A Bold New Brand: From Ungerboeck to Momentus Technologies
Have you ever heard of the Apollo Theater?
What about Harvard University?
The NFL?
Google?
Behind the world’s largest and busiest venues and organizations, there’s a tool keeping all their event data in one place.
It’s coordinating calendars, attendee counts, floorplans, vendor information—and everything else needed to keep performances, sports games, board meetings, corporate campuses, conferences and so much more moving in the right direction.
And that tool was called Ungerboeck.
The Market Leader, Changing the Market
The Ungerboeck name was a tribute to the company’s founding family, and although it presented pronunciation and spelling challenges, the powerful product and its capabilities led the company to become one of the largest event management software companies in the world.
With clients near and far—and very few competitors offering the same range of capabilities—Ungerboeck built a strong reputation in the industry over three decades in business.
In recent years, however, the market started to change. While Ungerboeck was still the most capable product, competitors focused on simplicity in function and lower pricing to attract smaller organizations.
Then, even more recently, the market really changed. In an industry-rattling move, Ungerboeck acquired its newer rivals, bringing the industry’s top products together to provide solutions to venues of all sizes.
The separate companies all had a mission to provide the best products to their customers—why not do it together?
All Together Now
The acquisitions brought five companies together to deliver the best experiences, tools and solutions in the venue management industry.
But despite having the best products for the market, there was something missing—a united brand.
That’s when they called Atomicdust.
Understanding the Brand
With a new brand and brand identity came new potential. What if the name wasn’t Ungerboeck? What if it spoke more to the product or industry?
These were the questions we asked ourselves—and the dozens of stakeholders we spoke to as we kicked off our branding efforts. We talked to longstanding customers, new users, former competitors, members of the Ungerboeck family and a whole lot of people outside of our time zone (and sometimes, our continent) to get a better idea of the where the brand has been—and where it’s going next.
While we heard many diverse perspectives and ideas, one similarity popped up during just about every discussion: the “Ungerboeck” name was often confusing and difficult to understand.
It seemed like the time to make a change. But what would be a better name?
We were about to start doing a lot of thinking (and a little arguing) with that question in mind.
What’s In a Name?
The process of naming can be a lot of fun. At the beginning, it’s that classic agency brainstorm—a free flow of creative thinking (and very creative jokes) that fills our whiteboards and shared Google Docs. We consult Greek mythology and Latin roots. We stick words together and invent new ones. We ignore the rules of spelling and bend definitions to our will.
But then, one of us must go through that wonderful thinking and tear it all down.
Thinking of names is fun. Finding one that will meet different legal, technical and ownable requirements… that’s the challenge.
As we explored the competitive landscape, the trademark database and available URLs, our long and imaginative list dwindled. And our spirits did a little bit, too. Until, after rounds and rounds of ideating, arguing and eliminating, we had a shortlist of distinctive, memorable (and simple-to-pronounce) names.
While we were excited about the potential each of the names had—some leaning into the idea of bringing people together, others more feature-focused—there was a clear favorite on our team. We felt that it best captured the emotion and energy of people (and brands) coming together. And we hoped when we shared with Ungerboeck’s marketing team that they would love it, too.
Momentus
Momentus speaks to the positive and lasting impact that gathering to learn and share can make on our lives. It speaks to the extraordinary events that are possible with the right technology.
Needless to say we were thrilled to hear that the name—plus a clarifying addition—was approved to move forward.
Momentus Technologies was coming soon.
How to Make It Meaningful
Momentus Technologies is a big name. In definition and in length.
We needed to design a logo that would be worthy of the meaningful name.
After an exploration that spanned many stylized Ms and different icons, we landed on one that felt just right.
The stylized asterisk tells a larger story about the brand. Alone, each line symbolizes the different details that must come together to put on a successful event. Multiple lines create an arrow, showing the direction of movement toward the singular platform—and together, the lines create energy and excitement, representing all the things that power extraordinary events.
We loved the meaning behind the mark and the visual possibilities that came with it.
And we loved the story of connection that it told, so we crafted narrative language to bring all the elements—the name, the mark, the software, the customers, the internal teams—together.
Luckily, our clients loved it, too. So much, in fact, they wanted to launch it quickly.
Very quickly.
Making It Momentus
What does it take to launch a new global brand? A lot of work. And with a short timeline, but a lot of momentum, we crafted brand standards, email signatures, video graphics and the central hub of the launch announcement: a new microsite.
The site needed to showcase the new brand, share the evolved mission, answer customer questions—and drum up a lot of excitement around Momentus Technologies.
We designed and built the site, pushing it live alongside the launch announcements.
When the leadership team presented the name and brand internally, we were lucky enough to listen in on the virtual presentation. We were glad to see questions and comments that showed excitement and immediate love for the new direction.
We felt excited, too. To be a part of such a big change in a big company’s history—it’s why we do what we do.
And it’s why we can’t wait to see what the future holds for the momentus new brand, and the united people behind it.
