Refreshing a brand: How the International Institute for Management Development (IMD) partnered with 24Slides to transform a staggering 6,000 slides
When IMD, a renowned independent academic institute with campuses in Lausanne and Singapore as well as a Management Development Hub in Shenzhen, embarked on a brand refresh exercise, they quickly encountered a challenge: they needed to adapt a large amount of teaching slides accordingly – within a short amount of time. Enter professional presentation design company 24Slides – and the result was not just a brand refresh success, but presentations with enhanced visual appeal and satisfied faculty members.
Renowned for delivering impactful learning experiences to individuals and teams across the globe, IMD has recently undergone a brand refresh, adopting a more modern and bold visual identity. Faced with the task of updating thousands of teaching slides according to the refreshed identity ensuring a coherent and compelling brand experience for IMD’s program participants, the marketing team quickly realized that they would need to get some support.
“We were under significant time constraints, and yet we needed to update every single touchpoint, including all teaching presentations. This was going to be a significant challenge.”
Katharina Waters
Corporate Brand Specialist
What they needed was a partner who truly understood branding and had the expertise to help deliver a consistent and premium look across all presentations. That’s when 24Slides entered the picture, offering a dedicated design team and a collaborative approach. “When we discovered 24Slides, we were immediately impressed by their competitive pricing, responsiveness and effective communication,” says Waters. “Their professionalism convinced us that they were the perfect match for us.”
About IMD
Established over 75 years ago, IMD is a pioneer in leadership development and organizational transformation
Led by a diverse and expert faculty, IMD operates campuses in Lausanne and Singapore, with a Management Development Hub in Shenzhen
IMD is the trusted choice for ambitious individuals and organizations globally, offering top-ranked executive education and degree programs
Programs consistently rank among the world's best by prestigious institutions like the Financial Times, Bloomberg, and Forbes
IMD's unique approach emphasizes real learning with real impact, translating into meaningful organizational and societal change
Through research, programs, and advisory work, IMD enables business leaders to find innovative solutions and challenge the status quo
Laying the foundations for a successful collaboration
To kickstart the collaboration, 24Slides conducted a workshop with the aim of bringing everyone together, allowing IMD to thoroughly train the design team on the brand guidelines, and provide insight into IMD’s identity and teaching presentations. This laid a solid foundation for success.
“The brand workshop was instrumental in fostering a shared understanding of goals and expectations, ultimately paving the way for a successful partnership between 24Slides and IMD in which openness and flexibility have been key,” Water says.
“This proactive approach not only confirmed to us that 24Slides were committed to understanding our vision, but it also laid the groundwork for a collaborative and productive working relationship”
Katharina Waters
Corporate Brand Specialist
On flexibility, Tania Verma, Head of New Business Sales at 24Slides, explains that having a large pool of designers at their disposal has proved a significant advantage. “With nearly 250 expert designers, we’re well-equipped to manage large volumes of work, without delay, when clients like IMD reach out to us. When demand peaks suddenly and unexpectedly, we can take the pressure off existing in-house resources and free up their time for other pressing work. We’re the dedicated additional resource they can scale up and down as needed, with speedy turnaround at all times.”
A pioneering platform
Also central to the success of the collaboration was 24Slides’ innovative digital platform, which streamlined project management and facilitated transparent communication between the design team and IMD. This infrastructure allowed IMD to track progress and provide feedback in real time, ensuring a collaborative and efficient workflow with agility at its core.
“The 24Slides platform acts as a digital project manager of sorts, coordinating all project tasks and playing a crucial role in making big projects like these feasible,” Verma explains.
“The platform is fully encrypted and secure and allows clients to track progress, provide feedback in real time and mark slides as completed when they’re happy with them. This kind of structured workflow is essential for us to be able to manage and deliver on projects like these successfully.”
Tania Verma
Head of New Business Sales at 24Slides
Tangible impact and brand integrity intact
The feedback from IMD suggests that the collaboration with 24Slides made a tangible impact. An overwhelming majority of faculty who made use of the redesign services rated the overall quality of design as excellent and found the redesigned decks to be much improved compared to their own originals. Moreover, a significant number reported that the redesign help contributed to substantial time savings – as much as three hours on average per deck.
“24Slides has demonstrated a strong commitment to upholding brand guidelines while respecting the unique presentation styles of faculty members, showcasing flexibility and openness to individual approaches to work. They also recognize the importance of maintaining a personal touch.”
Katharina Waters
Corporate Brand Specialist
By leveraging the expertise and flexible approach of 24Slides, IMD managed to successfully navigate the complexities of refreshing their brand, all while saving time and maintaining the integrity of their faculty presentations.