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Apple’s store design beautifully integrates branding and product.

The power of a beautiful design idea. Wander round Apple’s iconic 5th Avenue store in NY and you’ll come across this brilliant piece of retail brand design. Whilst the easy solution would have been a wall full of product (after all the beautifully simple Apple…

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Retail Brand Whole Foods Trials Convenience Format in NYC.

Retail Leader Tweaks Brand to Stay in Front. Recently US retail brand Whole Foods launched a new convenience format of their grocery store model. Since Amazon bought the business the upmarket grocery retailer has been active in trialing new formats aimed at different niches to…

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Tiffany Co shows the value of brand – and then take it too far.

The web is ablaze with ‘social commentary’ on Tiffany’s ‘Everyday Object Collection’. At first sight the US$1500 Tiffany 18k gold paperclip is a brilliant example of the power of brand. After-all, anyone can head down to the local stationery store and pick-up a regular gold…

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Ball and Chain Shoppers – A challenge for retail brands

Finding the hidden opportunities for retail branding. An interesting piece of the puzzle for retailers is managing the reluctant customer. So much focus goes in to setting up the store design and merchandising to cater to the customer whose interest brought them into the store.…

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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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Retail Brand Hack; Rethinking the butcher store with vending machines

Applestone Meat Co. turns old tech into a new convenience brand proposition. Applestone Meat Co. is a butcher brand with two outlets in NYC. They are butchers who use their philosophy as a brand differentiator. As they say on their web site: The meat industry…

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Global shopping centre giant Westfield’s vision for the future of retail

The future of shopping centre retail – A disruptive view. Global entertainment brand Cirque du Soleil announced their plans recently to launch a family entertainment concept inside a Canadian shopping centre. The move reflects the shift in retail thinking as consumer continue to evolve the…

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Red lipstick as a powerful symbol of unity and advocacy

Loving this inspirational story of Elizabeth Arden; an entrepreneur, a women’s advocate, and a champion for holistic beauty, whose beliefs seem more relevant today than ever before. Along with the symbolism of her brand’s signature colour; from the iconic red door of the first salon, to…

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Tis the season – 2017 Christmas Ads

Snow, eggnog, warm log fires, presents and all that deliciously delightful food. Or like us, if you live in the Southern hemisphere; beaches, pine trees, sunscreen, BBQ’s and backyard cricket. Christmas reaches out and touches all the senses this time of year and so do…

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Amazon’s Australian launch – A radio interview with Truly Deeply Founder; Dave Ansett

Who’s afraid of the big, bad, Amazon? Amazon soft launched in Australia this week to much anticipation. National radio network TripleM spoke to Truly Deeply Founder and creator of brands; Dave Ansett to get his view on what their arrival meant for Australian retailers. You…

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Death of the Shopping Mall – The changing landscape of retail

The world of retail has changed. Online shopping, online product and brand comparison, and the new shopping habits of consumers have significantly changed the retail landscape. Retailers, shopping strips and shopping centres have had to get agile in evolving the way they connect with and…

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Why physical stores are still so important for retail brands in the digital age

Global Retailer Aldo  – Bricks & Mortar Believers Global footwear retailer Aldo has seen amazing growth to more than 2,600 stores in 100 countries. Senior Vice President of Aldo Group, Nick Martire co-founded the Aldo Product Services division which generated $1 billion in retail sales…

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How personal brand is the foundation for building your business brand

Simple Personal Branding is great for Brand Building Recently I bumped-into a friend of mine; Graeme Goldman at a business event. Graeme is one of Australia’s brilliant entrepreneurs quietly going about growing impressive businesses and brands. His retail watch business, 8th Avenue Watch Co is…

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H&M’s wonderful new Christmas ad shot by Wes Anderson

  Come Together – A Christmas Brand Gesture As the ‘content as entertainment’ train continues to gain momentum, Global retail brand H&M have teamed-up with film maker Wes Anderson to create a Christmas ad that is as quirkily cinematic as it is retail oriented. True…

