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Sex Brand seeks to grow the category with cheeky Valentine’s ads

Sex Brand is attempting to shock and encourage young Brits to start bonking again.

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Truly Deeply creates Pronto, a unique vapor inhaler brand for the USA

Brand naming, strategy, design, and packaging for an innovative range of vapor inhaler products from Rhinomed. Pronto features a unique vapor inhaler that gently opens the nose and delivers a soothing blend of essential oils. There are two versions of the product, featuring different essential…

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Truly Deeply creates the brand for innovative school software, Zunia.

Research, stakeholder engagement, brand strategy, naming and brand identity for a novel school experience and management solution. An innovative new solution from Education Horizon’s Group (EHG). Zunia brings together the best and most powerful functions of the group’s existing products into one intuitive platform. Paul…

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Apple’s WFH short film taps into the new normal.

A brandertainment masterclass from Apple. There have been few times if-any over the last few decades where life has been thrown on it’s head for much of the world as has been the case due to coronavirus. One of the most significant changes has been…

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Burger King’s invitation to Harry and Meghan.

A Right Royal Bit of Branding Fun. I’m loving this brand campaign from Burger King leveraging the global interest in the current Royal family split. Creating timely brand ads that connect with something as newsworthy as the royal split is not a new idea, but…

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Oscar the Artist – Celebrating our Creative Community

At Truly Deeply we love sharing and celebrating not only our creative branding work but that of our extended brand family. In this case it’s doubly easy when the work includes Oscar the Grouch. Produced for the 50th anniversary of Sesame Street, Square Space New…

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French’s Mustard reminds us of the power of crazy.

When it comes to branding, standing out is tougher than it ever has been. Compared to a decade ago, there are many more brands doing more things to differentiate and stand out in the market. The challenge for brand managers, owners and marketers is to…

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Morrison and Shorten fail to build brand differentiation

Spot the difference: Neither of the leaders has an engaging or distinctive personal brand. While the polls have consistently pointed towards a narrow win for Labor, they also highlighted very small differences in whom Australians prefer as their PM. The last Newspoll before the election…

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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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Chain restaurants inspired by independents

Popular UK restaurant chain, Wahaca, has rebranded to appear more like its independent competitors. When I first visited London in 2005, I was shocked to find a chain café or restaurant on almost every corner, and struggled to find a local independent option. Fast forward…

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Tasty Brand Identities & Delicious Business Card Design

Loving this smart business card design created for Pasta Boy Pete, an Italian cooking instructor in Canada. They say the medium is the message, and in this case the clever crew at Rethink Canada have taken that as their mantra, laser etching the branding and…

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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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Brilliant Brandertainment from John Lewis & Partners + Waitrose & Partners

Wonderful Brand Story-telling. The UK retail landscape has recently welcomed a notable rebranding with launch of the new John Lewis & partners and Waitrose & Partners. Complex architecture and relationship between the two brands aside, the brand design work and typography are stunningly elegant in…

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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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6 Inspiring Hand Lettering Artists

Beautiful lettering created by Pellisco An art form that was heavily used during the early centuries in illuminated manuscripts, hand lettering is still strong on the design scene and hopefully here to stay. You probably walk past hand lettering on a daily basis, from artisan chalkboards…

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Bonds ad campaign breaking female stereotypes with ‘The Queendom’

New Bonds ‘Originals’ brand messaging on female stereotype’s in their recent ad campaign ‘The Queendom’ is an inspiring piece of brand communication strategy and a refreshing change in women’s underwear marketing. Powerful and playful, the ad is set in remote Australian ‘bushland’ known as ‘The…

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The Confounding Trend of Bland Branding

Where has all the brand personality gone? Call me old and grumpy, but there’s an emerging trend in brand identity design that has got my goat – the growing popularity of simple, type only brand marks. As a branding agency that breathes, eats and sleeps…

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Papa John’s – When Brand Personalities Strike Out.

The Founder-Led Branding Dilemma. I recently caught up with the news that global pizza chain Papa John’s is set to remove the image of their founder from company branding. Papa John’s Chairman and founder, John Schnatter made a racist remark during an internal training session…

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Some words of wisdom from designer and illustrator, Zach Hobbs.

