New Branding: It’s So Exciting, We’re About to Burst

Part 1 of a 2-Part Series

I bet many of you have had a sneak peek at our new branding. Maybe it was something like an email signature or a sign in a photo that left you wondering, “What is that and what does it mean?”

For more than a year, teams across every region have collaborated to discover the essence of Westcon-Comstor. We discovered that there was a disconnect.

Many saw Westcon and Comstor as two separate companies. Some believed that Westcon or Comstor in one region was a different entity than Westcon or Comstor in another region. And there was a lot of confusion about where WestconGroup fit in.

Through conscientious contemplation, in-depth discussions and painstaking hard work, we found the root of what makes us who we are.

Who Are We?

Though we are in the IT business, we are still humans in a relationship with other humans — and how we make them feel matters. If we’re not all on the same page when it comes to the WestconGroup company and our Westcon-Comstor brands, then we are nowhere.

WestconGroup Inc. remains our our legal corporate name. It will be used in the context of legal, compliance and financial matters. The new logo includes a reference that our brands are “powered by WestconGroup.”

For our go-to-market strategy, we have merged our legacy brands, Westcon and Comstor into Westcon-Comstor. This consolidation gives us an opportunity companywide to solidify our brand and to grow in the channel without impacting the way we do business or enacting any organizational changes.

Through Westcon-Comstor, we offer seven Practices that are comprised of four technologies and three capabilities. The four technologies, Security, Unified Communications and Collaboration, Networking and Data Center, are offered to our reseller partners through either Westcon or Comstor. Westcon encompasses a variety of industry-leading vendors, while Comstor is our Cisco-centric brand. Our three capabilities are offered through Westcon-Comstor and include Cloud, Services and Global Deployment.

What Makes Us Unique?

As a value-added distributor, Westcon-Comstor is at the forefront of transforming distribution by enabling our partners to meet their customers’ needs now and pursue new opportunities with physical, digital and hybrid IT platforms, products, services and solutions. Our passion is to partner with vendors, solution providers, system integrators and service providers to deliver results together, enabling them to achieve the fastest time to revenue.

Westcon-Comstor understands that in order to be successful today, none of us can do it alone. We are here to be a trusted advisor, investing in our partners’ futures by providing access to market knowledge and technical expertise that will uncover new business opportunities. Through our enablement and engagement programs, we help maximize business performance for the long term, as well as capitalize on emerging IT opportunities.

Our teams take great pride in addressing and responding to partner needs, creating an exceptional experience unlike any other in the channel. Through our global presence and the diverse makeup of our teams, we encourage innovation, creativity and fun when it comes to business. By taking a collaborative, channel-centric approach that is committed to excellence every step of the way, we help our partners achieve greater success.

The Burst

We have joined our go-to-market brands with a piece of graphic iconography we call the Burst. The Burst isn’t just an amazing piece of graphic design. It also tells the Westcon-Comstor story through color, composition and placement.

The Burst is comprised of the seven flashes representing each of our Practices. Each flash has evolved to include pixels on the outer edges expanding outward and creating a sense of motion to tell the story of how we are always reaching for opportunities and moving forward.

The flashes overlap as they come to create the center of the Burst. This overlapping visually explains the interconnectivity of our Practices, the coming together of our brands, the collaboration between our global regions and the commitment we have to work closely with our vendor partners and customers to deliver success.

Placed between our two brands, Westcon and Comstor, the Burst connects these brands and creates one cohesive logo.

Brand Ambassadors

We are all brand ambassadors and the consistency of our brand depends on you. Each of us plays a big role in successfully representing our company and brands.

When a partner, customer or prospect sees the Westcon-Comstor brand and hears our consistent message, it reinforces our unique selling points in their minds. The more familiar they become with who we are, the more they will learn to put their trust in us.

And we all know people tend to do business with people and companies they trust.

This is your chance to embrace the powerful changes within our company. Check with your regional marketing lead to find out what marketing tools you should be using. Remember, if you get the new branding from a source other than your regional marketing lead, you may end up with the wrong look.

You can get started now with your ambassadorship by downloading the new email signature template. Visit the Download Center on the Westcon-Comstor intranet to get the template and easy-to-use instructions.

What We Say and How We Say It

In the next issue of Connections, we’ll ask some questions, find some answers and discover what it means to tell the consistent, and memorable, story of Westcon-Comstor.