ABB is a global technology leader in electrification and automation, operating in more than 100 countries. As part of its broader “Next Level” strategy to become faster, leaner, and more digitally ready, ABB embarked on an extensive global rebrand that included the migration of legacy brands to the ABB Masterbrand. The goal: to consolidate more than 20 brands — including high-equity names like Thomas & Betts and GE Industrial Solutions — under a single, unified ABB identity.
Challenge
ABB’s Next Level transformation required more than a new visual identity. The company needed to harmonise a diverse brand portfolio, simplify brand architecture, and ensure global consistency, while also managing ongoing internal restructuring.
The challenge lay in balancing ambition with pragmatism: ensuring business continuity, protecting valuable brand equity in key markets, and coordinating dozens of workstreams across functions, geographies, and legacy brand cultures.
Solution
Strategic migration planning
VIM Group began with a comprehensive Impact Analysis, modelling multiple rollout scenarios and migration strategies. Through workshops with legacy brand teams, we assessed risks and opportunities around revenue, market presence, customer loyalty, and regional factors. This gave ABB’s senior leadership the clarity needed to approve an ambitious 1-2 year rollout.
Global brand migration blueprint and governance
We developed ABB’s brand migration blueprint: a scalable framework with detailed toolkits, guidelines, and governance processes to empower local markets while ensuring global consistency. This framework created the foundation for a structured, disciplined rollout that minimised disruption and delivered efficiencies.
Embedded PMO leadership
From ABB’s Zurich headquarters, VIM co-led the Global PMO in full confidentiality alongside a small group of trusted agencies. We coordinated planning, applied design, milestone tracking, and budget oversight across physical and digital workstreams, ensuring visibility and control throughout the programme.
For the earlier brand transformation programme, we also led pilot initiatives — including in Germany — to refine rollout approaches. These pilots established best practices, tested governance structures, and produced practical toolkits that later supported other markets, reducing risk and accelerating adoption.
Implementation and technical support
VIM supported ABB across both the execution of key workstreams and the specialist services that ensured efficient, scalable delivery.
Key workstreams included:
Site signage and real estate: managing the rebrand of more than 900 global locations.
Workwear, fleet, and packaging: aligning rollouts with production and replacement cycles to avoid unnecessary costs.
Specialist services delivered across these workstreams included:
Supplier management and value engineering: optimising vendor selection and ensuring high-quality, cost-efficient execution.
Technical brand translation: converting creative brand principles into detailed, manufacturer-ready specifications for practical, scalable application.
Tailored legacy brand strategies
Where brand equity and loyalty were particularly strong, such as with Thomas & Betts, a phased endorsement strategy was developed to ensure a smooth transition and protect market confidence. For GE Industrial Solutions, existing brand equity was leveraged during early phases before a full migration to the ABB Masterbrand.
Product portfolio alignment
In parallel, we supported ABB in streamlining its extensive product portfolio. This included introducing a mix of direct and staged migration approaches to simplify product branding while safeguarding customer trust, helping ABB reinforce Masterbrand consistency without compromising established market relationships.
Results
With VIM Group’s strategic foresight and operational guidance, ABB successfully executed a global Masterbrand migration with measurable impact:
20+ legacy brands migrated into the ABB Masterbrand within the planned 1–2 year timeframe across physical and digital channels, with only strategic exceptions.
900+ sites worldwide rebranded, coordinated across real estate and physical environments with minimal operational disruption.
25,000 employees supported, equipped with frameworks, toolkits, and local PMOs to drive adoption.
Budget efficiency achieved through lifecycle-aligned rollouts, supplier optimisation, and transparent financial governance.
Sustainable governance and playbooks developed, enabling ABB to continue applying these structures for future acquisitions and transitions.
By combining technical expertise, robust governance, and hands-on support, VIM Group enabled ABB to deliver one of the largest global Masterbrand migrations, building long-term consistency, preserving brand equity, and supporting ABB’s worldwide growth.
20+
brands unified globally
900+
sites rebranded
25,000+
staff supported
