FutureBrand news, views & insights: July 2025
...five years later
Today is five years to the day since acquiring FutureBrand in Australia.
At the time, I said this: "I liked my job so much I bought the company."
Today, that's still true.
For mine, that quote summed up so much about my intention, inspiration and ambition. (Not to mention the tongue-in-cheek reference to Victor Kiam whose Remington ads I still fondly remember as a kid in the 1980s.)
That transaction led to the company's transformation.
First, our own Employee Experience. Then, the Client Experience.
Next, we were recognised with the Grand Prix at the Transform Awards in Asia-Pacific, and soon after certified as a B Corp – that combination the ultimate demonstration that business and brand can be a force for good.
We've continued to grow and evolve, sharing our insights and ideas along the way. The operative word being ‘sharing’, something we feel goes hand-in-hand with our B Corp certification and the discretionary effort we often invest in guiding and following our clients’ brands into the world.
It's timely, therefore, that this past quarter sees us start our next five years on a new high. Specifically, a new high for the most new business we've won in a single quarter. New brand projects and new client relationships in Finance, Sport, Professional Services, Sustainability and Technology, plus another Not-For-Profit benefitting from our pro bono investment of time, energy and expertise.
If that sounds like a convenient climax to a successful period, it's no coincidence that for everything that has changed about our business, there's just as much that's stayed the same – quite literally, insofar as 50% of our revenue in any given year over the past five years has come from 'renewed' clients.
For us as much as for our clients, there are two questions that inevitably surface in our conversations.
What needs to change?
What needs to stay the same?
They also happen to be the two questions that I've asked myself, consciously or subconsciously, at least once a quarter over the past five years.
It's a healthy habit, some things will never change.
“There wasn’t even a brief”
It was so good to read Christina last week sharing the story of how we first met Hannah Warren & Ben Slack – and, subsequently, how we came to win the pitch to work with Netball Australia & World Netball on the Netball World Cup 2027.
In Christina’s own words: “We just sensed a shift in netball’s tone and reached out. We saw an opportunity to define the future of a sport and that’s exactly what this World Cup allows us to do.”
The Marketing Interactive headline says it all – “fierce, unapologetic, commercial” – and it’s equally inspiring to read how the journalist summed things up:
"Netball’s century may be approaching, but if Hannah Warren and her team have their way, 2027 won’t feel like a legacy event. It will feel like the beginning of something new."
It feels great to be part of Hannah’s team alongside Octagon – I’ve always said that sport is the ultimate entertainment, and it’s inspiring to be able to shape the brand strategy, identity and experience for the 2027 Netball World Cup, and to expand the growth of netball in Australia and around the world.
A new brand for low vision
Last month, I was proud to be there for the industry launch of a new brand we’ve helped create. It’s named SeeWay, and it’s an initiative by Guide Dogs NSW/ACT offering personalised support service for people with low vision.
It’s been seven years now since we started working with Guide Dogs and it’s always rewarding to work hand-in-hand with an organisation that creates impact you can feel.
You can read the story behind the work here on our website, where we break down our approach, step by step, and reflect on the key dynamics and decisions that shaped the brand strategy, identity and experience.
Where next for the Healthcare sector?
Last month also saw the release of our latest Healthcare Sector Study by way of the FutureBrand Index.
Historically, the leading brands in the Healthcare sector have built their reputations around two core ideas: 'purpose' and 'product'. In other words, scientific rigour and societal impact. Both approaches are important and valid, but in a market where patients now have higher expectations and feel more empowered to act on them, neither is enough on its own.
This year's study shows that Healthcare brands looking to build momentum and long-term relevance can learn from decade-defining brands across other sectors.
By embracing innovation like Samsung as the ‘Personal Innovator’?
By mastering consistency like Microsoft as the ‘Credible Visionary’?
Or, by embracing the experience like Mastercard for its ‘Immersive Experience’?
For more insights, you can read the report here – and, as always, if you'd like to learn more about what this might mean for your brand and business, please just hit reply.
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In case you missed it, here’s the speech I gave to an ASX 100 company just the other week.
I shared this anonymised version of the speech so that you can [insert your brand], copy and paste and share with anyone who might need to know what it means to build a brand, not just change a logo.
What's football coaching got to do with Boards and brands?
I'm lucky to work on lots of sports brands – football, golf, netball, tennis – and so I often find my profession and my pastimes cross paths when listening to podcasts, one of which is 'Where's The Money Gone?' featuring my good friend Charlie Methven.
In a recent episode, Charlie identified one the key challenges that can separate the key players in sport, namely the football coaches from the Board directors, as he explains here:
“Now, the problem between the head coach and the directors of the club is that the gap in football knowledge between the directors of the club and the head coach is very substantial. And the gap in business understanding between the board and the head coach is also very substantial. The head coach has got no business experience, and the board has no professional hands-on football experience.
So there tends to end up being some mutual incomprehension about what the other one's specialist topic is, despite the fact that both of the specialist topics affect the other one so heavily. So you can end up with some rather awkward moments in situations where it's difficult for either side to challenge the other, because they don't really know enough. So they either challenge ignorantly or challenge not at all.”
Sound familiar? To me, it sounds the same as the gap that can sometimes exist between your Board and your Marketing team.
What his explanation highlights is not only the risk of mutual incomprehension but also, therefore, the benefit of mutual effort made by Board members and marketers to understand the role and value of the brand to the business, marketers and non-marketers alike.
That’s it for another month of news, views and insights.
For me, the best thing about this email newsletter format is that you can simply reply if you have questions or comments. Please feel free to do so, I’m always happy to follow-up with more detail on any of the stories I share, especially if that can help you build your own brand and business. Hit ‘Reply’, speak soon.