We’ve just completed the second stage of new work for Belvoir! Lettings Hitchin.
Following on from our simple, back-to-basics, brand awareness local press campaign, the Landlord Information Pack has now taken shape.
For the brochure, we used the strongest brand elements that Belvoir had – and made them work a little harder. Our lead was inspired by their ‘To Let’ signs, which have a distinct cut through exclamation mark. This was applied to the cover, with a simple die-cut. The layout was simplified to showcase Belvoir Lettings Hitchin as the lettings specialist, with comment and testimonial to reinforce they are indeed specialists in their field.
The final stage will see the die-cut exclamation applied to some new stationery for Belvoir Lettings Hitchin.
Keep an eye on our blog for all the latest projects currently in the pipeline!
Belvoir! Lettings Hitchin Landlord Information Pack
We’ve just completed our latest project for Mustique island – the Easter Events Guide.
Complimentary to island guests, our guide follows the design style created for Christmas, allowing guests an overview of what’s happening on the island over the Easter period.
Mustique island is a truly unique location, pulling off the trick of being both unashamedly exclusive and understated.
‘Bling, bling’ is not required or encouraged! Roll on summer…
It’s our 25th anniversary, so we’re basking in the glory of some 1987 nostalgia.
Wonder No.7; Rugby! On the back of England’s sterling weekend performance, what better than to reflect on the sport as it was in ’87 and the role that ‘pride’ can play for brands.
1987 saw New Zealand host the inaugural Rugby World Cup. New Zealand headed into the competition as red hot favourites. All things went to plan and in front of 48,035 fans New Zealand turned on the power to beat France 29-9 to lift the Web Ellis Cup.
So the sport was in decent health back in ’87. This was an era of amateur players, rugby didn’t become professional until 1995. So, arguably, these players were driven solely by love of the sport and a passion to make their nation proud. To show, on the pitch, exactly what playing meant to them.
Roll on to Rugby World Cup 2011. It too was held in New Zealand and won by New Zealand at the expense of France (once again). But let’s throw England into the mix. Too many unwanted headlines were generated. Too many sub-standard performances saw the ‘team’ to an unsurprisingly tepid exit. Plenty of pre-tournament talk amounted to nothing. Fans were let down and the national rugby union image was tarnished. We’ll skip over the past few months of fallout, to the position we find ourselves in today. Now a phrase I’ve heard used with gusto since England’s victory over France on Sunday is ‘putting pride back into the jersey’. Take into account that the ‘jersey’ represents ‘brand England rugby union’, it’s easy to cut through the statement to the obvious meaning – that of putting pride back into the English rugby brand.
So why is ‘pride’ such an important commodity to brands?
Self-respect, self-esteem, dignity, merit, conduct…pride is ultimately a strength in your character on which to be judged. Brands need this. People need to believe that brands stand for something more meaningful than face value. But it is no good for a brand to bang on about taking pride in values, if those same values don’t really exist or aren’t portrayed. This is not about a brand being proud of itself, the focus has to be on a brand taking pride in itself. Values must be clear, tangible and demonstrated at the very core, where everyone can see. Add in a bit of humility and even a badly listing brand can right itself.
Character will always be tested. Prove yourself and take pride in a job well done.
Posted on: February 21st, 2012 by Rich T No Comments
It’s our 25th anniversary, so we’re soaking up the nostalgia of 1987!
Wonder No.6; The Music. 2012 Brit Awards tonight, so it’s a good time to dig out the top 10 singles of ’87 – loaded with as much pop-cheese narration as possible! Here comes the countdown…
- It’s a band who like it loud, at 10 “Pump Up The Volume,” by M/A/R/R/S. - Blasting off at number 9 “Star Trekkin” The Firm - Seven is the usual number, but this makes it to 8 “It’s A Sin” The Pet Shop Boys - Standing firm at number 7 “Stand By Me” Ben E. King - They may never be respectable, but their chart position is – at 6“Respectable” Mel & Kim - Into the top 5 – she’s not fragile with this strong hit, at 5 “China In Your Hand” T’Pau - These brothers are no losers at number 4 “You Win Again” The Bee Gees - Hot-footing into the top 3 “I Wanna Dance With Somebody” Whitney Houston - So close to being unstoppable, at 2 “Nothing’s Gonna Stop Us Now” Starship - He didn’t give up and he hit the top, at number 1 “Never Gonna Give You Up” Rick Astley
So is there a point to this? You could consider the role of publicity in brand endurance. Music can create massive fame very quickly. Rick Astley sold a whopping 759,000 copies of his major hit single. Imagine the shelf space (pre-internet!) that he occupied, TV appearances, magazine articles, radio-play, live events, shows and tours…it would’ve been very hard not to know about Rick Astley in ’87. However, roll on a few years and ‘brand Astley’ had faded.
