Part 2: The SQLI rebrand

In part onewe spoke to SQLI COO, Luc Box about his own experiences from when Osudio joined forces with SQLI, in 2017.  Here, in the second instalment, he delves into this further and gives customers and employees an idea of what they can expect as one brand.

The reasons for joining SQLI were clear from an Osudio perspective, although the decision was not an easy one.

Luc said: “It was a strategic decision. Customers wanted low-cost, off-shore capabilities, or technology that we didn’t have, so we needed to scale up broader and deeper.

“We explored different propositions. Did we want to join a communications agency where we were the e-Commerce specialists, or with a consultancy, where we were the tech specialists, or should we hook up with a like-minded company, but with bigger scale.

“We decided SQLI made the most sense – culturally, the fit was the best. Culture is by far the biggest decider in a merger. These guys understood what we did. They had the same kind of people – informal, but professional. They had the same ideas, the same legacy.

“If you were to ask me what we could have done differently, it’s that we should have done the rebranding earlier. It took us three years to give everyone a chance to acclimatize, but I realised along the way that customers don’t mind if the brand is different, with a different name. The people they work with are the most important aspect.”

Luc Box, COO SQLI
Luc Box, COO SQLI

With such an uplift in digital – and with the industry super-charged due to the pandemic – it’s an exciting time to be part of the digital conversation.

Luc said: “It has got complex. The technology and the market we operate in is getting bigger all the time.

“However, having a huge amount of technology specialists and being in the middle of something that was important, but now crucial because of Covid, is a good place to be. There are massive opportunities to harvest.

“The fact we can order and consume instantly with a click and everything is getting faster, is amazing from a user perspective. But we are really only at the beginning of this journey and SQLI has laid these amazing foundations.”

After helping Osudio navigate the merger and rebrand, Luc has some parting words of advice for Redbox and its clients.

He added: “Being part of a group like SQLI opens up lots of doors for everyone. It’s exciting. Before the merger, we didn’t offer certain platforms like Adobe, now we do. It’s a direct benefit. The same applies to many other solutions. Another benefit, is that finding good, highly-skilled people can be really difficult, but we now have access to hundreds of guys at the support centres in Morocco, for instance, at much more competitive prices.

“Yes, sometimes decisions might take a tiny bit longer now, but that is part and parcel of growing anyway. If your ambition is to expand and take on more interesting projects, then this is the obvious next step to take. 

“Leverage the opportunities of the group, but stay true to yourself - that’s my advice to Redbox. You are at the forefront of digital.

“To brands, I say, ‘collaborate.’ We are seeing more collaborations all over the board. We didn’t like it as a model before, but now it’s so important. Digital is so big and complex that collaborations in every form can only be good thing.

“SQLI has a truly massive footprint which is a real asset. We can now provide clients with everything from creative to digital and technology and more, as well as help to open more doors for them, all over the world.”