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How to develop your Brand’s EVP and why it matters.

Create a unique, authentic and compelling Employee Value Proposition (EVP) and reap the rewards for your business and brand.

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Bunnings and Bluey; a brilliant brand partnership

The famous Australian cartoon Bluey and hardware superstore Bunnings, is an inspired collaboration that benefits both brands. For February, Bunnings has rebranded several of their stores to Hammerbarn, the name of the fictional hardware store that Bluey’s family visited in the TV show. The Bluey…

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Aussie Bird Count epitomises brand engagement

Brilliant brand engagement from national conservation charity.

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Brand name renaming, 3 ways to rename.

Brand naming can be hard, but it’s easy compared to brand renaming. Brand naming: coming up with a strategic, relevant and available name for a new company, product or service is challenging. Engaging stakeholders and bringing them on a journey, getting buy-in on preferred options…

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The importance of simple differentiation

The simplest branding trick. Living in the northern suburbs we see these pink cement trucks lots. My girls love them, shouting out whenever they see them. They always bring a smile to my face and clearly demonstrate the real power of differentiation. It’s let down…

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Nike’s Bold Anti-Racism Stance Proves Problematic

A timely lesson for brands with a social conscience. Global sportswear brand, Nike recently took a public stance to condemn racism, seeking to tap into the social tinderbox inflaming North America and spreading around the world. Adapting their iconic tagline, Nike created a campaign around;…

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Heinz Ketchup Puzzle – brilliant brand relevance

Branding Inspiration from Big Red. As so many people around the world become stir-crazy from self isolation, Heinz has come-up with with an inspired brand gesture. The Heinz Ketchup Puzzle has 570 pieces, each the exact same colour of Heinz’s tomato sauce. Heinz is giving…

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McDonalds releases burger scented candles

Branding Madness or Genius? As part of its Quarter Pounder Fan Club, McDonald’s have released a set of candles that smell like the ingredients of a Quarter Pounder, including; 100% Fresh Beef, Ketchup, Pickle, Cheese, Onion, and Sesame Seed Bun. Before we claim this as…

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You’ve come a long way Barbie

The 2020 Barbie range steps-out with inclusiveness. Loving the way the Barbie brand has kept pace with society and arguably takes a leadership role in diversity and inclusiveness. The range of Barbie dolls includes35 skin tones, 9 body types, a Barbie in a wheel chair,…

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Apple impresses with Chinese New Year short film shot on iPhone

It’s not an entirely new trick, but Apples latest piece of brandertainment has been shot entirely on the latest iPhone. And there’s plenty to like beyond showing-off the capabilities of the iPhone 11 Pro. The film, about three generations of Chinese women coming together at…

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Cheers to Art & Social Comment

Banksy captures the true spirit of Christmas Reminds me of a time when street art was graffiti and graffiti had a purpose which was to make social comment. In these days of fleeting content it’s heartwarming to find thoughtful, considered art. Dave Ansett David is…

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The Future of Retail Branding for 2020 & Beyond

The changing face of consumer behavior raises a red flag for retail brands. When I think back even just a decade ago, the demands of retail customers were not so different from the decades before. Essentially most retailers could add a functional web site and…

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Doritos ‘No Logo’ ad misses the point.

Doritos Clever Thinking Only Outsmarts Themselves. Doritos is set to launch an ‘anti-ad’ campaign to appeal to Gen Z, who is research tells us are averse to traditional advertising tactics. The snack food brand plans to ditch its logo, replacing it with a recognizable triangle…

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The branding data behind Social Influencers

  84 facts every brand owner and manager should know about Social Influencers. Arguably this decade’s greatest disruptor to the way brands go-to-market has been the emerging force of social influencers. In a conversation recently with the founder of Australia’s leading cosmetic retail brands when…

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Sexist brand icon Playboy gets with the program

The power of re-imagining a brand icon. In a shift that has even me surprised, iconic global brand Playboy has moved with the times, evolving from a ‘sexist and proud of it’ brand proposition to one of understanding and tolerance. Playboy CMO and Rachel Webber…

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Why AV business Scene Change spent their entire marketing budget on a private jet (and why it was a good decision).