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IKEA brand taps into a higher purpose to support the Red Cross in Syria

  Meaningful branding builds deeper customer loyalty An unwritten law of commerce is that we do business with those we like. This applies equally to B2B sales as it does to B2C where it’s often about how much we like the brand rather than the…

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Re-imagining Retail Design – A truly differentiated brand space

Fresh New Retail Design from Japan Tokyo has rightly earned the reputation for a city that thinks outside the square. Japanese design culture is often fresh, innovative and disruptive, and this retail space designed by Nobuo Araki/The Archetype is a bold example. Following-on from The…

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Woolworths free fruit for kids campaign builds on their differentiated brand proposition

Deliciously Good Brand Differentiation Australian Supermarket brand Woolworths have teamed up with celebrity endorser and fresh food campaigner; Jamie Oliver to introduce their latest in store brand initiative – fresh fruit. Launched in-store and driven by an above the line TVC campaign, Woolworths have come…

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Calling all Courageous Blondes – Lululemon Partners with Canadian Brewery

It seem’s that Lululemon is now targeting the yoga loving, beer drinkers. Who doesn’t like a cold beer after a sweaty yoga session?… The global activewear brand has partnered with Canadian based brewery, Stanley Park Brewing to create a lemon hopped ale called ‘Courageous Blonde’.

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Retail Brand Theatre – Buenos Aires beautiful bookstore

Brand theatre proves the perfect differentiator for this Buenos Aires retailer. Found in the Barrio Norte neighborhood of Buenos Aires is this stunning bookshop called El Ateneo Grand Splendid. The bookshop is the latest incarnation of the Grand Splendid Theater, which was built in 1919.…

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The Power of Consumer-Centric Lifestyle Brands

From boring and monotonous to creative and exciting – the success story of Samsung Mobile Thinking back to a decade ago, when consumers thought about Samsung, the image of a true technology and innovation company would spring to mind. Fast forward to now, Samsung represents a…

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Influence Marketing – A Relatively New Social Media Movement

What traits are important for a successful social media influencer? In the world of social media, an influencer is a individual who has the power to make others believe that they need a certain product or service because of their real (or perhaps perceived) authority, relationship with the…

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The 4 critical numbers to understanding changing consumer behavior for brands

Customer Evolution – The Important Numbers for the Future of Retail Brands Recently I attended a presentation on Global Trends in Retail put on by PWC. One of the speakers was Dr Violet Lazarevic from Monash Business Schools ‘Australian Consumer, Retail, and Services’ Research Unit…

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Apple takes their retail store brand experience to the next level.

Apple Just Picked-up Their Brand Game… Again. There are few things more admirable than someone at the top of their game relentlessly pursuing a way to do things better. Apple have for several years been the number one retailer globally in terms of sales per…

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Spotify is planning to sell their most popular playlists

Music streaming giant Spotify continues their expansion of audio advertising by  allowing brands to sponsor their most popular playlists. Spotify has announced that they will be expanding their advertising opportunities by allowing brands to sponsor their most popular owned and operated playlists. Brands have previously been able…

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Australian Retailer Target loses $2b of Goodwill and Brand Value

Brand irrelevance leads to evaporating brand value Australian retailer Target has struggled in recent years to maintain a valued, differentiated consumer proposition in the market.  As competitive pricing has become a table stake rather than an active brand differentiator, mid-market retailers like Target (and the…

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Nokia plans for a global comeback – Will consumers embrace the once beloved brand?

