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All brands have meaning in the minds of their market. Whether carefully and strategically considered or by default, all brands hold associated meanings in the minds of the market place. Well considered brands establish a competitive brand proposition (their brand strategy) with layers of meaning…

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…

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…

Calvin Klein’s Instagram account announced over the weekend that the brand has decided to “return to the spirit of the original” and acknowledge “the founder and foundations of the fashion house” by launching their new logo to mixed reviews. With the new appointment of creative…

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…

Today’s post is an article written by Brandhook, good friends of ours and the sharpest brand research and insights agency around. As we all know, recently Donald Trump was elected President of the United States of America, defying nearly every prediction and pre-poll. In the lead…

Truly Deeply recently created a new online mattress brand from scratch. Sooma is well and truly in the market now so we thought we’d share our process of working with them to create a brand from scratch. Sooma is all about simplifying the mattress buying…

The power of sound in brand differentiation In the battle for customers, brands have long engaged the senses in order to create unique and identifiable properties  they can own in the minds of their customers. All brands strategically or otherwise set-out to own a concept…

  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…

Farmers Fund milk brand clouds the issues As predicted Coles have started muddying the waters around fair Milk prices by introducing an undifferentiated milk brand called Farmers Fund to the market. The brand which ‘gives back’ 40c of each 2 litre carton to a Fund…

Target gives up on brand differentiation and becomes another Kmart The remarkable turnaround of Kmart in the past few years has left its competitors scrambling to compete. The strategy has achieved its goal of killing Big W. However, in the fight, Westfarmers has also severally…

“There’s no point in pushing forward if you’re always going the same way as everyone else”. This is a great line from a recent Audi ad which demonstrates the power of always putting yourself where your competitors aren’t and offering something different to your market. Audi…

As brand designers we’re always hungry. Hungry for new inspiration, new palettes, new strategy and as a corner store of everything we do new typefaces. Fonts are so important when it comes to creating new brand identities or logos. Finding the right type to express the…

The trend of minimalist branding We’ve had some recent discussion with clients and in turn in the studio about the relevance of minimalism in brand identity or logo design. Some point to a trend of recent rebrands like Pentegram’s work for Mastrcard, wondering if there’s…

On average consumers receive on average 3,000 marketing messages everyday, you’re no longer just competing against your direct competitors you’re competing against all messages that bombard people’s lives in order to get noticed. By offering the same, product, features and benefits as your competitors you…

How much are consumers really noticing your brand? In 2004 Christopher Chabris and Daniel Simons shared the Ig Nobel Prize in Psychology, awarded for ‘achievements that first make people laugh, and then make them think’, for the experiment they completed at Harvard that inspired The…

When mega brands go organic Gatorade is introducing an organic version of it’s brightly coloured sugar water for ‘athletes’. While the new product will be tested in select markets it seams Pepsi Co., the parent brand, sees the threat to the market dominant sports drink from more…

  Don’t Underestimate the Value of Brand Loyalty Research in the US on brand loyalty has identified that more than 50% of consumers would pay a 20-25% premium for their favourite brand before price sensitivity would see them switch to another, competing brand. In some…

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…

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’.

BONDS introduces their first ever cross-category sports range – led by a perfectly on brand campaign. BONDS have recently announced the introduction of their first ever cross-category sports range. The collection features BodyCool technology, which boasts moisture absorbing and quick dry properties, and marks a…

Tough to argue with this kinda science!!! Dave Ansett David is the founder of Truly Deeply, a brand agency with 25 years experience working with brands to position them for growth. His deep expertise is in the creation of high engagement brands that attract the…

Differentiation works in Major League Baseball too. Re-reading Marty Neumeier’s book ‘Zag’ this week, I was fascinated by the story of America’s shortest ever professional baseball, Willie Keeler. Wee Willie, as he was known back in the good ol’ politically incorrect days of the 1890s…

Optus is the second largest telecommunications provider in Australia offering mobile, fixed, and broadband services to consumer and business customers. It has repositioned itself in the market with a flexible rebrand. You may remember their recent rebrand back in 2013 that received many mixed reviews and…