  As well as working as a communication designer at IDEO, Zach Hobbs creates experimental, abstract, and satirical artworks that resemble the sharpie rendition of a bad acid trip. I was lucky enough to interview Zach recently and wanted to share with you his insights…

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Choice, the evolution of a brand.

More than a rebrand. There’s been something interesting going on at Choice. More than a logo refresh, it seems the stalwart reviewer is starting to develop its activist side. While Choice is known for its product reviews and buying guides more than it’s disruptive activist…

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

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 ways to use the budget as efficiently as possible. Over my next two blogs, I’m…

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Short film; a brilliant brand storytelling asset

The Power of Brand Storytelling on Film. Goodwin & Goodwin are a creative sign company based in North London. They recently worked with film makers; Reuben Armstrong and Jamie Neale to create a short promotional film about their business. In this short film we get…

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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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Truly Deeply creates a brand for Cammino shoes

Brand identity, naming and packaging for handmade Italian leather flats. Working collaboratively with the brand’s designer, we unlocked Camminos true differentiation. A unique blend of Italian provenance, quality leather and artisan craftsmanship is at the heart to the value proposition. This was then brought to…

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Truly Deeply creates The Keeping Place brand

A powerful, purpose led and culturally sensitive brand that protects, connects and inspires. The Keeping Place has a bold vision to be a sustainable digital cultural centre for all Indigenous Australians. Roberta Molson, Heritage Specialist at Fortescue Metals Group Ltd says the brand development process,…

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Inspiring minds: on creativity, original thinking and work life

Sharing some inspiring TED talks to get you thinking in different ways… enjoy!! Your elusive creative genius Elizabeth Gilbert, the author of ‘Eat, Pray, Love’, muses on the impossible things we expect from artists and geniuses — and shares the radical idea that, instead of…

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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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Truly Deeply creates a distinctive brand for One Early Education Group

A stylish brand that helps One Early Education Group stand out in an increasingly crowded market. Built around the essence of ‘The Thriving Child’, One creates an environment where infants and children can thrive in their daily interactions. The brand proposition drives a powerful platform…

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No Logo – What would a world without branding look like?

Imagine a world without brand design. Watching the opening round of AFLW over the weekend I spotted a sponsor sign that took me back to my childhood. The match was being played on a suburban ground in Adelaide and the huge metal sign was promoting…

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How Bud defied consumer research to create a viral campaign

Creating a viral campaign with moments of nonsense and fun. If you’ve come across the “Dilly Dilly” movement on social media recently, you can thank Bud Light for turning the phrase into a catch-cry for the end of 2017. In a recent interview with Business…

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Personality rich brand storytelling. Mirry Christmus from Air NZ.

Air New Zealand’s sweet Christmas ad. Just about every brand is trying to leverage Christmas and stay top of mind. The big retailers are all trying to outdo each other with their Christmas TVCs. It’s also the time of year when many of us are…

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Private School differentiates their brand with plenty of puff

A Unique Brand Soundtrack. I was out for a run recently (paying for it today) and as my path took me through a beautiful patch of suburban Melbourne I was greeted by the faint strain of bagpipes. The sound was at once foreign and charmingly…

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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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KFCs Halloween brand gesture a huge hit in the US

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…

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Is Oscar the world’s most innovative Health Insurance brand?

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…

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Design for Social Good

  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…

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Truly Deeply creates new premium baby formula brand for China

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…

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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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Celebrating 70 Years of Christian Dior

Celebrating the seventieth anniversary of the House of Dior, the National Gallery of Victoria is currently showing The House of Dior: Seventy Years of Haute Couture, a unique collaboration between the NGV and the House of Dior, featuring more than 140 stunning Dior garments. Exclusive to Melbourne,…

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12 Signs that made me laugh – Building brand with humour

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…

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Kudos to Illustrators

With the steady increase in readily available free stock imagery, I often wonder about illustrators and how they are staying afloat in the growing pool of image libraries. Are illustrators being put on the back burner because stock imagery is so easily obtainable? Or is…

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KFC brings back The Colonel with H.A.R.L.A.N.D. the drive-through robot

