Standard Life (formerly Phoenix Group) set out to transition to a single masterbrand, consolidating corporate, customer-facing and employer brands under the Standard Life name.
VIM Group had previously supported the organisation. In 2021, while Phoenix Group was refreshing its corporate brand, we carried out an Impact Analysis across its branded touchpoints to help the team understand what migrating its multi-brand portfolio would mean in practice, including the implications, risks, costs and rollout options.
For the 2025/26 transition to Standard Life, Day 1 was fixed for March 2026 and the programme was already well underway. The challenge was the number of moving parts and dependencies that needed to land in sync to protect business continuity and brand confidence. VIM Group was brought back to validate readiness, strengthen delivery control, and help the organisation make pragmatic decisions as launch pressure increased.
Challenge
A masterbrand transition is a cross-functional change effort. Hard dependencies sit across governance, technology, operations, HR, legal entities, customer communications and physical environments.
Standard Life needed to land Day 1 confidently while:
coordinating multiple workstreams running in parallel
clarifying ownership and decision-making, with an effective SteerCo rhythm and a workable RACI
protecting business continuity for customers and colleagues
The requirement was not to restart the programme. It was to pressure-test what already existed, identify where dependencies, decisions or capacity could affect progress, and tighten the route to launch. With multiple workstreams moving in parallel and Day 1 approaching, there was limited room for rework and little margin for decisions to be revisited.
Solution
Independent readiness assessment and programme optimisation
We reviewed plans, governance and delivery structures to identify risks, gaps and dependencies across the programme. The output was a clear set of recommendations to increase control and reduce delivery risk ahead of Day 1.
Governance, PMO and decision-making support
We strengthened the foundations that enable complex programmes to move quickly without losing control. This included clarifying ownership (RACI), sharpening escalation routes, and improving SteerCo and working-group alignment so decisions could be made and communicated consistently.
Critical path and phased rollout planning
We validated and refined the critical path already defined by the internal Brand team, working with them to introduce phased delivery thinking (Day 1, Day 2 and Day 3) supported by MVP principles.
Pinch-point advisory through to launch
As the timeline tightened, we stayed close to the programme team for real-time problem-solving and expert judgement. The focus was on avoiding avoidable rework, removing bottlenecks, and keeping momentum without compromising quality.
What we built on
The 2021 Impact Analysis gave the organisation a practical lens on the trade-offs involved in brand migration – pace versus cost, consistency versus local constraints, and where phased approaches could protect both brand equity and delivery certainty.
In 2025/26, the team applied that thinking to the transition and worked with VIM Group again to validate and refine the plan as execution risk increased.
Ben Rhodes, Group Brand and Marketing Director, Standard Life
Results
The programme moved into Day 1 with stronger control and fewer surprises:
Clear visibility of readiness and delivery risk
Stronger governance, prioritisation and alignment across workstreams
A more controlled and achievable Day 1 launch, supported by a phased plan beyond Day 1
1
masterbrand launched
12m
customers supported
£300bn
assets managed
