Celebrating 40 years of globally leading technology The VITRONIC brand, its motivation and its promise
Repositioning a heritage brand
Over the past 40 years, VITRONIC has developed from a small start-up from Germany into a global technology company. The brand has also constantly evolved along with the milestones, and the presentation has been adapted time and again. But the core of the brand is still based on the core values of the initial mission - to create a safe and sustainable world by pushing the boundaries of what is possible.
The VITRONIC brand stands for the highest quality standards in image-based quality inspection, detection, automation and process optimization in the growth sectors of traffic technology and automation.
With new technological concepts and methods, VITRONIC revolutionized the approach to industrial machine vision 40 years ago and has been a driver of innovation in this field ever since. The solutions can be found wherever difficult conditions demand masterly performances from engineers - and where they constantly push the boundaries of the feasible with new ideas. This aspiration spurs us on to help shape the future as an innovative pioneer in every project.
The company was founded in 1984 in a small living room in the German city Wiesbaden. Up to this point, the possibilities of quality inspection outside of medical technology and aerospace were still widely unknown. The first, extremely successful projects quickly resulted in new orders, so that the company, the requirements and the #machinevisionpeople team grew rapidly.
The still young company also had another task: it had to raise awareness of the new technology and, where already known, rebuild the poor image of the " machine vision" solution approach. Building trust in this type of quality inspection was vital for the entire industry. VITRONIC took up this challenge and convinced with added value and customer benefits. In particular, the innovation of speed detection was groundbreaking for awareness, not only in the B2B environment, but also among the general public.
To this day, not everyone agrees with this product, but it has been proven to significantly support the idea of #VisionZero: No more deaths and injuries on the roads.
Our solutions help to improve the lives of individuals and strengthen the economic performance of companies. Their diverse range of applications in urban areas, traffic and transportation infrastructure and industrial environments offers enormous potential - then as now. These facts and the underlying socially beneficial aspect quickly convince our stakeholders over and over again."
The first few years were characterized by rapid growth: innovative solutions for new projects and customers, successfully entering new countries, and various awards repeatedly demonstrated the success in building up VITRONIC and the entire machine vision industry. As the company's success grew, so did its popularity.
The brand in transition from a hidden champion in Germany to a global, technology solutions pioneer
The name of the company was quickly decided: The very clear orientation in machine vision, which could only be realized so well through the teamwork of excellent specialists, allowed only one possibility - VI-tronic
The brand elements: The brand elements consisted of the figurative mark "VI" and the brand name "VITRONIC" from the beginning on. Both were registered as trademarks in 1990. The symbiosis of these elements symbolizes our values such as teamwork, excellence and innovation, which have been at the heart of our brand since its foundation.
The figurative mark: As a visual element, the figurative mark is very quickly learned and recognizable, as it appears concise (round + V + human representation). Above all, it is found in familiar environments and advertising materials.
The word mark: The word mark is always displayed in combination with the figurative mark and combines a quickly learned symbol with a specific company name.
The claim: the third element - “the machine vision people” - once again emphasizes the expert approach in image processing technology. Around 70% of VITRONIC's employees are engineers. They combine specialist knowledge with expertise not only in development, but also in sales, marketing and other areas of the company. This does not correspond to the classic customer promise. It reinforces the original team concept, which provides the basis for the best solutions and the best service for the customer.
Over the 40 years, the logo and design have undergone different variations, each adapted to the latest design trend of the time.
The handover of the founder's management responsibilities to the subsequent CEO Daniel Scholz-Stein in 2020 was taken as an opportunity to align the company, and thus the brand, with the new tasks of the future. Up to this point, VITRONIC was referred to as a “hidden champion”.
Excursus:
In the industrial environment, awareness of companies is often limited and focused on narrow target group segments - the technical experts. They understand and use the solutions directly. However, other "influencers" are often also involved in the customer journey in the decision-making process, who not only use direct media but also other media to gather knowledge. These are often not taken into account in the speeches of industrial companies.
The aim of the global brand perception is to position VITRONIC as a distinctive technology expert that masters the challenges of tomorrow with the help of customer-oriented end-to-end solutions through engineering innovations. A stringent brand management is required that inspires both internally and externally in the long term, demonstrates professional relevance through its numerous successful projects and manages to convey the unique identity with a clear attitude through the design and actions.