Capturing the spirit of the KFC brand personality. KFC recently launched H.A.R.L.A.N.D. (Human Assisted Robotic Linguistic Animatronic Networked Device) He is a robot created to take drive-thru orders in order to celebrate National Fried Chicken Day. So firstly – yes; National Fried Chicken Day is…

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Fashion design is the new black for airline brands

The power of design to beautifully deliver branding. Compared to most staff uniforms, flight attendants typically look pretty stylish, but with the bar being set at a high level, Chinese airline; Hainan is differentiating with haute courture. The airline brand’s new uniforms by designer Laurence…

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Bollard Art: The Positive Force of Melbourne’s Latest Street Art

Graffiti and street art have long been an engaging medium for voices of social change, protest, or expressions of community desire, proving it can be a positive force in our community. A good example of this is the response we have seen on the streets…

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Culture eats strategy for breakfast

It doesn’t matter how much you spend on strategy, branding, creative, media or reputation if there’s something wrong with your culture. As Uber is currently proving. It’s impossible in today’s society to mask an internal culture with brand. Sooner or later the truth will out…

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Top 5 Tips for Creating Inspiring Workplace Culture

  With the average person spending around 1842 hours at work per year we believe happiness and a healthy work culture are an imperative part of day to day operations. Happiness at work has become serious business these days with more and more workplaces wanting…

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Deus Ex Machina Individualism Branding

What is it about motorcycle brands? Harley Davidson has long been held-up as an example of branding at its finest. There’s something about the emotional connection between people who love to ride motorbikes and the brands who effectively tap into that emotion that adds a…

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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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Master Personal Brand Fail for MasterChef King George Calombaris

It would appear MasterChef Judge and restaurant king George Calumbaris has tarnished his personal brand when it was recently revealed nearly 200 staff at his restaurants have been underpaid $2.6 million. George Calombaris’ company underpaid 162 of the 430 current staff at his restaurants including…

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Is your male marketing off pitch?

Linx brand connects with the 21st Century Man One of the most significant trends for any brand marketing to males under 30 is the blurring and fragmentation of what it means to be a man in the 21st Century. Long held stereotypes of muscular, masculine,…

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Why Consumers Love a Brand that Stands for Something

I recently came across this pic in my Facebook feed; it’s of a label sown into garments produced by a small U.S. brand for sale in the French market. The translation from French says: Wash with warm water Use mild soap Dry flat Do not…

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From Bandwagon To Brand Wagon?

AFL Women’s League An Untapped Brand Sponsorship Treasure Chest. If  last Friday night’s opening game of the AFLW is any indication, the belief that there’s no interest in women’s sport is fading fast. Even the AFL themselves were not prepared for the crowds that came…

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Yellow tail launches major US brand push with Super Bowl ad

Yellow Tail uses Aussie humour and cliches to promote their wine brand to Americans. Aussie wine brand Yellow Tail is making headlines as an outsider buying up big on the US Super Bowl. It’s also the first wine brand to air a Super Bowl ad…

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Sensory brand differentiation

Custom Apple accessory maker 12 South has created a ‘New Mac Smell’ candle for this Christmas. While it’s got plenty of headlines for obvious reasons. For me it raises the question: What do sensory branding do you do? We’re all aware of brands that have…

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If big brand Google was a guy

Everything you ask Google sounds a lot more stupid when you actually ask Google. A common phrase around the office is ….. “just google it!” This great little Youtube 5 part series brings to light some of the silliest & funniest google searches. Part 1 Part 2 Part 3  …

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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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KolesWorth – Revealing the layers of successful SME branding

There’s more to branding than meets the eye Recently a small, independent supermarket opened at our local shopping strip. I was immediately drawn to the name and brand identity which are  naively unethical and amusing in equal measures. It turns out this is the fifth…

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Qantas rebrand – new era spirit or just spiritless?

Australia’s national carrier just launched its refreshed brand identity. It’s being positioned as “a new era, same spirit”. The Qantas rebrand is being linked to the airline’s new fleet of Dreamliner aircraft. It follows a series of service and product improvements. “This is not just…

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The Creative Doodling of Vincent Bal

The Power of Creative Image Making The other day I came across the amusing creative doodling of Vincent Bal, a filmmaker, doodler and procrastinator from Belgium. One of the most inspiring things about creative image makers is the way they see the world differently to…

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