Marketing Strategy Madness or Branding Genius. In a marketing strategy that sounds lifted from a Vegas comedy about three guys on a bachelor party, Australian corporate AV company Scene Change invested their entire marketing budget for two years to buy and run a private jet.…

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For the love of colour : 8 cool colour inspiration sites

Creating the best mix of colours has never been so daunting. From print to digital, books to apps, the decision to finalise a particular colour palette for your project can be overwhelming at times. Colour combinations are a tricky business so why not gather the…

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Retail Brand Innovation – Self Select Customer Service

An engaging way to deliver the service experience your customers want, when they want it. Understanding when to provide service to the contemporary consumer and when to leave them to shop under their own steam is a challenge for retailers. Bug them with unwanted offers…

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B2B Brands tap into the Experience Economy with Pop-Up Offices

Long the domain of retail and eComm brands, this new pop-up office from design is giving B2B businesses a entree into the experience economy. Consider a professional services firm (like say… a branding agency) popping-up an office at the beach, opposite the markets, at a…

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Breakfast at Tiffany’s – A brilliant brand collaboration

A Delicious Brand Partnership. A branding strategy that is underutilized yet regularly pays dividends is brand collaborations (especially when it comes to food). When co-branding is envisaged strategically and executed with brand sensitivity, the result can be an extraordinary brand experience – introducing new customers…

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Employee Branding – The Power of Thanks

We wanted to share a great pic from our client Yarra Trams. A part of their annual celebration to show their appreciation, our client had these delicious and beautifully branded cupcakes baked. A feast for the eyes, heart and tummy.  

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Adidas inspired by London Underground design

You can now wear the iconic London Tube symbol on your shoes thanks to a new collaboration between Transport for London (TfL) and adidas: adidas x TfL Inspired by the design of the London Underground, there are now limited edition adidas trainers dedicated to each…

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Easy Jet’s Look & Book, a Social Media Masterclass for Brands

The end of Instagram travel envy. The UK’s Easy Jet has launched a new booking app that takes their social media game to a new level. Look & Book is an app designed to turn Instagram travel inspiration into a reality. Look & Book identifies…

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Why engaging your harshest critics makes good brand sense.

Brands that see criticism as all bad are missing the message. For brand owners and managers it can be tough to receive critical feedback. However, behind the criticism is often an opportunity to transform a critic into a powerful advocate. As tempting as it is…

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All Hail the Pantone

  Everyone in the design industry is aware of the Pantone name and most probably even have a Pantone swatch mug gifted to them one xmas. The perfect gift for their “designery” friend or partner. Pantone is the universal language of colour which steers the…

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Carnaby Street Rhapsody

  Although it’s still only October, Carnaby Street, located in the heart of London, has already unveiled its 2018 festive light display, with another amazing and creative design. It is always exciting to see what fashionable Carnaby Street will do. The theme tends to be …

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Art with Heart 2018 – A TRUE Success

Last night we hosted our annual charity event, Art with Heart, with all proceeds going to StartOut, a local health promotion charity providing regional outreach and mentorship programmes for young people of diverse sexuality and gender (DSG). StartOut has developed a unique online mentoring program purely from…

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The Silo Art Trail : Australia’s largest outdoor gallery

Patchewollock, Fintan Magee Considered one of the world’s top places to road trip due to the never-ending open stretches of road, outback Australia is a dream come true for those wanting to venture off the beaten track. Now there is another reason which combines both…

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Aston Martin’s audacious brand gesture

Aston Martin has announced the ultimate collectors toy with the news they are going to make 28 Goldfinger DB5 reproductions. Aston Martin is working with EON Productions and Chris Corbould the special effects wizard whose resume includes Star Wars, Batman and all the Bond movies…

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Your most powerful brand influencers might be right under your nose

Brand ambassadors hidden in plain sight. Influencers have become the newest weapon in the super competitive battle for brands to stand-out. Finding the right celeb or online tribal leader to espouse the benefits of your product has become the new holy grail for brand marketers…

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The Virgin brand steps sideways into hotels

