One name for all things tax
Alphatax
From fragmented to unified: the launch of Alphatax
The Brief
When UK tax software firm Tax Systems transformed into Alphatax as part of an AI-led repositioning, branding agency SomeOne approached us to create a film announcing the new name, explaining the change and showcasing the rebrand. Tax Systems, now Alphatax, had realised its branding had become fragmented across names and divisions. Ahead of a partner conference, the business needed to unify its identity and products under one new name.
As with many projects like this, the timeline was tight and waiting for a full brand sign-off would have left no time to actually create the film, so our first challenge was working out how to move quickly without losing quality, and how to craft a film that clearly showcased the transformation that took place before every element was locked.
The Approach
We identified what was already fixed and what could still evolve, then began blocking out key scenes and developing the narrative around a structural flow that let us swap assets in as they became ready. We built in tandem with the SomeOne team, working through a shared channel and sharing progress continuously to stay aligned and moving in the right direction, even as the brand was still taking shape.
The Creative
The core idea was to split the film into two distinct parts. The first opens on a white background, film grain and archival footage reflecting the old brand. As the script progresses, we reveal the new brand name, Alphatax, along with its logo, colours and wider brand elements. We shifted the frame rate between the two halves too, creating a clear, felt distinction between what the brand was and what it has become.
We also wanted to bring in stock footage to add a sense of real people and real places. The challenge with stock footage is always the same: how do you stop it looking like stock? To solve this, we built a custom transitions plugin that maps depth within the footage itself, letting us create brand-colour wipes that travel from foreground to background along the contours of buildings and skylines, rather than wiping flatly across the frame.
“Really impressed with the level of motion OK Social delivered in such a short timeframe. The team needed very little hand-holding, and the launch went really well with the client.”
The Audio
We started by sourcing stock tracks as a reference for tempo and instrumentation, then moved on to composing a custom track from scratch, giving us full control to keep the audio and motion working as one. The film opens with organic, analogue instruments and sounds, reflecting the old and outdated ways of working, before synths gradually take over as the visuals shift into the new brand, marking the arrival of something more modern.
