Rockfeller · 2004–2026 · Branding · Campaigns · AI · Strategy
We saw Rockfeller being born. Twenty years later, it brings in R$ 85 million.
Since the first school in 2004, TBS GROUP has looked after the Rockfeller brand: from the name and identity to Atlas, the artificial intelligence that now supports its students. A two-decade partnership with a network that has grown to 100 schools.
- Client
- Rockfeller Language Center
- Partnership
- Since 2004, over 20 years
- Scope
- Naming, brand, teaching materials, signage, campaigns, films, website, performance, events, business strategy and the Atlas character
- Group company
- .xtrategy, BDDB.ag, OWTRA, RISE Films, PLUS & MORE
The challenge
In 2004, Rockfeller was a single school in São José, near Florianópolis, with its own methodology and the drive to grow. It needed everything: a name, a brand, materials and a clear way to stand out from the big language school chains.
Twenty years later, the challenge changed in scale: keep the brand relevant for children, teens and adults, support growth through franchising and take the network into the age of artificial intelligence without losing its essence.
The 2025 campaign, made entirely with AI
Script, prompts, motion design, production, post-production, sound design and editing: the 20th-anniversary enrolment commercial was made entirely with artificial intelligence.
Films
20 years on film
From the institutional commercial and the making-of with Luigi Baricelli to the 20th-anniversary convention concept, the films follow every phase of the brand. Below, pieces from the 2017 enrolment campaign.
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2017 enrolment campaign: leaflets -
Point-of-sale displays -
Banner at the school reception -
Roll-up with the method’s differentiators -
Institutional brochure -
School environment graphics -
Rock Mom seasonal campaign -
Rockfeller in the landscape
Atlas · Rockfeller’s artificial intelligence
We created Atlas: the name, the character and the voice of the brand’s AI.
Atlas is the students’ new tutor and the name of Rockfeller’s artificial intelligence. The name brings back the symbol we designed in 2004: the titan who holds up the world.
From the drawing to the outfit, every detail carries the identity: the brand’s blue and yellow, the globe on the chest, the backpack with the Rockfeller signature and the let’s rock! motto.
What we did
- 01
Strategy
Business Strategy, digital products and a seat on the Strategic Planning Board alongside the partners.
- 02
Brand and product
Name, identity, teaching materials and signage: the Rockfeller experience designed end to end.
- 03
Campaigns and films
From celebrity campaigns to a commercial made entirely with AI, always the same promise: excellence in conversation.
- 04
Digital and events
Website, performance, social media and the convention that brought the network together at 20.
20 years of work
A brand built end to end, from its name to artificial intelligence.
- Marca
Name, brand and visual identity
We created the Rockfeller name, the logo with the titan holding up the globe and the full visual identity of the first school, opened in 2004.
- Produto
Kids, Teens and Adults teaching materials
We helped create the books for children, teens and adults in a format designed for the digital whiteboard, disruptive at the time. The material embodies the face-to-face method: small classes grouped by level and age, and a total focus on conversation. That positioning is what set the brand apart from competitors.
- Espaço
Signage and wayfinding
We designed the schools’ signage and wayfinding: yellow and blue façades, the Rockfeller sign and the pylon with the titan. The brand experience is the same in every unit of the network.
- 2016–2017
Campaigns with Luigi Baricelli
We ran the first campaign with actor Luigi Baricelli, built on the idea of modern, fast English with international certification, from billboards to point of sale.
- Digital
Social media, performance and domain
We managed social media and digital performance until the franchisor brought marketing in-house. We also negotiated the purchase of the website domain.
- Rede
Franchisee communication
Franchisee meetings, email marketing and seasonal actions that keep the network aligned with one brand.
- 2021
New website, landing pages and performance
A website with a school finder by city, enrolment landing pages and performance campaigns to bring students to the network.
- Conselho
Strategic Planning Board
Thiago Berardi, co-founder of TBS GROUP, sits on Rockfeller’s Strategic Planning Board as a marketing and market positioning strategist, alongside the founders and leading names in franchising.
- 2024
.xtrategy Business Strategy
Ahead of the 20th anniversary, .xtrategy built the network’s Business Strategy, with a diagnosis, roadmap and recommendations for the next growth phase. Its content is confidential; only the cover is shown here.
- 2024
20th-anniversary convention: UNLIMITED
We created the concept and name of the franchisee event that celebrated the brand’s 20 years, Be a Rocker, Be UNLIMITED, bringing back the original branding.
- 2025
Enrolment campaign with AI characters
Annual marketing plan, campaign key visual and a commercial made entirely with AI, with characters created for children, teens and adults, plus a digital toolkit for franchisees.
2025 Strategic Planning Board
At the table where Rockfeller decides its future.
In November 2024, in Balneário Camboriú, Thiago Berardi, co-founder of TBS GROUP and founder of BDDB.ag, the first agency Rockfeller ever hired, joined the network’s 2025 Strategic Planning Board.
Alongside founders André Belz, Renata Morais and Romeu Morais, the board brought together names such as Fabiana Estrela, executive director of ABF, Carlos Zilli, Adriano Batistela, Gustavo Raposo Vieira and Emerson Bento Pereira.
2025 enrolment campaign
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Billboard: all three student profiles together -
Kids -
Adults -
Key visual with the promise: fast, modern English with excellent conversation -
Teens -
A universe of possibilities -
Digital pieces featuring the new AI-powered method -
UNLIMITED: the 20th-anniversary signature -
From the 2016 billboard to 2025: the same brand, a new language
A positioning view
Positioning is built over the long term. The name and symbol created in 2004 still hold the brand up today, and came back as protagonists at the 20th anniversary and in Atlas.
The method’s edge, face to face, small classes and conversation, has always been at the centre of the communication. Each generation of campaigns updated the language, from celebrity to artificial intelligence, without changing the promise.
When a partner knows the business from the inside, including at board level, communication stops being a set of loose pieces and becomes a growth strategy. Today Rockfeller holds 12 consecutive ABF excellence seals and is aiming for 350 units in five years.
- 100
- schools across every region of Brazil
- R$ 85 mi
- in revenue in 2025
- 20 mil
- students, approximately
Why hire the group for a project like this
In this case, all five TBS GROUP companies worked for the same brand, each in its own specialty, under a single strategy.
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.xtrategyLed this case
Business Strategy and digital products.
Meet .xtrategy -
BDDB.agLed this case
Naming, brand, visual identity, teaching materials, signage, wayfinding and the Atlas character.
Meet BDDB.ag -
RISE FilmsLed this case
All films and motion pieces, from the institutional commercial to the 2025 campaign commercial, made entirely with AI.
Meet RISE Films -
OWTRALed this case
Website, landing pages, social media, paid search, digital performance, SEO and GEO.
Meet OWTRA -
PLUS & MORELed this case
Live marketing, launch activations and the 20th-anniversary franchisee event.
Meet PLUS & MORE
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