With a name like Koko you’d expect these guys to be a bit nuts about coconuts, but the love they have for this plant goes way beyond their name.
A family-owned company that takes great care of their coconuts, growing them the way nature intended and packing them within hours of being picked – always by human hands – to guarantee, freshness, ripeness, and the highest quality.
With a range of delicious milk alternatives already in the market, Koko wanted to offer something more to their growing audience… a vitamin enriched coconut milk which contains enhanced nutritional benefits for both physical and emotional well-being.
Having worked together on previous Koko products, Episode Two were asked to bring this exciting new product to life.
“We wanted the packaging design to really champion the unique ‘natural goodness’ proposition” says Creative Director Mark Stubbington “and help elevate the Koko brand credentials.”
“While it was also important to stay true to the core range look and feel” adds Creative Strategist Rikki Payne.
And the result? Bursting with 11 vitamins and minerals, Koko Life! helps support the immune system, brighten the mind and look after skin – don’t you feel happy just looking at it?
“This was a tricky brief. We needed our new product to fit with the existing Koko range, but demonstrate the additional nutritional benefits and energy delivered by a product fortified with vitamins. The outcome speaks for itself, with a striking visual identity that perfectly balances the Koko brand with an elevated lifestyle proposition.” Heather Lewis. Senior Marketing Manager
Facebook rebrand? Say what?
Facebook, one of the most used products in history has announced its rebrand to Meta and there is a huge splash on social media with online users sharing the news and having conflicting opinions. Perhaps there is a slight confusion of what is actually happening.
Facebook, the social media platform isn’t getting a rebrand as such, however, the company that owns Facebook, WhatsApp and Instagram, is.
Meaning Meta will be the Parent Brand for the social media apps, including Facebook, and any new products and services that may be completely irrelevant to social media.
The misconception
Facebook is indeed an iconic media brand however they claim that they want to be and do more than that. Drifting away from the misconception of Facebook being the social media platform only.
Having one of the social media apps being called the same name as the parent company creates confusion and lessens flexibility, meaning not being able to move forward and grow. It doesn’t encompass everything they do today and especially their future plans.
I think that there was just a lot of confusion and awkwardness about having the company brand be also the brand of one of the social media apps,” he said. “I think it’s helpful for people to have a relationship with a company that is different from the relationship with any specific one of the products, that can kind of supersede all of that. Mark Zuckerger
https://www.theverge.com/22749919/mark-zuckerberg-facebook-meta-company-rebrand
Meta solves the issue
Moving forward Meta wants the business to focus on two different segments. One for the social apps and one for future platforms. A new company brand to encompass everything they do and build.
Mark Zuckerberg states that the mission remains the same: bringing people together, still the company that designs technology around people. ‘Connection is evolving and so are we’.
Meta, derived from the Greek word beyond, symbolising that there is more to build.
A new brand system is applied
Creating a brand system that is able to hold under the different segments. The social media products such as WhatsApp, Instagram and Facebook, as well as any new products and future platforms.
Each product has a unique purpose and appeals to different audiences, based on culture, age, region, lifestyle, profession, et al. Therefore it is important that they are differentiated between them.
The image below illustrates some of the brands Meta currently holds and how they will probably be divided.
Brand architecture
Brand architecture is the way a company structures and presents its products to the target audience. It’s the relationship between brands within an organization and how they interact with one another.
Companies grow and target various audiences through different acquisitions and product lines, brand architecture is articulating a key structural system, helping each type of product to connect with the right audience and form perception.
It creates clarity by having a structure that achieves a robust system achieving flexibility and a system that can align and support any future plans; new lines of products, services.
There are a few strategies and methods applied to create brand architecture, each one serves a different purpose. See below.
Branded house (monolithic):
A single master brand, using one visual system. Sub-brands are differentiated by descriptors, not logos. Usually, they are easier to manage and consumers choose based on loyalty. However, it is harder to target a specific audience and their needs.
House of brands (pluralistic):
The house of brands is basically the opposite of the branded house. It detaches the master brand from any of its products. The parent company is irrelevant and ‘invisible’ to the individual products that it distributes, enabling them to even compete with each other. If one of the brands is under a crisis, the others would not be affected. With this method is easier to target desired audiences, yet it can be the most costly one.