A brand with extraordinary category extension discipline. Arguably no brand has stretched into new categories like Richard Branson’s Virgin has. Capturing the personality of Branson’s own brand, Virgin has come to represent a brand that challenges the paradigm of the categories it enters, usually looking…

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Lego moves to become a sustainable brand

Toy brand introduces first sustainable pieces It’s the only plastic toy that gets a thumbs up from most sustainably minded parents I know. It’s great to see it making a move to becoming a sustainable brand. Lego has introduced it’s first sustainable pieces as the…

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The retail brand who never used plastic bags

Finally, there’s movement on plastic bags We’ve been entertained by the carry on over plastic bags by the giant retail brands Coles and Woolworths over the last few months. While the brands themselves may see this as them taking a leadership roll in an overdue change…

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Is office fit-out the most powerful corporate branding statement?

Recently I spent the day at PWC’s Melbourne Office for a business planning retreat. It was the first time I’m been to visit their new digs and was immediately struck by the first impression provided by their foyer and reception. For a consulting firm with…

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Federer and Uniqlo, an unlikely new brand partnership?

Things were remarkably different at Wimbledon last week when Roger Federer stepped onto centre court for his first appearance of the tournament, surprising us all by wearing new sponsor Uniqlo. Swapping his signature RF brandmark and ‘swoosh’ for the Uniqlo red squares in a lucrative…

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8 Predictions for the Future of Retail in 2030

A glance into the future of retail. Global Retail real estate business CBRE has produced a forward-looking market research, perspectives and industry insights piece called The Future of Retail 2030, an interesting piece of futurist thinking with some well considered suppositions. The retail industry is…

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The Accessible FormBox: Building a Community Through Product.

“We’re building a personal factory that makes creating products as simple as baking a cake.” – Mayku. A team of clever minds at Mayku, Somerset House, London have been busy creating a powerful product that has been designed to make vacuum forming more accessible. The…

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The first steps to creating a new brand. Part One.

We’re constantly working with start-ups and entrepreneurs looking to get their brand up and running on limited funding. Wondering what they can do to guarantee value from the process and for ways to use the budget as efficiently as possible. So over my next two…

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A lesson in Branding from online retailer Brandless – #ironic.

Another Retail Disruptor Gets Physical. US online retailer; ‘Brandless’ made waves this week when it opened it’s first physical pop-up in West Hollywood, LA. The proposition of this retailer is an unbranded (plain label) $3-everything approach, taking the private label mindset and disrupting it. Brandless…

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Is Remarkable Customer Service the Greatest Act of Branding?

The Brand Value of Customer Service. Just ask Apple, the best retailer in the world in terms of $ sales per square meter (and is there any other metric worth measuring?), customer service is still where the rubber hits the road. New Apple retail customer…

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Skol and the art of brand reputation recovery.

When Brands get it Wrong. It never ceases to amaze me the way in which brand-consumer relationships continue to play-out in the same way as regular human relationships. This is no-where more apparent than when brands get it wrong. And there’s no doubt brands do…

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Brand leadership for Australia

Brand leaders Every great brand we’ve created or worked with over the years has had one thing in common: great brand leadership. That is the individual or individuals who have the vision for what they want that organisation to be and use brand to tell…

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April Fools Day – A Great Opportunity for Brand Tomfoolery

  Brands that made me smile. For all brands, finding a reason to connect with their audience in an authentic and emotionally relevant manner is gold. April Fools day presents that opportunity, embraced each year by many of my favorite brands. here are a few…

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What are you doing to Surprise and Delight with your branding?

A beautiful Brand Gesture The Lake House in Dayelsford, Regional Victoria is one of my favourite places to retreat from the hustle and bustle of life, enjoy amazing local produce and of course get a little pampering action. So for my recent wedding anniversary we…

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McDonalds billboards prove the value of a good brand mark

The power of the brandmark McDonald’s Canada has proved the value of a good brand mark with it’s playful ‘Follow the Arches’ campaign by Cossette. The campaign consists of four simple billboards that crop the golden arches to provide freeway direction signage that goes beyond…

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Truly Deeply named best Branding Blog in Australia and the fourth best Agency Branding Blog in the world.

