Merkle is proud to celebrate four wins at the German Brand Awards 2026 together with our clients CGIAR and Messe München. The awards recognize two transformative brand projects: the creation of a unified global brand system for CGIAR and the relaunch of productronica, the world’s leading trade fair for electronics development and manufacturing.
The German Brand Award is among the leading recognitions for successful brand management in the German-speaking market. This year, an independent and interdisciplinary jury of 17 experts evaluated more than 1,600 submissions from 18 countries. The recognition underscores the strategic and creative impact of both projects and the power of strong client-agency partnerships.
Productronica: Modernizing a Global Industry Leader
For Messe München, Merkle Germany partnered on the comprehensive relaunch of productronica, the world's leading trade fair for electronics development and manufacturing. The project received awards in the categories Brand Revival of the Year and Brand Design – Corporate Brand, recognizing both the strategic and creative excellence of the relaunch.
Ahead of productronica's 50th anniversary, the brand was reimagined to strengthen its market position while remaining true to its heritage. Inspired by the electronics industry itself, the new visual identity is built around an isometric design system that reflects how individual components come together to create something greater.
The relaunch introduced a new logo, an immersive brand world, a refreshed visual language and a scalable design system that creates a consistent experience across channels and international markets.
Beyond elevating the brand experience, the project delivered tangible business results, contributing to a 20% increase in exhibitors and a 10% increase in visitors in 2025.
The Jury‘s Statement: “Reframing a leading trade fair with five decades of history without obscuring its origins requires precise brand work. The relaunch of "productronica Brand Relaunch" strengthens the core of the brand through a formal principle derived from the industry itself: from the refined P, the isometric grid and the three-dimensional brand world, a robust system emerges for spaces, media and international editions. The renewal remains clearly rooted in the brand’s tradition while giving it a contemporary role as an organising platform within a complex field.”
CGIAR: Building a Unified Global Brand System
Awarded in the categories Service Brand of the Year and Non-Governmental Organizations & Public Affairs, the CGIAR project demonstrates how strategic brand architecture can bring clarity to complex global organizations.
CGIAR is one of the world's leading agricultural research partnerships, working to advance food security, climate resilience and biodiversity. To support its mission, CGIAR and Merkle Switzerland developed a unified global brand system that connects 13 research centers and multiple scientific programs under a clear and scalable master brand.
The new brand architecture strengthens recognition, creates consistency across the organization and provides a shared framework that enables collaboration while preserving the distinct identities of individual programs and initiatives.
The jury recognized the project for successfully balancing differentiation and unity within a large international ecosystem, creating a brand foundation that helps CGIAR communicate its impact more clearly around the world.
The Jury‘s Statement: “Where research is organised in global networks, brand management quickly becomes a matter of creating order. Merkle Switzerland therefore turns CGIAR from an evolved variety of individual presences into a clearly managed system brand. The refined master brand, a modular sub brand system and globally applicable design standards provide programmes and partnerships with a shared framework without sacrificing subject specific differentiation. This creates orientation in an environment where legitimacy, collaboration and impact must be communicated with precision.”
Recognition for the Power of Partnership
These awards reflect what can be achieved when ambitious clients and multidisciplinary teams come together around a shared vision. Across strategy, branding, design and experience, both projects demonstrate the power of creating brands that not only look different, but work harder for the organizations behind them.
We are grateful to CGIAR and Messe München for their trust and collaboration and congratulate everyone involved in bringing these award-winning projects to life.
