Although hugely successful and growing fast around the world, Nando’s brand expressions were increasingly fragmented and confusing for both consumers and stakeholders.

We peeled back layers of often dated visual clutter and brand myths to get to the beating heart of the brand rooted in its authentic Southern African history – showing how everything the brand did stems from a uniquely African hybrid approach.  This ‘new African’ spirit could be captured in its approach to design and its tone of voice.

We guided the brand through a complete overhaul of its visual identity and produced a clear new brand definition, releasing an enthusiasm and energy within the company and marking it out to consumers as a unique and progressive brand.

In the mid 2000s Cadbury’s understanding of itself was out of step with consumers and the broader culture. Key visual equity like the colour purple was thought to embody Britishness, tradition and quality. We showed how the brand could coherently reground itself in ideas of magic, joy and democracy – a more contemporary reading of the brand’s livery and product experience.

Cadbury’s communications had tended to reflect a dated or dreary vision of Britishness and we helped create a more aspirational, experiential strategic approach leading to the most talked about advertising of the decade.

From its glory days in the 80s and 90s, when it was well respected by outdoor consumers and British subcultures for its bold approach to product design, Berghaus had become rather bland and lost its aspirational credentials, outpaced by rapidly growing competitors perceived as more premium and in touch.

By digging deep into the brand’s history of innovation, not shying away from the uncomfortable reality of its current positioning, and taking a creative approach to the brand’s cultural potential we created a distinctive, vivid and rich new brand proposition built on real truths. This was designed to feed into a new visual identity brief and help re-cohere the company for a re-launch in the 2020s.

The Royal Photographic Society were struggling with the future vision for their brand. There appeared to be a chasm between ambitions to reform its image into a more progressive force in British arts culture and the needs of a more conservative, membership base seeking support for their hobby at a local level. In many ways the divisions echoed the culture wars of post-Brexit Britain.

Using internal workshops, a semiotic analysis of the arts and culture landscape and the RPS’s position within that, along with a more coherent understanding of the rapidly evolving broad landscape of photography, we were able to co-create with the members, trustees and employees, an inspiring future fit, unifying purpose that could guide the RPS brand into the future.

A successful tech mergers & acquisitions advisor, Acuity had grown largely through personal recommendation and endorsement. In order to bring perceptions of their fast-growing company in line with reality, and place themselves firmly as a bigger player in the market, they needed to put greater focus on their brand image and create a new proposition to guide their rapidly expanding team.

We helped them sharpen their brand proposition in a way that was distinctive but also authentic – mirroring the distinct personalities of the founders and their highly respected approach to M&A. We provided creative stewardship through a total redesign of their brand’s visual identity.

Family-owned Bahlsen are seeking to return to their roots as a patron of the arts and create collaborative relationships with emerging creatives.

We helped Bahlsen understand the key issues, discourses and trends impacting art institutions, artists and other makers, avoiding the predictable routes taken by luxury brands in elite art and creating a strategy that could bring genuine engagement and integrity and brand authenticity to any future involvement.