The Finnish company signs a new agreement, making a comeback doing what they once did best, but is the boat already too far gone?  Two years after Microsoft’s mistreatment of Nokia’s mobile business, the Finland based company has signed a new strategic brand and intellectual…

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The Simplicity of Being Nude – A Brand Delivering the Bare Minimum

Taking a Nude approach. Domestic glassware brand all about simplicity. Nude is a new domestic glassware brand that insists “simple is beautiful”. Nude want to appeal to a younger target market and brings a fresh new angle to a pretty out-dated and fair to say boring industry…

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#SLEEPREVOLUTION – Huffington Post’s Global Sleep Campaign

The Sleep Revolution – A book all about the Zzz’s. We all know the effects of a bad night’s sleep. THE SLEEP REVOLUTION is a newly released book by author Arianna Huffington written to educate people about the benefits of sleep and how often this is overlooked.…

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Fashion Labels Are Forgetting the Importance of their Brand Essence

Calvin Klein founder discusses how current practices within the fashion industry are not good for the long-run The power of a brand essence has diminished over time within the fashion world. In the past, iconic fashion labels have endeavoured to ensure all touch points within the market…

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As Major Retailers Adapt to New Consumer Demands – Ikea is Quick to Follow

From DIY home solutions and affordable furniture, to fashion and bicycles – IKEA has a plan to expand globally and meet the demands of the modern consumer. As the retail environment is ever-changing and adapting to new consumer needs, IKEA has been quick to recognise the…

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Monash University Encourages You to ‘Question the Answers’

Monash University encourages the audience to look beyond the conventional and accepted, and challenge the status quo. Monash University has launched a new integrated campaign starring Australian actor David Wenham, which thanks people who accept what they’re told, for creating a world where answers should…

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Is Trademarking Hashtags Making Social Media Anti-Social?

Will putting a trademark on hashtags restrict its ability to be successful? In recent times, brands have increasingly been using their own bespoke hashtags to communicate with customers. As the use of hashtags becomes more common, hashtag trademark applications filed have followed suite. The words…

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Anthony Bourdain – A Lesson in Creating a Powerful Personal Brand

Open your mind, get up off the couch, move.  Anthony Bourdain is a reality TV personality, chef and author who has been exploring the world and sharing his travels with us all on his series No Reservations, The Layover, and Part’s Unknown. Bourdain has been in…

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Disruptive online retailer the surprise buyer of Dick Smith brand

Ruslan Kogan to Revitalize Dick Smith Retail Brand It’d be tough to find two hotter topics in the world of brand and marketing than ‘new thinking brands disrupting’ and ‘old thinking brands imploding’. The latest move by Australian online retailer Kogan combines both. The move…

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IKEA Chief believes we have reached ‘Peak Stuff’ – What does that mean for consumer brands?

Has the West has reached it’s peak of Consumerism? During a recent interview with NPR in the US, IKEA’s Global Chief Sustainability Officer, Steve Howard opined: “If you look at things like oil–well, actually, oil sales have peaked in the U.S. and Western Europe. Beef sales have pretty…

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From Humble Beginnings, to a Multi-Million Dollar Business – Ecostore Provide Consumers With An Alternative

A brand bringing you eco-friendly cleaning products – and award winning packaging design. Ecostore are offering substitute products to those other harsh chemical household products we all see in our major retailers. We all know these cleaning products contain many nasties, but sometimes we don’t…

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The world's best Christmas windows from 2015

As we blow the remnants of Christmas cobwebs from our brains and prepare to launch into 2016, we thought we’d indulge in a last little taste of the festive season. With retailers around the world looking to squeeze every last drop of Christmas cheer from…

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Bland Identity – Microsoft Launches their New Brand Identity Design

A Branding Challenge for market Leaders Microsoft has launched the latest evolution of their brand mark at the opening of its new store in Boston. The task of keeping a brand’s visual language fresh and relevant to the market is critical (we recently wrote a…

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Nike Masters the 80:20 Rule of Branding

Not all brand activities are born equal. This is a brand principle that Nike know better than most brands as the recent release of the ‘Nike sole’. The Nike sole has been developed to fit onto the ‘flex-run’ prosthetic running blade, designed for by Nike…

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25 Killer Custom Typefaces – A Brand Design Asset

Building Your Brand’s Visual Properties When creating a corporate image for our clients brands, we focus on building unique brand properties that can be leveraged to become brand assets. A brand’s typeface is one of the visual properties we incorporate into the brand design process,…

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