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From raiseR to Spark: The Story Behind the Rebrand




In the journey of any successful company, change is often the bridge to growth, and few understand this better than Armen Kocharyan, the CEO of Spark. Today, Spark, formerly known as raiseR, stands at the forefront of a significant evolution. What began as an HR solution has transformed into a powerful platform for strategy and people management, tailored not just for HR professionals but for company leaders and executives striving for meaningful, strategic alignment. In this interview, Armen shares the motivation behind Spark's rebrand, the vision guiding its development, and the values that continue to drive the Spark team forward.



What inspired the rebrand from raiseR to Spark?


One of the main reasons behind the rebrand that I want to emphasize is that we have shifted from a purely HR platform to a more strategy-driving solution for businesses - specifically with features like OKRs, strategy maps, and KPIs. Naturally, these new changes impacted our buyer persona as well - our new, evolved product was appealing not only to HR teams and leaders, but company executives as well. During our brainstorming sessions, we realized that Spark.work was a name that was definitely a better reflection of what our product helps Executive and HR teams achieve.



Another reason behind the rebrand was the phonetic aspect of the word raiseR. When talking to prospects from the Western world, their first mental image was of a razor - not something you want people to associate your HR product with. We constantly found ourselves explaining that our product name was something else entirely, which we realized was a real challenge that needed to be addressed if we were to enter the western market. Even though we as a team had grown quite fond of the name raiseR, we knew it was time for a change.


How does the name "Spark.work" reflect the vision and the direction of the product?


The vision of Spark is to fortify businesses and guide them through digital transformation journeys with a people and strategy management platform that’ll help them unlock their true potential. And on this path, every leader and executive should take a stand as an agent of change - to be the originator of the first spark that’ll lead to big outcomes, big breakthroughs, igniting fire and passion in people’s hearts and minds and getting them excited for the next big thing they’ll accomplish together as a whole.





This was our promise to those companies - to give them the tool to deliver on that and walk that path of progress and transformation along with them.



What are the Spark.work brand values and how do they represent the impact you want the product to have on your customers?


Our company values are 


  • Teamwork

  • Agility

  • Excellence

  • Privacy


We don’t just talk about values, we act on them. They reflect not only our ethos, but how we approach our customers. 


As a company that started in HR, we know full well the importance of teams and teamwork in achieving success.




Agility is our superpower - as a tech company, we embrace change with open arms. We constantly keep taps on not only the shifts in technology, but also on the needs of companies, which are also rapidly evolving in today’s fast-paced reality.


In this process, we’re committed to quality and excellence, which can get lost when you are trying to do many things quickly. We, however, are committed to making sure we can really make big things happen for our clients fast and well.


Finally, as a company that deals with enormous amounts of sensitive data - people data, organization data, strategic data - our constant focus remains on privacy and security, which we never take lightly.



How does Spark differentiate itself from raiseR and other competitors in the market?


There are two main reasons behind most rebranding initiatives - when you have a change of a buyer persona, and/or when you have something new to say. For us, it was both. 


We are no longer a run-of-the-mill HR solution - we have built software that not only does HR well - but also helps companies with strategic alignment and execution, helping them make decisions based on holistic data - not fragmented information from siloed departments. We provide company leaders with a single source of truth so that they can truly align, execute on their company strategy effectively, and achieve more together.



How will this rebrand benefit current and future users of the platform?


With the rebrand we aren’t just changing a name - we’re bringing a new user experience. We have started on UX changes/improvements, which we are confident our users will appreciate. We have also introduced new strategy- and operations-related features that will help our clients attain unprecedented clarity and focus.




What message do you have for current users of raiseR as they transition to Spark?



We know that all of us have an emotional tie to raiseR and the value that it brings. It was a difficult decision to change, but it was a conscious step in the right direction. It’ll be a little time to get used to this brand. But with the new name will come new features and better usability that’ll improve your efficiency and processes.



What role do you think Spark will play in shaping the future of people and strategy management?



The biggest role will be bringing unprecedented clarity and visibility in executing company vision by aligning every member of the team.

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