THE RETURN OF THE UNICORN

The Brief 

Not many brands can lay claim to changing the way an entire industry thinks. But, then again, not many brands were built on unicorn magic. 

Duetto – a global player in the hotel tech category - began life as a true challenger brand. 

From a first-of-its-kind product, backed up by bold thinking, and an even bolder personality. Duetto was once impossible to miss. 

This was a company that didn’t just talk differently, it behaved differently too: turning up to events on hoverboards, wearing pink scarves, led by a once industry famous unicorn mascot.  

But, over time, and through successive rebrands, this distinctive spirit had been lost. 

What remained was a far more corporate, conventional identity which sat too comfortably alongside the category, which, for anyone familiar with the real Duetto, made for very uncomfortable viewing.

In a market already saturated with overly technical, serious brands, we were tasked with bringing back Duetto’s challenger DNA, boldness, confidence and of course, the unicorn…

The Response

We instinctively knew that uncovering what the unicorn was really about would need lots of conversations with those that knew it. 

So following an extensive programme of in-depth interviews with customers and internal stakeholders, alongside a detailed review of competitors and partners, a clear pattern emerged.

Duetto’s strength in the market was already proven, both in the performance of its platform and the strength of its customer relationships. What stood out was how that performance was delivered: through a deeply human approach, with teams working closely with clients to tailor solutions to their needs. In contrast, competitor analysis revealed a category saturated with science-first messaging.  

Duetto had just launched a new RP-OS platform which shows where tomorrow’s profit comes from, something which shouldn’t feel incremental; it should feel impossible. 

Our role was to make sure the brand captured that sense of breakthrough and expressed it with the same confidence and originality that defined Duetto in the first place.

We reimagined and reintroduced the unicorn as a modern, meaningful brand asset, bridging the gap between a slightly unreal world and a very real performance obsessed one. Just as importantly, we defined a tone of voice that rejected category conventions entirely: confident, witty and unapologetically human. 

In an industry built on people, Duetto would no longer sound like the tech was writing the copy.  

The Unreal Performance positioning carried through into every single execution. We developed a new visual identity that stood apart from category norms, redesigned the website to balance performance with personality, and embedded the new voice across all touchpoints. 

The rebrand launched at ITB Berlin, where we created a presence designed to attract and engage, from a distinctive stand to an “Unreal Performance” competition, We ensured that the brand didn’t just look different but behaved differently in the real world. Delivered in just a few months, the result is a brand that once again reflects the strength of its product: confident, memorable, and unique. 

Capture the breakthrough.
Express it with the confidence and originality that defines Duetto.