The changing landscape of hotel accommodation to target millennial travellers Since Airbnb’s disruption of the hotel industry from its inception in 2008, and pioneering a shift toward the sharing economy, many have predicted the demise of traditional hotels as a result. While younger travellers have…

Dior appoints Maria Grazia Chiuri as their first ever female creative director.  With an impressive portfolio, Maria was first snatched from label Fendi by Valentino and just recently has made her debut as creative director for Dior – the first ever female to run the fashion…

For all brands authenticity is one of the real hot buttons in their efforts to connect with consumers and build highly engaged relationships. Brands are telling their story at every opportunity, spruiking provenance, craftsmanship and history – regardless of whether they’re a start-up or a…

Melbourne brand strategy and design agency has developed new packaging, brand messaging and design for the Heatbeads range of products. “The team at Truly Deeply took the time to really understand the Heatbeads customers and market to create packaging that both respected our brand’s long…

The ‘most important’ fashion photographer in the world. Bill Cunningham has passed away at age 87. A sad time for the fashion industry.  Bill Cunningham is regarded as one of the most important fashion photographers who ever lived. He began working as a hat maker and…

Does this amusing parody of brand story telling diminish the effectiveness of this branding approach? OK, so we’re the first ones to rave about the virtues of authentic brand story telling. We love to discover a passionate, artisan craftsman sitting at the heart of a…

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…

4 Basic rules the top brands are using to ensure brand survival Branding is one of the key areas a business should focus on in order to differentiate themselves within a crowded market. Brands that we have grown to love, would not have had such an immense…

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…

When was the lat time you heard a really good story… from a brand? It’s part of the way we’re wired that we relate to stories with a level of engagement and emotion that is simply not attainable for functional messaging. And whilst all brands…

How Wesfarmers’ cannibalisation strategy backfired, leading to Target’s downfall Brand cannibalisation occurs when a company offers a brand, product or service that directly competes with another within the same company. When this level of internal competition is directly head-to-head, only the strongest will survive. Australian consumers…

A good brand story is worth a thousand data points. Science & education You-tuber; Veritasium looks at why a story is much better at influencing our decisions than hard data. For so many brand managers and brand owners the emphasis in their branding is focused…

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…

When is a car more than a brand? Never! Specially when we don’t want to talk about the car, but we still have to sell them? Volkswagen latest campaign #morethanacar focused directly on the value of brand heritage to stir the emotions in the car…

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…

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…

All brands have meaning in the minds of their market Whether carefully and strategically considered or by default, all brands hold associated meanings in the minds of the market place. Well considered brands establish a competitive brand proposition (their brand strategy) with layers of meaning…

WebMD announces their plan to capitalise on video content marketing During their first appearance at the Digital Content NewFronts, WebMD announced to media buyers they will be intensifying their video marketing efforts. Shifting from predominantly being known for medical diseases and conditions, to lifestyle content…

Donald Trump has one of the strongest brands in the world right now, and he didn’t have to change a thing to get there. Donald Trump has become one of the most powerful brands in the world, with the Trump boom continuing to grow every day. Trump has demonstrated…

Managing brand reputation is becoming increasingly challenging A plumber in the US state of Texas is suing a car dealer for US$1m after a truck he traded-in appeared in a propaganda video from Syrian rebels in an attack on the city of Aleppo. When he…

UberEATS arrives in Melbourne, helping restaurants reach more consumers, but can the ‘market place’ app bring more harm than good? Melbourne recently became the first city in Australia to gain access to Uber’s diversification into food delivery services, UberEATS. UberEATS joins a highly competitive market…

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.…

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…

The Brand Strategy of Stand Out Personality In the world of retail and hospitality, so many businesses get caught-up in the operational whirlwind of attracting, serving and delivering product to their customers that they find it challenging to take a breath, step back and assert…

All brands have associations – both positive and negative Whether carefully and strategically considered or by default, all brands hold associated meanings in the minds of the market place. Well considered brands establish a differentiated value proposition (their brand strategy) with layers of meaning to…

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…

The 2016 Olympic Games in Rio is all about bringing people together and celebrating the environment. A closer look into the design of the logo, by Fred Gelli. The 2016 Olympic Games are fast approaching and this year it will be held in Rio De Janeiro in Brazil…