FutureBrand news, views & insights: May 2023
Using punctuation with purpose
I’ve always loved language. Whether it’s taking full advantage of the opportunity presented by lorem ipsum or the realisation that writing helps me thinking.
The oft-forgotten part is punctuation.
It’s something that I’d like to think makes our work for Orygen and Funlab all the more memorable.
A semi-colon for Orygen.
An exclamation mark for Funlab.
And, I hope it makes it all the more understandable why I would notice a missing comma from a comment I made to Mumbrella. Not that it became a point of contention, more so further inspiration – as I’ll explain in a moment.
For now, if this has got you too thinking about writing, then I recommend you acquaint yourself with John Simmons, the bon-mot-father of writing for businesses and brands. Of all the books he’s written, my favourite is The Invisible Grail. Then again, all his books are equal parts insightful and useful, including a recent collection he curated called Dark Angels On Writing, full of practical techniques for how to tell better business stories.
Chapter 3 by Stuart Delves is a standout for me, here’s his writing technique to apply:
Pick a pair of shoes – not a pair you would wear. You might see them in a shop window, in a painting, or on someone’s feet. Imagine the person who wears them. Write a cameo about that person, starting with what you take from the shoes. Start by making notes about the details of the shoes: try describing them as accurately as you can. From there, proceed to imagining the person.
In a world of customer narratives and personas, I’ve always found this a revealing approach to telling their stories. Try it! And of course, please don’t forget your punctuation.
Purpose, under pressure?
Recently, Mumbrella asked me whether or not ‘purpose’ might be a victim of ongoing shifts as a result of economic uncertainty.
I made a small contribution in response, including this comment – “Some companies will get found out to have overstated their purpose, under pressure” – although the editor also happened to omit a small bit of grammar from my original written quote, the comma.
English has never been the most accurate of languages, although I should say that I find its ambiguity intriguing. And this sentence is a case in point: retain the comma and “under pressure” could equally describe one or the other of two scenarios.
It’s those two scenarios that I subsequently explored by way of this follow-up, titled ‘Purpose, under pressure’ on the basis that businesses no longer exist simply to return value to shareholders, they’re here to create value for customers.
Is your purpose feeling the pressure?
Bush Heritage Australia reveals new brand
It's been a year since we started working with Bush Heritage Australia and they’ve now shared their new brand with the world.
Having spent time on the land with their people, we have come to know the real impact that Bush Heritage is having on Australia’s natural environment and native species.
It’s made for a brand strategy and identity that aligns the Bush Heritage Australia brand with its ambitious 2030 strategy of deepening and doubling the organisation’s impact before the end of the decade.
You can read the news story here, and we’ll be sharing the full case study when the new campaign launches in the coming weeks.
One further point to add is that this transformative work is part and parcel of our annual pro bono commitment to helping not-for-profit organisations grow. By making our brand transformation services available and accessible to not-for-profit organisations – pro bono – and helping them to leverage their own brands more effectively in pursuit of improved social and environmental outcomes.
Aesop: “Bottega Veneta meets Apple”
Following the proposed sale of Aesop to L’Oréal for $3.7bn, our Head of Strategy Victoria Berry was asked to comment on the news.
In her own words, this is how Victoria described Aesop: “Bottega Veneta meets Apple, it’s aspirational but accessible luxury at its absolute best.”
Very well put. (Especially the alliteration, to continue this month’s language theme.)
Victoria also had an equally important point to make on consistency:
“At Aesop, consistency is everything. While others have been quick to stretch their brands and diversify at every opportunity, Aesop has a very strong sense of who it is and has absolutely stayed true to that. Aesop’s meticulous attention to detail is a large part of why it can scale so effectively.”
This is important because we know from our own data that consistency is valuable in shaping not only customer expectations and experiences but also brand perceptions and performance. Because when you strengthen the link between your brand’s purpose the every day experience, that’s when your brand gives your business a measurable competitive advantage.
Just like Aesop. Just fabulous.
Continuity meets creativity
In a world of change, continuity can be an asset.
For every rebrand that introduces something new in order to break from the past, just as many rebrands reimagine something that’s already there so that they can build a bridge to the future.
I’m all for making the big break from the past and I’ve seen the value it can create for a business looking to make a big difference, but I also appreciate that brands are long-term assets and need to be managed that way. What’s more, I’ve always suspected that brand managers and marketers grow weary of brands more quickly than their customers do – consequently, they make changes prematurely, unnecessarily.
Building brands for the long term ensures you can build value and meaning into your ‘distinctive brand assets’, and so it was that I was impressed recently to see how a Pinterest search for imagery revealed this perfectly-placed ad from Melbourne Convention & Exhibition Centre (MCEC).
It was the team here at FutureBrand who created the new branding system for MCEC – retaining the logo from the old brand identity and reimagining the brand with the help of unconventional yet practical graphic shapes that echo the shape of the building.
As for this ad, I instantly recognised the brand before I saw the name or logo. It’s been two years since the newly-reimagined brand was released and, if they keep applying their creativity like this, it will always stand out and never grow old.
That’s it for now, I hope you’ve found this month’s newsletter an interesting read with some valuable insights to apply to your own business and brand. As ever, happy to hear all and any feedback – please subscribe, comment and share.