Domtar
Brand Identity Evolution + MVV
Challenge
In rapid succession, three major players in the pulp and paper industry—Resolute Forest Products, Paper Excellence, and Domtar—merged to form a new industry powerhouse. Each company brought its own deeply rooted identity: different footprints across North America, different languages and leadership cultures, and distinct market reputations. The resulting organization faced the challenge of uniting these legacy companies under a single brand, vision, and culture—without alienating employees or losing hard-earned equity.
Haystack came to the project not just as brand experts, but as “corporate anthropologists.” Our role was to assess each legacy company's cultural and brand DNA, recommend a unified direction, and build a refreshed identity to support their future as a single force in the global paper industry.
Brand Identity Evolution + MVV ―
Approach
We began with immersive stakeholder engagement, including in-depth interviews and workshops with executive leadership and HR teams across all three organizations, focused on surfacing shared values and identifying friction points around culture, language, and external perception.
Using qualitative insights alongside quantitative data, we guided leadership through a deliberate evaluation of naming options, including the possibility of building an entirely new brand. However, the research pointed clearly to using the legacy Domtar brand. It carried the broadest marketplace recognition, the strongest positive sentiment, and aligned well with the organization's North American footprint.
From there, we evolved the Domtar brand visually and strategically. The new identity leaned into the company's ambitions to be seen as more environmentally responsible and human-centric, differentiating it from other industry giants. The result was a modernized mission, vision, and values platform that served as both a unifying cultural roadmap and a strategic brand compass.
Approach ―
Result
The new Domtar brand delivered internal unity and external clarity.
Internally, the updated mission, vision, and values statements aligned leadership and employees from three legacy organizations around a shared sense of purpose. Externally, the evolved identity positioned Domtar as a modern, sustainable leader in an industry facing growing environmental scrutiny.
This foundational work continues to guide the company's integration and brand expression. It’s a rare example of a merger-driven rebrand that honored legacy while marking a clear path forward.
Result ―
