A 120-Year-Old Icon Turns Confidently To The Future

In 1905, a group of founders set out to build an insurance company rooted in integrity, honesty and reliability. Even in that era, they understood the power of a brand and the human connection to symbols, prompting them to secure permission for the one likeness and name that best embodied the company’s ideals: Abraham Lincoln. To this day, Lincoln Financial remains the only company legally permitted to use his image as part of their brand. While those original ideals remain vividly alive, Lincoln Financial’s growth and innovation over the past 120 years called for a brand evolution – one that would reflect, and bolster, new business units, audiences, products and people. Our goal was to craft a brand reflecting a rich heritage while ushering in a new and relevant chapter for what the brand means today. In short, we set out to define and activate a powerful brand that stands out across its categories and tells a confident, cohesive story. Our research revealed clear themes for the new brand that leaned on both Lincoln’s legacy and its future aspirations—from its existing track record of acting with integrity and creating trusted, empowering relationships to its ambition to be known for serving a wider range of people and their evolving needs. We delivered a brand strategy that translated Lincoln’s advantages and ambitions into a set of commitments that guide communications, behaviors, and experience across all interactions, product touchpoints and channels. The essence of the strategy was also expressed with a new tagline, Your tomorrow. Our priority: a succinct message that emphasizes customer-centricity, partnership, and prioritizing the future, while reinforcing our commitment to treat every customer’s goals with care. From our deep dive into the industry and Lincoln’s competitors, we saw a clear opportunity to cut through the sea of ‘practical experts’ and ‘compassionate partners’ with a compelling brand personality and identity that balances optimism and sincerity. In honor of Abraham Lincoln, we called it “The Honest Visionary.” The brand’s visual identity had remained largely untouched for over 20 years—even as its business, organization, and industry context changed rapidly. The evolution began with the logo, where we retained the iconic likeness of Abraham Lincoln and updated it to signal warmth and a future-facing profile. This new image puts Lincoln at eye-level with the viewer and orients him towards a vibrant future The brand launched on September 16, 2024, with events across the organization and at high visibility external landmarks, a takeover at Lincoln Financial Field for the Philadelphia Eagles’ home opener and major placement in the Philadelphia Inquirer and key media outlets. The rebrand boosted engagement and immediately elevated brand visibility, attracting targeted attention from key stakeholder groups.