Adient

How we feel about our cars has everything to do with how we feel in our cars—something Adient (formerly Johnson Controls Automotive Experience) knows better than anyone. After three decades of leadership and expertise in automotive seating, Johnson Controls spun off their $16 billion Automotive Seating business. As an entirely new entity, they needed to signal this moment of independence with an entirely new brand.

With a market position unrivaled in the automotive seating industry, Adient’s 200+ locations in over 30 countries supply the likes of Audi, General Motors, Ford and BMW. Given their size and the truly global nature of their work, we needed to ensure that all aspects of the Adient brand translated from market to market—both literally and figuratively.

This newly independent entity needed a clear and compelling point of competitive difference. Just about all the players in the automotive seating industry were speaking the same language, providing functional, technical summaries of their businesses. There was room to tell a more meaningful story.

And finally, like the automotive seating business itself, spinoffs are a complex puzzle of moving parts. The brand is developing as the new company is being designed. Adient’s ability to nimbly navigate and balance these many moving parts would be critical to success.

To dial up Adient’s point of difference from their competitors, we positioned the brand around their unique approaches and capabilities—processes that deliver the best products and value for customers. We established a clear, distinctive brand strategy that shifted the core positioning from a technically focused story to a more compelling and differentiating center of gravity. The brand idea “Precisely Right” highlights their core competitive strengths and helps Adient stand out to their customers around the world.

To build out Adient’s visual and verbal brand, we designed the tools necessary to support its growth. As a visually vibrant, distinctive and recognizable expression of who they are, “Precisely Right” defines Adient’s brand identity and all the myriad tools built to extend and bring it to life. This dynamic system also offers the flexibility necessary to serve many different audiences in many different cultures. And the brand’s visual and verbal expression highlights Adient’s competitive advantage with enough flex to grow along with them in the years ahead.

On October 31, 2016, Adient Chairman and CEO Bruce McDonald rang the opening bell at the New York Stock Exchange in celebration of Listing Day ­­– their first official day as an independent company. FutureBrand helped Adient commemorate this milestone and plan celebrations around the globe. In the span of 58 weeks, we navigated the many twists and turns, hit all the key milestones and helped Adient make a bold introduction to the world.

“The broad experience of the Futurebrand team helped the Adient executive committee make the best choices for our new brand. Their perspectives, research-based preferences, patience and sense of humor helped us navigate through the myriad of internal opinions. Instead of making emotional or personal decisions, Futurebrand led us to choices that have the greatest impact on our stakeholders.”

Glen Ponczak, Vice President, Communication and Investor Relations