STYLEPARK GIRA
An invitation to exchange ideas

Fabian Peters: As of very recently, Gira has adopted a new brand philosophy and a new visual identity. What was the thinking behind so thoroughly revising the corporate identity in this way?

Torben Bayer: For many people, Gira was and is the light switch brand. Now that is, of course, where our roots lie. But Gira has long since become far more, for example, we’re one of the pioneers of the Smart Home. And this is what we want to showcase more clearly now, especially as regards our end customers, who thanks to digitization have more influence on the choice of brand and products when it comes to the technical fit-out of their homes.

Gira has long since become the real epitome of light switches. Do you want to change that?

Torben Bayer: We continue to be the company who does the “On” and “Off”, but we are also the company that handles the whole gamut in-between. Namely the people who with their systems deliver a world free of worries, a world of security, safety, wellbeing, creativity and freedom, a joie de vivre that goes beyond the products themselves. Now that joie de vivre, and we call it the “Gira Moment”, is of course decisively driven by all of those who are involved in advising on, planning and installing our solutions. The collaboration with them has always been close to our hearts, and is all the more important to us today.

What core elements go to make up the new corporate identity?

Torben Bayer: The new formulation of how we see our brand forms the basis of it all. As regards the visualization, we have actively prioritized the “Gira Moment”, namely the emotional experience of our solutions and the added value each offers. This is highlighted in particular in the themes and films we now use. The new corporate identity blends that emotionality with a design focus on the essentials, which is what Gira’s visual vocabulary and communication has always underscored, just as do the products themselves.

How do you enable clients to experience the “Gira Moment”?

Torben Bayer: In our communications effort we are deliberately asking provocative questions that are intended to show that even after 100 years we are still busy developing visions for a new understanding of technology. For example: Is intuition not the best control element there is? Or: Can rooms learn from us? Over and above conveying information in this way we want above all to touch the minds of our customers, surprise them, get them involved and curious to find out more, while at the same time providing orientation and help in their decision-making processes.

What image of itself does Gira express with the new corporate identity?

Torben Bayer: We see ourselves as the people who are helping to outfit the world with new solutions: as your doormen, as your innovators, Smart-Home pioneers, improvers, systems thinkers, KNX partners, forward designers, patent kings, award winners and designers. At heart, however, we remain engineers who want to amaze you. Fire your enthusiasm for new technologies, smart products, and compelling design. We see ourselves as visionaries who keep our feet firmly on the ground. That’s nothing new for us, we’ve always seen ourselves this way. We’ve simply found a new way of formulating it.

New content, new visual identity – how are you conveying both to your customers?

Torben Bayer: We have always used the entire spectrum of communication media to stay in contact with our target groups but have in recent years been exploiting the opportunities afforded by online communications. The current contact restriction simply serve to emphasize how important this is. Digital communications offer a whole lot more than did the classical media, for example when it comes to online interactive dialog. How we see ourselves again defines the approach we have taken: We’re the people who listen and in dialog with you develop new solutions.

With these new communications measures who are you focusing on in particular as a target group?

Torben Bayer: Without doubt one key new feature is that we are gearing our communications more toward the end customers. We hope this will give us new insights into how our solutions are actually used. If we think of the market more from the perspective of the end customer we will devise with new solutions that will enable us as a medium-sized company to play an independent role when it comes to major themes such as Smart Home/Smart Building.

Does the new corporate identity also give an idea of how Gira intends to develop going forward?

Torben Bayer: The CI is the launchpad for a new understanding of what contribution Gira seeks to contribute to providing technological support for everyday life. That entails new stimuli for our product development effort, for innovative new applications and services, for cooperation with other brands and networks relating to buildings – and in the final instance for collaboration with architects and planners. It is they who develop the visions for buildings and life in them. Gira wants to enter into active conversations with them. And our new corporate identity is meant to constitute an invitation for precisely such a dialog.