Why? It could be that the brand was the right thing at the right time and consumers simply had their fill. It could be down to stagnating, not moving the brand forward with changing tastes. It could be that the brand lost focus on the simple things that made it great. It could be that their market shifted and the brand failed to react. There’s plenty of possibilities, but one thing is for sure -building and maintaining popularity takes constant endeavour – if you don’t keep consumers interested you will lose them!!
February 2012 sees the launch of the Tesco Clubcard Rewards brochure – and Shaun Power Design’s 10th year of designing and producing it!
Showcasing over 150 rewards partners, this 48 page brochure has a lot to say. Our years of experience have shown us the importance of clear and simple customer communication, so the key to this project is collating a raft of information, digesting it, understanding it and distilling it down to its vital components.
Since 2002, Clubcard rewards has grown in popularity with Tesco customers and is now recognised as an integral part of the Tesco Clubcard loyalty scheme.
Posted on: February 8th, 2012 by Rich T No Comments
Not only are we celebrating our 25th anniversary as a design business, but also our 15th year of being design partners to Aspall.
The Aspall brand goes from strength to strength. Our design has helped bring them to market, allowing Aspall to speak to consumers about their excellence, heritage and values – but it’s Aspall, as a business, sticking to their core values that has driven their impressive rise on a national scale.
When we first shared brand development ideas with Aspall their major focus was on speciality vinegar. The shift back to exploring their heritage and classic production techniques has engaged consumers, strengthening the speciality vinegar offer, re-establishing the flagship Aspall Suffolk Cyder and has seen the company make a foray into the fresh juice market.
We love creating designs for Aspall and continue to help mould and shape their brand message and visuals. From designing labels for their entire Suffolk Cyder range through to the latest Vintage and Lady Jennifer varieties – to our solution for a revamp of the Aspall Speciality Vinegar, it’s all been warmly received and delivered great impact for Aspall. Their 100% English Apple Juice is the newest product line and has experienced a rapid and impressive rise from testing to gaining listings in three of the top five UK Supermarkets.
We’ve shared 15 exciting years of growth and when Aspall were voted, by consumers, as one of Britain’s Top 500 CoolBrands® we all knew that the brand was loved by customers and all the hard work was paying dividend.
It really is a team effort, we can brand Aspall successfully because they remain true to their beliefs and deliver superior product quality. We’re looking to keep the momentum going into some very promising years ahead for great British brands.
Have a browse of our Aspall digital case study below by clicking on the brochure.
Posted on: February 6th, 2012 by Rich T No Comments
We’re celebrating our 25th anniversary with a look back to what was happening in ’87.
Wonder No.5; The ’87 snowstorm.Forget the blanket covering of snow we’ve seen this weekend – this snowstorm had the blanket with duvet and mattress thrown on top!
In the early part of 1987 some southern counties experienced serious disruption as super-cold air, from Siberia, was abruptly shifted in the direction of the UK leading to some astonishing snowfalls. Over 20 inches fell in parts of Kent, Essex and London plus a whopping 30 (yes THIRTY) inches of snow was recorded on the North Downs near Maidstone! On top of that the temperature was brutal, with some days seeing a maximum of around -7°C and an overnight low crashing to -14°C (the extreme cold even affected the chiming hammer of Big Ben!).
So ’87 was extreme and rightly disruptive, but it can help highlight the importance of brand perception. The UK brand is built to help showcase the country to the rest of the world, it’s the British nation and should stand out as in control of it’s own affairs. So if a regular occurrence, such as indifferent weather, can play havoc with transport, cause panic buying and somewhat irrational behaviour, then there’s something amiss with the classic ‘keep calm and carry on’ spirit.
Brands speak to consumers to offer perceptions of ‘what they will do for you’ and when it comes to the crunch of dealing with tough circumstances, actions do speak louder than words. However, the right words supported by the right actions offer a whole new dimension of power for brands.
So, in short, be very proactive to build brand perception of real substance.