People don't follow companies, they follow personalities."
A personality is perceived on the basis of its clear values and attitude - it is therefore advisable to define a brand precisely in terms of this pattern of thinking and remembering.
The joint mission shapes motivation
First of all, the definition of the mission statement, which integrates vision, mission and purpose, forms the basis for all further steps. When VITRONIC was founded 40 years ago, scientific curiosity was at the forefront. Machine vision technology was still in its infancy, which left plenty of scope for young engineers.
The mission of the solutions not only creates satisfaction for customers in the traffic technology and automation sector, but also further added value for individuals: e.g. clean medicines, flawless weld seams in cars and, last but not least, a more efficient, healthy cost structure in the production of companies and fair cost distribution in the use of transport infrastructure.
This impact on improving the quality and safety of life enables a unique sense of responsibility and motivation for employees and has formed a team from the very beginning - the #machinevisionpeople.
This foundation was redefined in the corporate identity with the company's mission statement “We push the boundaries of the feasible to create a safe and sustainable world” and includes the vision, mission, culture, purpose and attitude. They thus form points of reference and enable clear communication with the other party to build trust. A further requirement for the CI is global uniformity - one face to the customer: in the different industry sectors (and therefore customer interests), the different countries, taking into account different cultures and target group segments (from technicians to managing directors, from regulatory officers to own employees), both externally and internally.
This unique identity defines the following values for the entire Group:
The corporate design as a logical conclusion
The VITRONIC mission statement and values were integrated into the latest revision of the corporate identity so that it can be applied authentically worldwide and in every action, including in developments, customer meetings, products, marketing campaigns, office space and in the digital space.
Colors: Our “Leading Blue” is a strong, dark shade of blue that radiates self-confidence, calm and precision. It clearly supports the attitude of a premium sender. It is supported by the light blue, ccc. Both colors are complemented by two shades of green. Our color scheme also includes shades of red, but these are only used in specific situations so as not to break up the calm, self-confident effect. Other vibrant colors (yellow, pink) would also be possible, but we are not a candy manufacturer.
Shapes - structure provides clarity: layouts are always divided into horizontal and vertical surfaces. All surfaces are aligned with each other. Each surface has a function. Even a colored area without other elements such as product images allows the viewer to take a short break from all the messages. It consolidates what has been learned. Rhythm in the layout creates tension, it guides and does not overwhelm. In rhetoric, deliberately placed pauses emphasize one's own sovereignty.
Our presentation can do without dramatic elements such as shadows, curves, slants and transparencies.
Typography: Our VITRONIC font conveys courage, pride and emphasizes expertise. It is used as an accent or informative, creates tension or provides orientation between the many technical and complex pieces of information.
As the main element, the logo is used as a signature = promise. Today, the representation of the figurative mark in combination with the message is often enough to make the sender clear worldwide. In the brand presentation, the claim is used in conjunction with the other two elements, depending on the situation and the message.
The symbiosis of all elements of form, color, image and text creates excitement/attention and allows the essential content to be quickly understood. Thanks to the uniform appearance in form and content, this CI guarantees an efficient advertising effect and recall at a high quality level.
The VITRONIC brand - as unique as machine vision technology
The comprehensive definition of the mission statement, the corporate identity and the corporate design enable the brand to have a clear and individual appearance that will be remembered. They also form the basis for all other company activities in the real and digital space: from the customer-oriented solution and all-round customer service to product design and the application process. We always communicate in a target group-oriented way - needs instead of features. Our technology is complex enough - our claim is that it should be understood as a solution to the respective challenges of our customers: “People don't buy products, they buy solutions”.
Today, VITRONIC's global community stands for the latest image processing technology in the speed measurement, toll, healthcare, logistics, automotive and body scanner industries with excellent teamwork of highly qualified experts. The focus is always on the future and its challenges with globalization, mobility, urbanization, connectivity and artificial intelligence with the promise of helping to make the world safer and more sustainable.
This uniformity in appearance guarantees recognition and recall in conjunction with a relevant and positive perception of the content.
