Helix – ‘We’ll Take Care of It’

In 2011, Smith & Milton were appointed by Helix,
owned by the Axa Group, to help them reposition and
rebrand the business.
Helix is a London-based reinsurance asset collection
expert, active since 1995. Since 2005, it has serviced
more than 60 US, UK and Continental European
cedants and collected in excess of 500 million US
dollars of assets on behalf of its clients.
After conducting an in-depth strategic review, Helix
decided to build on its proven track record and
thorough knowledge of the London market and focus
its business entirely on providing London-based
reinsurance collection services to ceding companies
located in the United States, Continental Europe and in
the United Kingdom.
Smith & Milton conducted a visual and verbal audit of
Helix’s current brand and competition and after
identifying the market opportunity for Helix,
developed an Organising Thought for the business.
London is a complex market, but it is one that Helix
knows very well. The Organising Thought, ‘We’ll take
care of it’, captured their expertise, directness and
ability to provide results to reinforce their track record
of effectiveness.
From this platform, we developed a creative concept,
using a beautiful bitch Pointer called Pookie, as a
metaphor – demonstrating that they are the smartest
retriever of assets trapped in London – along with a
series of images of London, shot from a dog’s view
point. This creative idea, combined with a premium,
bright colour palette and traditional typography came
together to create a look and feel and tone of voice
that is as unique as Helix’s business.
Nancie Vendette, Head of Marketing and Sales said,
"The team at Smith & Milton understood exactly where
we were coming from and where we were headed.
They applied an extremely effective methodology to
support us during this process."