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Ready for the future! Connect Holland continues as Harborn

Blog

Blog

Date  25 April 2022
4 min read
by Jeroen Soeterbroek

At a time when assignments are getting bigger, more complex and more international, and where talent is scarce, you need to set your course clearly. Only then can you stay ahead. That course has now been carefully mapped out. And after thoroughly reviewing and rearranging our internal processes, an external change was also inevitable: so, as of February 1, Connect Holland will officially be called Harborn. It’s a name that reflects the safe haven our digital agency is for both employees and clients, as well as being a name with a nod to our Rotterdam roots.

It will take some getting used to after 23 years, but those who know Harborn a little know that it’s a company that’s always bubbling and bustling. We like to look ahead, to prepare for new opportunities and we are the first to get to work with new technology. In a digital world that’s becoming more and more advanced, where data, cloud, technology and human interaction go hand in hand, you need to develop as a digital agency. Not only to be able to meet customer demands, but also to continue being the place where young talent can grow and experiment with new tools and techniques.

Woman walks outside with large Harborn cargo bike

Starting from the inside

The new name marks the end of an intensive process – a process that began with the privatization of The Next Lab and Productowner.nl, two companies that started up from within Harborn. Then it was time to focus on Harborn itself. In a growth plan for the years up to 2025 we set multiple goals. We want to be a 'great place to work', for instance, and as a company we want to be at the heart of our clients’ digital developments. These goals come together at our new campus in the center of Rotterdam. A place to meet, to become inspired, but also to learn and to work. Not an office garden, but a place where the energy of Harborn is made tangible, for both employees and customers.

The design of the new office gave us the final push to look at our own identity. In order to make the new building a real Harborn Campus, we analyzed all of our business processes. We restructured our processes and products as well as customer and employee journeys in a way that fits who Harborn is today. Since 1999 we’ve matured as a digital agency, and that should not only be felt internally or by current customers.

Harborn X Das Buro

To bring out the energy of Harborn, we joined forces with Das Buro. They took care of both the positioning and the visual identity. In various conversations with Harborn employees, they looked, again and again, at what distinguishes us from other agencies. It was a process that revealed the values that are shared by everyone within the company. Learning, researching and sharing knowledge, the entrepreneurial spirit, being at the forefront of technology and, of course, continuing until it works: these are the qualities that made us big.

However, having such clear values, didn’t make it an easy job for Das Buro. The new corporate identity had to be both recognizable and flexible, technical but also inviting, and viable in an international context. Das Buro came up with an identity that matches who we, as a digital agency, truly are, with a brand-DNA that our customers already know, that is now becoming visible for others as well. With raw basic colors, a sleek logo, and a bright lime green signal color to draw the attention. For external use, the Harborn logo, with a stylized H as its trademark, is accompanied by the subtitle 'digital'. Because we couldn’t make it simpler and clearer: this is what we do!

Harborn logo
New Harborn brand guidelines

A safe haven

And the name? Harborn is a very versatile name, which fits us perfectly in many ways. Not only does it contain the word 'born', which is very applicable to our entrepreneurial spirit, but it also refers to Rotterdam (‘harbor city’), and moreover, has its roots in the Old English word 'herberwe', from which we derive the Dutch word for ‘inn’. Harborn sounds robust, but familiar at the same time. International, but also unique. Harborn is the safe haven it wants to be, for employees and customers alike.

Innovative and familiar at the same time

With Harborn we focus on the outside world and give shape to the course we’ve set out in recent years. Who we are, doesn’t change: a digital agency full of specialized, dedicated professionals, who have the skills to use the latest technologies in the right way. As a partner, we continue to research and learn, and continue to support our clients in the best way possible. For example, by providing a single contact person and a fully dedicated team. Whether it's about developing a user-friendly app or website, setting up a cloud native platform or being the reliable strategic partner for challenging digital transformations: we always look at the full story. That’s what we’d like the world to know. After all, that’s how we can continue to lead, but also how we stay able to attract the talent who make that possible. The new name Harborn and its identity ensure that our inner DNA and outward appearance are now completely in line with each other, making us the partner everything feels just right with!

Connect with us

Inspired by what we do? Connect with us!

+31 10 436 5050jeroen.soeterbroek@harborn.com