Hybrid (endorsed):
This category allows products to be associated or disassociated (to any level) with the parent company. Usually to benefit from the visibility of the company’s parent. It can also be used in the reversed way; when a product should not be linked with another one or the company parent at all. It is the most flexible approach yet hard to comprehend and manage.
Leading independent brand and creative agency Mr B & Friends is celebrating its 16th birthday with a significant senior appointment as it embarks on an ambitious five-year growth plan.
Ellie Wilson will join the business as Managing Partner, bringing her expertise in managing high performance agency teams and building long term client relationships to Mr B & Friends.
Wilson is moving from Taxi Studios, where she worked for eight years, most recently holding the role of Operations Director. At Mr B & Friends she will join the senior leadership team and will be working with Client Services, Operations and Finance to ensure the business is in optimum shape as it eyes expansion.
Wilson’s appointment is crucial as the agency seeks to expand its presence at home and abroad to accelerate the growth of the business. Over the last 18 months, Mr B & Friends has seen a rapid increase in activity across existing client business, while securing a number of new clients including OVO, Britvic, Marsh and BMT. Increasingly working with more international clients, such as InterContinental Hotels Group and Sofidel, has ignited the agency’s ambitions to further its reach in a number of key cities.
With a host of clients already based in London, a new office there is a natural progression. This will be followed by a base in West Coast US close to the HQ of its sister company Noble, while a further presence in SE Asia is planned for 2025 to complete the trio.
Back in the South West, Mr B & Friends is due to move into a new HQ at Whitefriars in Bristol in July, offering more space for its growing Bristol team. The agency team across all departments will be offered the chance of secondments and relocation to the new locations as they are established.
The plans coincide with the agency celebrating 16 years in business. Still focused on delivering brand expertise, Mr B & Friends has attracted an enviable client roster of consumer and B2B brands seeking brand strategy, identity, communications, internal communications and creative services across some high growth vertical markets. The growth plans will see head count within the business more than double to 70 employees by 2026.
Founder and CEO Simon Barbato says, “This has to be the most exciting phase in Mr B & Friends history. We have engineered our business to deliver superb brand consultancy with creativity for ambitious clients while delivering a sustainable business model to encourage future growth. I am delighted that Ellie is joining us and will help spearhead the expansion of the business. She brings a huge amount of talent and experience in all levels of agency management, which will enable me to focus on our growth plans. The future is something we’re all excited about.”
Managing Partner Ellie Wilson added, “I’m thrilled to be joining Mr B & Friends at such a pivotal point. My conversations so far have confirmed that we’ve got an outstanding team and firm foundations in place to take on the expansion. I’m looking forward to playing my part and ensuring we all enjoy the journey.”
Rita will talk about how she has found brand thinking not just fundamental to successful businesses of all shapes, sizes and stages, but also how you can apply it to yourself to ensure that you are as valued and influential as you can be. She will:
Tickets are priced at £50+VAT for BCI members and £75+VAT for non-members which includes a buffet lunch so there’ll be plenty of opportunity to catch up with old friends and make some new connections too.
If you’d like to join the BCI network, read all about becoming a BCI member here.
As a high-profile business leader, acclaimed brand guru and sustainability champion, Rita is able to inspire organisations of all kinds to find new ways to succeed in an uncertain world.
She has been called ‘Brand guru’ by the Financial Times and ‘The doyenne of branding’ by Campaign magazine. Retail Week commented that she is ‘A fabulous ambassador for business’. Alongside her board chairing and non-executive roles, Rita is a writer, keynote speaker, conference chair & practitioner on all aspects of brands, branding and business leadership.
Her career has included being a Vice Chair and Strategy Director at Saatchi & Saatchi, as London CEO and Chair at the global brand consultancy Interbrand and as co-founder of BrandCap. She is now a portfolio chair and non-executive director on the board of businesses including John Lewis Partnership, Nationwide Building Society and Ascential plc. Previous boards have included ASOS, Dixons Retail plc, Emap, Bupa and Populus Group. Her non-profit boards have included WWF (Worldwide Fund for Nature), the UK Sustainable Development Commission and Green Alliance. She was recently appointed Chair at Forum for the Future, the leading international sustainability organisation. In the 2014 New Year’s Honours List, Rita was awarded a CBE for services to the creative industries.
