Sun Life becomes Sunlife. The insurer swaps two words for one in 15 markets

Sun Life becomes Sunlife. Sun Life Financial said on 15 October that its brand is now written as one word. The Canadian insurer and asset manager also showed a simplified sun-globe logo and a new global tagline, “Making life brighter”. The parent company keeps its legal name, Sun Life Financial Inc., and its SLF ticker.

Sunlife redraws the sun globe for small screens

The logo keeps the existing sun globe but in a simpler form. The company says it was built for digital use first. Sunlife did not name a design or advertising agency in its release, and it did not publish a media plan.

Sunlife operates in 15 markets, including Canada, the US, the UK, Ireland, Hong Kong, the Philippines, Japan, India, China and Australia. The group manages about C$1.70tn of assets, according to the release.

Kevin Strain ties the new name to growth beyond life insurance

Sunlife says the old name no longer described a business that now includes asset management, health and wealth services. “This is about much more than changing how Sunlife looks,” chief executive Kevin Strain said in the release. Chris Hewitt, global chief client experience and marketing officer, called the launch “the beginning of the journey”.

Shorter names are a recurring theme in big rebrands this year. Novo Nordisk also dropped a word from its name.

Old and new Sunlife branding will run side by side

The rollout comes in phases. It starts with digital channels and the places where clients deal with the company directly. Until the change reaches every channel, clients will see both the old and the new branding. Rewe Group chose the same approach for its new logo in Germany.

The change began on 15 October in digital channels. Sunlife has given no end date for the full switch. The listings in Toronto, New York and Manila stay under the old legal name and the SLF ticker.