After 25 Years, Internet Creations Rebrands as “Vicasso”: Interview with CEO Felisa Palagi
Under the leadership of CEO Felisa Palagi, Internet Creations (Hamilton), which has enriched the Salesforce experience for clients over the past 17 of the 25 years of its existence, recently rebranded itself as “Vicasso.”
The company was founded by Chad Meyer, whom we profiled here in 2016. Palagi became CEO in 2020.
Vicasso provides Salesforce consulting services and builds enterprise AppExchange apps. Its solutions are designed to help Salesforce users navigate the platform and get the information they need to deliver exceptional service. “If you make things easier for your employees, they will be in a better position to delight your customers,” Meyer said in that 2016 interview, referring to his client’s customers.
Recently, along with its new name the company celebrated an accolade this year, with a 2021 Salesforce Partner Innovation Award. This award was issued for the service cloud work it did with OwnBackup. Vicasso’s Service Experience Suite was able to drive down OwnBackup’s case handling time by 56 percent, while still maintaining a high level of service and customer satisfaction.
Here are our questions for Palagi, and her answers:
When did you decide to make the change?
The company has evolved over 25 years, and we realized the name no longer captured the essence of where we focus today: inspiring the art of what’s possible with Salesforce our clients’ employees, customers and partners. In fact, members of the team sometimes found themselves having to explain what we did not do while networking at events. So, we decided to embark on a journey to rebrand the name and graphic identity of Internet Creations.
How long did the rebranding effort take from start to finish?
Our initial plan was to complete it within a year, but we paused for the pandemic to focus on supporting clients’ changing needs, as well as our employees’ well-being. Earlier this year, in January, we picked the rebrand back up and launched on October 20, 2021.
When were employees involved?
Our marketing team facilitated internal “namestorming” sessions. These were working sessions with our employees who worked most closely with clients to brainstorm potential name suggestions. The groups went through a series of exercises to tease out, from their perspective, the why, how and what we do. The groups then came up with name ideas; and, from there, we chose a few from each group to explore a bit further.
We gave frequent updates at our monthly All Staff meetings to keep everyone informed, and then sought additional feedback.
Did you involve your clients in the decision-making process?
A branding agency conducted focus interviews with clients, which provided objective insights on our differentiators, thereby informing the direction of what kinds of names we should consider. For example, “Excellent execution and clearly defined processes” is how one client described their experience with our professional services team. This was repeated feedback for our apps as well, which led us to find a name that helped to convey how important it is for us to deliver an impeccable-quality experience and solutions.
How did you choose the final name? Did you look at others?
A dozen concepts were presented, and we went through a number of ideas. We initially thought we’d go for a name that screamed “Salesforce help” but landed on a more abstract name: Vicasso. We were inspired by the Spanish artist Pablo Picasso, who was an innovative leader in his field, and who executed to perfection. As soon as we heard “Vicasso,” we knew that was us.
How did you introduce the new brand to clients and employees?
When we chose the name and graphic concepts, we shared it at an internal All Staff meeting. We wanted to educate the team on why it was chosen and what it meant. Additionally, we held an internal “soft launch” one month in advance of our external launch, so everyone at the company could get a good understanding of the brand before we went external with it. This included a celebration with a fun swag box of Vicasso-branded goodies. Also, a lunch-and-learn to review brand guidelines and how to use the new brand identity when speaking, writing, using the logo, etc.
When we launched, we started with an announcement email to our clients. Then our team reached out, so clients could ask questions; we could provide resources like the blog post with launch video/press release; and ensure they could access everything they may need, like our self-service product knowledge center.
Is there anything else you’d like to tell our readers? For those in the Hamilton area, we lead a Salesforce user group that meets monthly (currently virtual). Sign up at here.
