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Trademark and naming battle. Should Aussies fight to keep using prosecco or create their own regional or wine style brand? Following on from France’s successful trademarking of Champagne, Italy is now trying to stop Australian wineries using the prosecco name. The challenge to the use…

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…

I recently visited Japan to satisfy my life long obsession for all things Studio Ghibli and my fascination for Japanese culture. I was determined to soak up as much inspiration from all aspects of the country to feed into my design practice, and there are…

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,…

On the first Tuesday in November in Australia the nation stops for the running of the Melbourne Cup. It is Australia’s most prestigious thoroughbred horse race for three-year-olds and over. It is the richest ‘two-mile’ handicap in the world and one of the richest turf…

Why social media customer care is an integral part of every business’s success. Our friends at Website Builder have put together this nifty infographic that highlights the benefits and the importance of social media customer care. For just about any consumer brand, customer service is…

KFC Creates a Halloween Costume of their Iconic Colonel Sanders. Over the last two decades, fast food retail brand KFC have invested in an increasingly focused manner on bringing their founder Colonel Harland Sanders into the branding spotlight. They have reprised his image and locked-it…

Lyft and Netflix partner for Strange Mode rides To celebrate Halloween and a new season of “Stranger Things”, Lyft partnered with Netflix in the USA to create Strange Mode on their app. Riders in in the USA were able to opt into the mode for…

An art exhibition is nothing without its artists and we were lucky enough to have 74 of them contribute to this year’s annual charity art exhibition; Art with Heart. All artists donate their time and artwork to the event which raises money for local charities,…

Amazon Builds their House of Brands. New’s this week that Amazon has been advertising for brand managers to create  a private label of Sportswear Apparel is another indicator of the online retail giants ambition to become an owner as well as a seller of brands.…

If there’s one brand trend we’ve seen explode over the last five years it’s the role of micro-influencers. Typically bloggers (but also instagrammers, facebookers and Twitterers), micro influencers stand at the center of a community, attracted and bound by a shared interest. These influencers produce…

Brands continue to lead the way, as governments drag their feet on climate policy. Despite the political climate in their homeland, US retail chain Target, has recognised the big role it has to play in combating the effects of climate change. Importantly, their new climate…

Today’s post is an article written by Brandhook, good friends of ours and the sharpest brand research and insights agency around. This latest opinion piece by BrandHook CEO Pip Stocks was originally published in CEO Magazine. We intuitively know that customer experience is what keeps clients…

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…

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…

Truly Deeply’s annual charity art exhibition. Don’t miss Art with Heart 2017. It’s on tomorrow, Wednesday 18th October. Once again we’ll open up our studio to share some wonderful art from local artists and raise money for a local charity. The event showcases some wonderful…

Many people have very negative feelings towards brands. They’re associated with conformity, mediocrity and the suppression of individuality. They are seen as money making machines who would say anything to get customer to purchase from them to increase profits. But is that is because we…

A health insurer deliberately catering toward digital natives. New US health insurance company Oscar has been called the Warby Parker for health insurance. Warby Parker is a Silicon Valley darling, an online glasses retailer who came out of left field in the US to disrupt their…

The Greatest Barrier to Creativity. I recently read a great short article on Creative Review where three of the UK’s creative pioneers were asked their view on the greatest barriers to producing creative work. The article interviewed Caroline Pay, Joint Chief Creative Officer of Grey…

More brands, more stories of how they found their name. Last week we looked at how Apple, Virgin, Nike and 3M, Durex and Kodak got their names. To read part 1 click here. This week we look at the stories behind more big name brands,…

We are deep in organisation mode for this year’s charity art exhibition Art with Heart, with only 9 more sleeps until the event. We thought you might like to take a little sneak peek into the art den of our Director David Ansett, with his…

While doing another late night trawl through the different foundries and shops we all spend so much time in (us designers anyway) I came across Fontstand. I couldn’t believe it. A great collection of foundries and fonts that you can really try for free, rather…

The Power of a Brand Apology There’s something about politics and brand management that creates a powerful aversion to apologising. There may have been a time when if a company did something wrong, the best policy was denial and steamroll at full speed until the…

The story behind the names of some of the world’s biggest brands. If you’ve ever tried to create a name for a company or product, you will realise how hard it can be. You need a solid brand strategy and robust naming criteria. You’ll also…

Brand Identity Design I Love. Located in London, The Bridge Theatre will be the official home of the London Theatre Company, an independent producing company focusing on new shows, as well as staging the occasional classic. This simple but powerful identity for the new theater…

