DC Two: Brand System, Marketing & the ASX Listing

This case study covers the brand, marketing and physical-space work. For the DC Portal platform, the PDU dashboards and the DC Modular telemetry and billing integration, see DC Two: Data Centre Portal & Platform Development.

Brand refresh, 2017

DC Two hired me to elevate the company’s image ahead of growth. One of the first jobs was a modern update to a dated logo the company was attached to: keep the essence, lift the execution. That grew into a complete brand overhaul across the ASX listing period.

The DC Two brand specification matters less for its complexity than for what it demonstrates: a defined type scale (RobotoCondensed, six weights), four colour tokens with paired CMYK and hex values, four logo variants with explicit usage rules plus one-colour and embroidery variants, and a documented watermark treatment. Tokens, variants, usage rules, constraints. Design-systems thinking in a brand spec, in 2017. The thread runs back further to the Triton Corporate and Jacks Winches rebrands, and forward to Storybook at Capgemini and design systems at Insight.

I delivered the full system: logo, stationery, business cards, email signatures, corporate merchandise, promotional products, and a subsidiary logo suite (DC Group, DC Tel, MyDaaS, DC Modular).

The marketing and collateral system

Product and services brochures (General Services, Managed Security / CSaaS, MyDaaS, DC Modular, disaster recovery), roll-up banners in customer and investor variants, expo booth graphics, Word and PowerPoint templates so the sales team could produce consistent proposals and capital-raising decks, and the operational document set.

I owned the content-marketing strategy and directed an external copywriter working from my briefs and input from the sales and engineering teams.

For the DC Modular renewable-power launch, I designed the sub-brand identity (sitting inside the DC Two family alongside DC Group, DC Tel and MyDaaS), the sales brochure, custom solar/wind/biogas infographics explaining the “behind the meter” pitch, and a dedicated marketing page.

Any pod and PDU product collateral shown here is DC Two’s own marketing. My work was the design and the portal-side telemetry, billing and per-rig readouts. The device firmware was another developer’s.

Paid and organic social

Designed and ran DC Two’s paid LinkedIn and Facebook campaigns: creative, A/B testing across messaging and imagery, and audience targeting, directing a social-media contractor on scheduling and delivery. Organic post planning and creative across LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook, with analytics monitored against campaign goals.

Building signage and wayfinding

Designed, drafted and project-managed DC Two’s illuminated external building signage and internal wayfinding system at the Bibra Lake office and data centre. Delivered and installed.

I also designed and drafted the complete office fit-out and environmental graphics for the flagship site after the ASX listing: desk layout modelled in SketchUp, decor and colour scheme, and decorative vinyl film graphics to Australian Standard guidelines. The fit-out was never implemented; the build did not proceed. The design work stands on its own.

Beyond the design work, I served as close advisor to the Director and senior management on brand, product and strategic communications, and supported the company’s ISO 27001 quality-system accreditation and implementation.

The ASX listing (November 2020)

The listing was directed by DC Two’s directors in partnership with the stockbrokers. I ran the marketing and communications workstream, coordinating five external specialist providers: a contract design agency (the prospectus, which I co-authored), a contract videographer (an investor and informational video series, which I directed), a contract social-media advisor, an SEO agency (I managed the engagement and implemented their recommendations into the public site), and the stockbroking firm running the listing itself. Supporting five specialist disciplines through a public-company listing is a vendor-coordination and marketing-breadth story.

Hard Skills

Brand specification, type scale and colour token systems, logo variant systems, print and collateral design, signage drafting, infographic design, paid social campaign management, SEO implementation

Soft Skills

Vendor coordination (five specialist providers through an ASX listing), content strategy, copywriter direction, close advisory to directors and senior management on brand and strategic communications, ISO 27001 exposure, operations coordination across trades