Great-West Lifeco Inc. is a Canadian-headquartered international financial services holding company operating in Canada, the United States and Europe under the brands Canada Life, Empower and Irish Life.[1] The company’s corporate identity is a typographic wordmark that appears alongside the logos of its operating subsidiaries in official communications.[2]
Design and History
Great-West Lifeco’s visual identity has been shaped by a significant corporate rebranding event in 2019. In April of that year, the company announced it would consolidate its three Canadian life insurance brands, Great-West Life, London Life and Canada Life, under the single Canada Life banner.[3] The amalgamation included the introduction of a new logo and a unified visual identity for the group’s insurance companies.[4]
The new Canada Life brand identity was designed by Ove Brand Design, a Canadian agency that worked in close collaboration with Great-West Life’s client leaders and brand teams.[5] The agency’s work covered brand strategy, positioning, visual identity design and the full visual identity system and guidelines.[5]
According to Ove, the Canada Life logo was designed to bring the word “life” to life, with an organic treatment suggestive of an individual journey. The continuous line treatment on the word “life” was intended to promote a feeling of moving forward with confidence and a sense of direction.[5]
Great-West Lifeco’s corporate wordmark itself remains a distinct identity from the Canada Life brand. In official corporate videos, the Great-West Lifeco logo is presented alongside the Canada Life, Empower and Irish Life logos beneath it, reflecting the holding company’s relationship to its operating brands.[2]
Meaning and Symbolism
The 2019 rebranding was driven by strategic considerations rather than purely aesthetic ones. Great-West Lifeco president and CEO Paul Mahon said the company chose Canada Life as its master brand largely on the basis of its name, noting that “if you’re going to have a single brand that’s going to be your voice across Canada, being able to leverage your country’s name is important.”[3] The Canada Life brand also performed best in testing with consumers and insurance advisor groups.[3]
Ove’s research for the rebranding uncovered what it described as “incredible equity” in the Canada Life name, which would become the new brand name encompassing all three entities. The new brand positioning was designed to celebrate the here and now while trumpeting inclusion, openness, fairness and community, values the agency associated with Canada itself.[5]
Typography and Design
Ove Brand Design described the Canada Life identity’s “humanness” as being illustrated throughout its typography, as well as in photography and tone of voice.[5] The agency’s contribution to the project included the visual identity system and guidelines, naming and nomenclature systems, and brand governance.[5]
For the Great-West Lifeco corporate wordmark itself, no official documentation of its typography, designer or construction has been published. The mark functions primarily as a holding company identifier, with the operating brand identities carrying the primary consumer-facing visual communication.[2]
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