Carat launches new global positioning and visual identity

Carat, dentsu’s global media agency, has unveiled Difference Engineered, a new global positioning and brand identity designed to drive greater brand differentiation and measurable advantage for clients.

The rollout follows significant momentum across the agency, marked by the appointment of Chrissie Hanson as North America media practice CEO and Carat brand president, expanded global strategy and planning leadership, and sustained client growth.

Carat’s new strategy responds to an emerging challenge within the media ecosystem: as automation, optimisation, and fragmentation accelerate, media execution risks becoming increasingly commoditised. While brands can achieve unprecedented efficiency and scale, they risk losing their distinctiveness in the process.

Carat defines this phenomenon as the “difference deficit”—the widening gap between efficient media systems and their capacity to build lasting memory, meaning, and brand value.

Through Difference Engineered, Carat aims to make differentiation an intentional driver of media strategy. By identifying key growth opportunities, the agency will leverage data, technology, creativity, marketplace intelligence, and human judgment to engineer tailored advantages across planning, activation, and measurement.

The new brand positioning is brought to life visually through “The C of Opportunity”—an evolution of Carat’s iconic logo. Extended into a three-dimensional space, the symbol reveals dynamic forms and new perspectives depending on the angle, while maintaining its core brand heritage.

The flexible design framework is built to adapt seamlessly across digital, social, editorial, and physical touchpoints, utilizing photography, movement, reflection, and depth to evoke a sense of discovery.

At the core of the positioning is a continuous four-stage framework—diagnose, design, activate, and measure—ensuring media systems remain agile and responsive to shifting audience behaviors and market dynamics.

Carat is also placing a stronger emphasis on tech and data transparency, moving away from closed, opaque systems to provide clients with direct visibility and control over their media investments.

Chrissie Hanson, global brand president, Carat, said: “The media industry has become increasingly sophisticated, but sophistication does not necessarily create distinction. Difference Engineered is about bringing greater specificity, rigour and accountability to the choices we make for clients, identifying where difference can create advantage and engineering that difference into the media system."

"We are building from a position of significant momentum, with global recognition, exceptional talent and strong client relationships. Our focus now is on translating that momentum into measurable business outcomes for clients," Hanson added. 

Will Swayne, global practice president, media and integrated solutions, dentsu, said: “Media has become exceptionally effective at optimisation. The risk is that, collectively, we optimise towards the average, using similar platforms, packages and defaults to produce increasingly similar outcomes. Carat has always challenged the norms of media. Difference Engineered. extends that heritage with a sharper focus on client advantage: putting the client’s business first and using media as a connector between data, strategy, creativity and consumer experience.”

MARKETING-INTERACTIVE has reached out to dentsu for more information.

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