unique and perfect fit for the company. The logo’s 3D and color shading added a friendly, slightly playful, and high-energy feel. The hexagon in the background emphasizes our language around building a Hive, and helping to build a solid and connected foundation for our clients. The founding partners chose a name with a built in mascot and leaned into the vibe. This brand helped us stand out in the crowd among more mature industry players.
The first website we launched in 2010 leaned very heavily into the “web 2.0” trends that were prevalent at the time. The site included our blog that we called Hive Talkin’, social media feeds that included the ability to “check-in” on Foursquare or follow our feed of shared bookmarks on del.icio.us, and a quiz to determine if you were a beekeeper or a groundskeeper (our subtle jab at fake grassroots campaigns.) We also had an explainer animation – a new concept back in 2010 – that expanded upon our “hive-centric” model of advocacy. Looking at the site now, it definitely reflects our “new kids in town” vibe and the optimism of the social web of early 2010’s.
This logo served us well in our early years, creating instant recognition and a memorable, service-oriented identity. It focused on the name and its literal meaning, which was great for building initial awareness.
Stage 2: The Modern Monogram
Vibe: Sophisticated, minimalist, confident, and professional.
In 2019, we made a bold, strategic pivot. By distilling our identity down to the stylized “B” monogram on a striking yellow square, the focus shifted from the literal bee to the brand as an institution. The design is abstract, referencing our use of bee imagery in the creation of a bee-stripe stinger and the use of black and yellow as our primary colors. The simple, strong black sans-serif font reinforces our authority and confidence as a company that is making its mark in the public affairs landscape. With this brand change, we wanted to keep what made us unique, but help our cleverness shine. We wanted our external brand image to fit closer to our internal brand identity.
Our brand assets at the time emulated a similar change – our website leaned on pops of color, with slick use of black and white for imagery.
This evolution signaled that we’ve moved past our initial recognition phase and are solidifying our status as a major player. We wanted to be seen as a mature, sophisticated partner. The “B” is now a standalone asset, capable of representing our brand across diverse digital platforms and high-level stages.
Stage 3: Bold and Colorful
Vibe: Clean, bold, open, balanced
Now we welcome phase three! A magic merging of both worlds. This updated logo still relies on our iconic ‘B’, but with a new balanced weight that feels just a touch more playful. Our updated font was already a part of our brand, but using it in our logo feels more like us–more open, more sure, and more relaxed.
Our updated website is really where you see this new brand shine. We are leaning in to the colorful, playful instincts we always had and letting them take center stage. There is still a boldness that has always been a hallmark of our brand, we have always been making our mark! But this evolution feels like we are fully letting our creativity and personality shine through. What does this new evolution for Beekeeper mean for us? We want anyone in our orbit to feel like they know who we are. And not just ‘we’, meaning the company as a whole. We look forward to giving you opportunities to get to know all of the members of the Beekeeper team and their contributions that make us an award-winning public affairs firm.