ManhattanLife

Rebranding a Storied Insurer to Drive Nationwide Expansion

To compete and win in highly competitive national markets, we previously rebranded ManhattanLife, a supplemental insurance company, creating a modern brand that honors its New York roots and empowering its producer network with sales tools that drive distribution growth. To celebrate the brand’s 175th anniversary, we lit up Times Square with an animated campaign, pairing legendary historic photos with modern, branded elements across two colossal screens that rise 22 stories high.

Challenge

Legacy regional brand lacked modern presence to drive national growth
Previously, the brand was perceived as traditional, lacking a contemporary identity to realize its growth ambitions.

Solution

Comprehensive rebranding
Modernize ManhattanLife’s positioning, brand assets and visibility to become a nationally recognized insurance brand.

Result

National recognition and market growth
Our comprehensive rebranding delivered market expansion, established national positioning and generated measurable business momentum.

Colorful ribbon timeline winding around Statue of Liberty torch with historic years from 1894 to 2025.

Historic black-and-white Statue of Liberty photo overlaid with bold teal sketch lines emphasizing the figure.

Stylized illustrated portrait of a man outlined in orange and black on a cream background.

Standing By You Since 1850 tagline with teal and orange paint-like brush strokes on cream background.

ManhattanLife logo with hand-drawn Statue of Liberty above teal and black ManhattanLife wordmark on light background.

An example of the font used for ManhattanLife's brand

Teal

Black

Yellow

Orange

Green

Sky Blue

Blue Grey

Dark Teal

Black ManhattanLife pen with teal clip lying in a beam of light on concrete surface.

S&B branded wall paper next to a set of stairs

“A Contemporary Brand Expression that Honors Authentic Legacy”

We leveraged the legacy strengths of ManhattanLife and the trust it built over generations with a narrative that chronicled landmark moments from 1850 to the present while emphasizing transformation.

Key to the new branding was the design of the new logo, which featured the Statue of Liberty—symbolizing reliability and integrity, and honoring the company's New York roots.

ManhattanLife 175th anniversary newspaper ad featuring illustrated Statue of Liberty with teal accents and the line ‘175 years. And still standing tall.

A digital stand next to an escalator with the an S&B

Turn Your Regional Strengths into National Scale

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From Colors to Visuals, We Created an Engaging Balance of Heritage and Modern Innovation

With contemporary colors, illustrations and vibrant photography, the website is anchored by the tagline, “Standing by You. Since 1850,” celebrating ManhattanLife’s history while conveying that ‘Life’ represents more than life insurance—it's about helping policyholders achieve health, wealth and security.

ManhattanLife website hero banner showing two figures pulling back blue curtains to reveal healthcare data icons and Statue of Liberty torch, with headline about integrity and innovation.

Two tablets showing ManhattanLife anniversary articles with illustrated employee portraits and testimonials.

Two tablets displaying ManhattanLife website pages with Statue of Liberty imagery and product categories.

Illustration of two figures pulling back blue curtains to reveal data graphics and a Statue of Liberty torch icon.

Impact

Winning the Seal of Smart Marketing

Capturing acclaim and markets

Since 2019, we have worked with ManhattanLife to maintain its presence as an industry leader, helping them grow with award-winning communications.

Awards

2023 AMA Crystal Award
Email Communication Campaign
2023 HBMA Lantern Award
Email Communication Campaign

Impact

Designed new brand to successfully compete against peers in a competitive marketplace
Times Square takeover celebrating 175 years of industry leadership
National market expansion leveraged acquisition spotlight into measurable growth
Award-winning producer email campaigns drove 340% engagement increase and distribution growth
Average 34.76% email open rate, a 61% increase compared to Insurance Industry

More Impactful Work

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From established companies to start-ups, we support you with innovative strategies and approaches to help you build and strengthen your brand and achieve your full potential.

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