Overview
Between 2020 and 2025, I led the full brand transition of Data Impact through three major phases—starting as an independent startup, evolving into a co-branded entity following its acquisition by NielsenIQ, and finally becoming part of NIQ under its global rebrand. This five-year transition required careful visual strategy, stakeholder management, and a deep commitment to preserving the original brand’s spirit while aligning with new corporate identities.
Phase 1: Independent Data Impact (2020–2021)
When I joined in 2020, the brand was visually defined by a fairly stark yellow-and-gray palette, with a minimal, utilitarian approach to layout and typography, with abstract 'data point' style illustrations. It reflected the tech-first nature of the business, but lacked the warmth and emotional connection that I felt clients needed to establish a relationship with the brand.
In response, and after conducting a competitor benchmark, I introduced a more human-centered direction over the course of 2020 and 2021. We began incorporating illustrated, both static and animated, figures to give users and clients something to emotionally identify with. I also pushed for a gradual introduction of deep blues into the color scheme, softening the brand while increasing its credibility. These shifts gave us a more balanced and engaging brand identity, without losing the edge and clarity that had earned Data Impact its early reputation.
Phase 2: Acquisition & Co-Branding (2021–2023)
In October 2021, Data Impact was acquired by NielsenIQ. The acquisition triggered a new stage in the brand’s evolution. Our logo was adapted into a lockup combining both the original Data Impact mark and the NielsenIQ logo. Visually, this required us to introduce a more corporate structure to how we presented ourselves while still fighting to retain the personality, voice, and energy that had always defined the brand.
Internally, I guided the rollout of this hybrid identity with sensitivity, ensuring both client-facing and internal teams had the tools they needed to navigate the new branding. This phase demanded compromise, and ensuring that our previously startup-flavored voice found a place in the corporate tone.
Phase 3: NIQ Rebrand & Full Integration (2023–2025)
In 2023, NIQ launched its own global rebrand; and ironically, much of it mirrored the design direction we had already been heading toward pre-acquisition. NIQ dropped its former black-and-green palette in favor of rich blues and crisp whites. This unexpected synchronicity made the next transition phase smoother than anticipated.
By 2024, we were no longer "Data Impact by NielsenIQ", we had fully become NIQ for Digital Commerce. I led the creation of comprehensive design templates that structured how our new identity would be expressed across platforms—from the NIQ website and product documentation to external presentations and campaigns. Our standalone website was fully migrated into the NIQ digital ecosystem.
Challenges & Strategic Choices
One of the most delicate parts of this journey was managing continuity. The original rebrand I undertook was done gradually, deliberately paced to avoid alienating our longtime clients. Reliability and familiarity were non-negotiable, even as we refreshed the visual identity.
Another consistent challenge was protecting the soul of the brand. The founders were adamant that the tone, youthfulness, and dynamism of the original Data Impact not be lost during the acquisition and rebrand, and I completely aligned with this sentiment in design strategy. Throughout the four years of change, I continued to advocate for this. From typography choices to tone of voice in our templates and copy, the brand team and I made sure that personality lived on, even under a global corporate banner.
Visual Language:
A defining part of the 2021 brand refresh was the iconography system I developed as a student designer stepping into a complex tech space. With limited precedent to draw from, I leaned into abstraction to visually translate e-commerce concepts like assortment, availability, and product visibility into simple, memorable forms. Instead of literal depictions, I explored visual metaphors that told stories, designing icons that felt intelligent, scalable, and distinct. That early creative exploration set the tone for how we visualized complexity with clarity for easy user comprehension, and how to make complex concepts easier to grasp, even for those without extensive industry knowledge. Today, while NIQ's icon library has evolved and grown, many of those original structures and ideas have migrated into the system: proof that thoughtful, imaginative design endures even through major brand transitions.
Below are a few examples of such migrations.
Outcome
The transition from Data Impact to NIQ for Digital Commerce was more than a name change, it was a long-term visual and cultural integration project. Through intentional, human-centered design decisions, we were able to evolve without erasing what made us unique. Today, NIQ for Digital Commerce operates with the global scale of a masterbrand such as NielsenIQ, but still carries the freshness, clarity, and personality of its origins, because we fought to keep it alive.
The web design as it was when I arrived in 2020, which had been previously created by a freelance designer.
The site after the year of my work study internship. Over the year, I pushed to include some humanesque illustrations and icons which now live on today in NIQ's brand icons, some playful illustrated interpretations of our platform (as there were security and competitor issues with showing the full product), as well as expand the color palette from yellow and gray to include some blues, which ended up being symbolic as we were acquired by NIQ in October of 2021, and paved the way for a total rebranding, though slow.
The site in 2023, after a major design rework in partnership with an external agency to reflect the acquisition and better adhere to NielsenIQ's brand guidelines. A lockup of both logos was created to serve as an intermediary while waiting for the acquisition to be finalised in 2024. The stylized product images were maintained, only refreshed to reflect the brand change.
The current brand as of 2025, now hosted on the NIQ site, incorporating assets from our original site.