A little recognition It’s always nice to get some external recognition of the something we are so passionate about. We’ve been channeling our insights, interest and love for all things brand design into our blog since 2009. We have built a community of almost 200,000…

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Is the Old-Fashioned Flyer Doing a Steven Bradbury?

Today’s post is an article written by Brandhook, good friends of ours and the sharpest brand research and insights agency around. Two mornings in a row, I have been handed direct advertising materials at Richmond station.  One for Uber Eats and another for Pet Circle;…

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Vero – True Social. Just another social app?

First of all, lets start with this disclaimer. If you can’t be bothered to keep up with yet another social media app then there’s no need to find out more about Vero. Because that’s exactly what it is, but apparently ‘with a twist’. Vero is the…

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Brilliant Brand Positioning from The New York Times

Taking a stand to stand out. The New York Times’ recent campaign has created something of a storm on social media where this clip has had more than 37 million views alone. A newspaper taking the high moral ground for truth in such a complex…

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Marketing guru Seth Godin talks about Brand Authenticity

The differentiating power of brand authenticity When best-selling author, entrepreneur and marketing guru Seth Godin spoke with Brandchannel editor Shirley Brady about what brands need to do to stay relevant, authentic and innovative at the Brandemonium 2017 conference in Cincinnati, his view on the role…

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Department store Myer shows their branding game can still hit a winner

Anyone who’s ever worn heels for a day at the races, the idea of taking them off before you start the long trip home has enormous appeal. At this year’s carnival, Myer were giving away comfortable, practical, and not completely unstylish, branded slides – manna…

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A delicious Easter shopping center brand activation for Lindt

Six Tips for Shopping Center Brand Activation. Westfield London created this brand activation with Lindt Chocolates in the UK. The magic meadow and maze enchanted children and families who engaged with several giant, iconic gold Lindt bunnies and Master Chocolatiers. Designed to drive sales throughout…

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Melbourne Cup Carnival Marquees – A brand investment or ego-driven indulgence?

I have to admit I love this time of year. As the Spring Racing Carnival hits full swing, Melbourne turns into a town of glamour and excitement where it seems everyone is a racing aficionado, and dressed accordingly. As the center of the Carnival universe,…

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Another successful Art with Heart – 2017

Last night we hosted our annual charity event, Art with Heart, with all proceeds going to Tomorrow Man. Tomorrow Man was founded by Tom Harkin and is supported through auspice by Gotcha4Life. Currently in Australia suicide is the largest killer of men aged 15 – 44, (6 Australian…

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The 6 Golden Rules of successful experiential brand marketing

Experiential Marketing for Brands There’s as much mystery around experiential marketing for brands as there is interest and curiosity. Whether you’re planning a pop-up or a mobile brand taste, experiential can be a very effective way to engage consumers with your brand.  How much will…

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Home Park Food Store in China reinvents the supermarket

In a category devoid of innovation and brand engagement, this supermarket concept in China breaks the mold. Located in the city of Harbin, China, Home Park Food Store is a high-end retail food concept spread over 7200 square metres. Similar in concept to the Eataly…

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Uber and Westfield partner to offer customer waiting lounges

More disruptive thinking from Uber differentiates their brand offering. Ride sharing brand Uber and retail center behemoth Westfield have partnered to create waiting lounges for shoppers. Uber continue to think and act in a manner that is anything like their taxi brand competitors. When talking…

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Brands lead from the top

  With every organisation there are actions that have a disproportional effect on a brand. As you go up the tree in any company it’s the people at the top, the exec level that have this the opportunity to have such an effect on their…

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Creating an authentic and compelling employer brand proposition

The recruitment process is a two-way street, not only are you trying to find the right candidate, that candidate is also assessing your organisation to see if you’re going to be a place they want to work. As the labor market becomes more competitive and…

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The humorous side of brand fatigue

So you build an amazing company… You invest in branding to grow awareness and value in your brand over many years – Congrats, you’ve made the grade. But after all your hard work comes brand fatigue. Consumers start turning to the newest brand on the…

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