When a high end fashion designer decided what he was doing was no longer meaningful he decided to create garments from factory scraps to create affordable, comfortable and on trend fashion.  He wanted to tackle the wasteful fashion industry and create a zero waste product…

Poor Government brand policy will prove costly. With the exception of creating a brand to attract tourism to our shores, the various layers of Government in Australia have never shown an understanding of the value of brand. When compared to the Governments of Europe and…

Brand collaboration reinforces Hotel Indigo’s brand difference. Hotel Indigo and leading global fashion brand Asos have partnered to create fashion inspired travel discovery. It’s a smart brand collaboration that finds another way to leverage the hotel’s one of kind boutique hotel experience. The Hotel Indigo…

  After a conversation with my nurse friend over the weekend, I was suddenly reflecting on the significance of my role as a designer. We talked about the differences between our daily routines in the workplace and I concluded that running out of coffee beans…

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…

The new cannabis category takes a professional approach to packaging design Harmony Extracts is a cannabis concentrate company that uses state-of-the-art extraction technologies to transform marijuana plants into high-quality, potent concentrates. A new company based in Denver, Colorado, which is one of the nearly 30…

As brands and businesses we can have a profound impact on the world beyond just making money. Many brands are starting to realise the value of operating in a way which gives value to not only their bottom line but also to society. Ok, so…

The days of the casserole dish wedding gift are done. Global wedding registry site Zola has partnered-up with Airbnb to offer Airbnb gift cards as part of their offering. The move makes perfect sense to me. The experience economy shows no sign of weakening with the…

R U OK? Day is Australia’s first national suicide prevention day of action and was founded in 2009 by a highly successful advertising executive, Gavin Larkin who was inspired to start the campaign as a personal project to honour his father, who took his own…

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…

New brand proposition, identity and packaging taps into market gap for a premium Australian made brand specifically designed for the Chinese market. Everything from the positioning, messaging and personality was designed to connect with affluent Chinese mums. The proposition reinforces their beliefs in the benefits…

AGDA (Australian Graphic Design Association) is set to launch their 2017 Mentoring Program. The AGDA Mentoring Program is dedicated to bringing together experienced designers with those that are seeking help, advice, and/or experience. The program aims to promote and nurture the sharing of real-world skills…

  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…

When doing the right thing is the right thing for brands. With 350 stores throughout Texas and Mexico, H.E.B. is one of the largest grocery chains in the region. Nearly a quarter of the 112 year old retailer’s stores are located in Houston, in the…

Key insights from Adobe’s third annual consumer email survey, essential reading for brand marketers. The survey shows that email significantly trumps direct mail, mobile apps and social media as the best way to deliver offers to consumers. However, there is still a great degree of…

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…

Australians are in the prime position to make food and brands that will resonate around the world, the founder of American yoghurt success story Chobani says. Just ten years ago in 2007, Turkish migrant Hamdi Ulukaya bought a disused Kraft Food factory in New York…

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…

The Big Changes in Branding. In my time working in the design and branding industry (some 25 years) the internet has been the single greatest thing we’ve seen. At the start of my career Apple launched their first Mac computer, the first step in a…

A growing tourism market with rich potential. There’s never been a better time to dust off your Mandarin textbook and shake the dust off of your Chinese New Year Dragon, because the number of Chinese visitors to Australia continues to grow rapidly and opportunities abound.…

Poland Springs brand authenticity and reason for being under attack Nestle is facing a lawsuit in the USA that claims they have misled their consumers into paying a premium for normal ground water. For a brand that’s positioning and differentiation is all about the purity…

Friday Funny – Signs with a sense of humour. The business of business is enough to make most people lose their sense of humour, but there are some wonderful souls who keep their smiles-up through the rough and tumble, and when that humour is allowed…

Building Broader Brand Relationships is Good for Business. Many years ago, back when Apple was a personal computer business, Steve Jobs had a vision for Apple to play a valued part in more of the 1440 minutes in every person’s day than any other brand.…

Hyde Park July 1st, 2017 Green Day are the headline act to a sold out concert. Over 65,000 fans wait in anticipation… Queen’s 1975 hit, Bohemian Rhapsody, starts to play, and the audience creates the most spine tingling sing-a-long… an iconic song, over 40 years…

Much more than brand spin – hopefully. Air France have announced to launch of Joon, an airline positioned for the European Millenial market. So what does that mean exactly and why should we believe this is more than just another low-cost airline brand entering the…

We are in organisation mode again for our annual charity art exhibition, Art with Heart and are on the lookout for artists who would like to contribute to this year’s show. Art with Heart is an art exhibition held in our studio, where we raise…