It’s been an exciting week for all of us here at Index Exchange as we just debuted our new brand and a new modernized exchange. Our CMO, Lori Goode, sat down for a conversation to share more about our Index Exchange brand identity and how it reflects the evolution of Index Exchange.
You joined the company as CMO a little more than a year ago. What led you to choose Index for your next role?
Lori Goode: I chose Index for many reasons. For one, the team is made up of such smart, warm people who are excited about what they’re doing and collectively driving towards the same vision. Many have been with Index for years and have grown right alongside the company.
And second, I joined because the company was at a really exciting point in its progression. Every conversation I had signaled that Index was on the verge of significant growth and I felt that I could make an impact and add value in helping transition to the next phase.
When I joined, I got so many unsolicited comments from people around the industry saying how much they love Index and respect the company’s high integrity. That meant a lot to me. It reaffirmed that I made the right move because it was clear the company’s values lined up with my own personal values. And that’s something you don’t trade off on.
You very quickly started on this journey to evaluate the Index Exchange brand. Tell us more about the decision to refresh the brand. Why now?
LG: Coming on board in a marketing role, I was looking closely at how the company was presenting itself. One of the main things I saw was that there was little connection between the personality of the people that I met and the personality of the brand.
For example, the website was polished and professional, but in a way that felt more in line with a financial company rather than an ad tech company. The Indexers that I met were so warm, engaging, and humble, but that didn’t necessarily surface through the brand. That was one of the first indicators that it was time for an update.
As time went on, I also saw all the investments we were making into the business. We were expanding our leadership and building out a strong team to carry the company into the next phase of growth. And we were investing in our products, completely rebuilding our exchange in order to expand into new channels and ad formats.
We had a strong vision for where we saw Index heading, but we weren’t communicating it outside of our own walls. When I proposed updating the Index brand, the executive team was super receptive. It felt like it was the right time to show how we were going to take this company and transition it into the next phase of the growth.
Where did you start?
LG: We started by evaluating our mission and vision, which are the foundations of our brand. It’s what defines our purpose. We determined that our existing mission and vision didn’t seem to map to the future we saw for Index.
We interviewed Index employees, the executive team, customers, and partners to understand what people thought of Index now and what they hoped to see. And we came out with a mission and vision that we really believe in. It distills who we are at our core.
Our mission: Accelerate the ad technology evolution
Our vision: Total market efficiency
Our mission is based on the enduring idea of change. Index is a company that has leaned into understanding the constant changes in the industry, and then embraced and led that change, helping our customers evolve along the way. And our vision is what we will always aspire to achieve. We’re relentless in our pursuit toward total market efficiency, and it’s something that will never be complete.
What’s astonishing is how true this mission and vision felt for everyone. That, to me, is evidence that both these statements reflect who Index has always been. They define what has made Index uniquely Index for the 20 years that we’ve been a company, and will always hold true because they’re based on the DNA of the company.
And how did that lead to a new logo and visual identity?
LG: From there, we did another round of interviews with employees and customers to focus more on brand identity. And again, we heard from customers that they felt like our identity didn’t align with our team and the service that they receive. I remember one customer’s feedback that their experience with our web tools and brand didn’t align with the personality of Index’s people, like their account manager that they talk to every day—a warm, supportive, and friendly advisor.
I felt like we had a great opportunity to humanize the Index brand and better show who’s behind the technology we build. We wanted to infuse who we are as people—which in turn forms who we are as a company—into the way we show up in the world.
Can you share more about the creative process? How did the new brand identity come to life?
LG: We went back to our mission to accelerate the ad technology evolution, and we honed in on the concept of acceleration. We loved the idea of being future-facing, of being open to change, and always pursuing this ambitious vision of total market efficiency.
And through that concept of acceleration, we played with movement and direction and forward momentum, which led to our new logo. Our new logo is refined, confident, and contemporary. It symbolizes positive change, momentum, and growth while staying warm and friendly in its simplicity.
Every brand element—from typography and design systems, to iconography, color, motion, and tone of voice—reflects our mission and acceleration.
For example, we looked at the meaning behind colors and common color palettes in tech. Index has a unique culture and is special in the way we’ve been in business for 20 years and still continue to find relevancy and drive change throughout the ad tech industry.
The color palette we selected, which mixes earthy and vibrant colors, helps differentiate Index visually and emphasizes what makes us unique. The deep evergreen speaks to growth and also represents momentum—it is quite literally the universal color for “go” and positivity. Cyan, a bright greenish-blue color, complements it and adds energy.
How does the new brand reflect what Index stands for now as well as where we’re going in the future?
LG: The new Index Exchange brand truly represents the spirit of who we are as a company, surfacing our culture, personality, and heritage, as we accelerate the ad technology evolution.
We have a strong vision for where Index is headed, and our brand reflects that. We had the luxury this past year of taking a step back to focus on building and investing in the company, our products, and our team to set ourselves up for success in achieving that vision.
We re-architected and modernized our exchange, which now allows us to accelerate our development and bring new features to market faster. It’s the exchange of the future and will help our customers efficiently scale their advertising strategies across screens. We also grew our team considerably, welcoming over 150 Indexers in 2021, including several new executives.
Our brand is both a recognition of our legacy and our path forward as an omnichannel leader. It’s ambitious and aspirational. There is always more we can—and will—do to grow and advance the industry towards total market efficiency.
All that to say, this is just the beginning. There’s so much more ahead and we’re poised for a very exciting 2022.
A special thank you to our agency partners who helped us get here: Gather, a consultancy who guided the development of our brand foundations and positioning, and With You and egg, our branding partners who helped define our brand identity, voice, and brand touchpoints.