Rita is a regular columnist and media commentator, as well as author of ‘The Future of Brands’ and two editions of The Economist book ‘Brands and Branding’. Her new book on leadership ‘Love your imposter’ was launched by Kogan Page in September 2020.
Bristol-based brand consultancy, Mr B & Friends, has unveiled a vibrant new look for cyber security and Cloud IT specialist Kocho, bringing the two established businesses together under one name.
Kocho is the company formed from managed services provider TIG, and identity and cyber security experts, ThirdSpace. Backed by the private equity house, BGF, they’ve come together to harness the benefits of their separate strengths, making them a leading provider specialist for Microsoft Security and Cloud Technology. The distinct combination of expertise will enable Kocho to help grow ambitious companies in a truly sustainable and secure manner.
The brand has been designed with transformation front of mind, and the name ‘Kocho’ comes from the Japanese word for butterfly. The logo features a crest-like butterfly symbol with a star symbolising the transformation and protection the new business provides its clients. The brand positioning is anchored by an organising thought of ‘Become greater’, demonstrating how Kocho enables every client, colleague, and partner to flourish.
The sector that Kocho operates is crowded, so it was vital to develop a brand that was distinctive and had clarity at its core. The entire branding system, including iconography, type, colour, photography and moving image, all ladder back to the strategy. The design system features a series of illustrated patterns and ever-changing shapes that suggest the fluid motion of wings. The tone of voice shows the humility and confidence in Kocho’s ability to deliver greatness and commercial impact at both enterprise and mid-market level businesses in the UK and beyond.
Steve Richardson, Executive Creative Director at Mr B & Friends says, “From our workshops with the client team ‘Becoming greater’ was our statement of intent. The identity and tone of the brand had to represent this, but also had to stand apart from its competitive set. What client doesn’t want to be greater today than yesterday? Huge thanks to the brave client team, who embraced this bold approach from the off.”
As part of the brand relaunch, Mr B & Friends worked on a light art launch film with Sola Lightbombing. This used Pixel stick light typography combined with real-time generation of light art both in a studio and in cityscapes. The light trails tell the story of transformation and innovation, creating a fresh way to build the Kocho narrative.
Gareth Rees Jones, Director of Marketing at Kocho says, “Mr B & Friends really captured the vision that we were trying to achieve. The new brand celebrates our people, our expertise and the outcomes that we achieve for our clients. We’re delighted to be launching our new combined business under the Kocho brand.”
Some of the most creative and inspiring projects we work on are with start-up brands. We love collaborating directly with founders whose passion for their brand and products is contagious.
Working with start-ups also offers a unique chance to measure the real impact that design has on consumers. When there is no, or very little other marketing activity going on, everything rides on the power of the packaging design.
Noto Gin is a perfect example.
The enigmatic founder, Yuki, is so passionate about his distinctive product that he wasn’t looking to sell it just in his home country of Japan, but simultaneously launch it 6,000 miles away, here in the UK, into an established and highly competitive Gin market.
Always ready for a challenge, we loved bringing Noto Gin to life with an authentic, provenance-led design that could appeal seamlessly to consumers in both countries.
And the power of the packaging design? More than 600 bottles sold in the first two weeks, with very few people having even tried the Gin!
This is just the beginning for Noto Gin. Follow their journey on Instagram @noto.gin
And find out more about this project here
This award winning, Bristol based creative agency have taken their own advice and gone for a full throttle rebrand.
Rikki Payne, Creative Strategist at Episode Two can often be heard saying to clients. “Nothing in this world stands still. In a world that moves faster every day, embracing change is the only way to thrive – and often the only way to survive.”
A little dramatic? This agency doesn’t think so. After 25yrs of creating and evolving other people’s brands, their latest project is…themselves.
This is Episode Two. A vibrant hive of passion, energy and creativity. Repositioned and redesigned from the ground up.
“Our purpose is helping to create and evolve brands” reflects Creative Director Mark Stubbington. “This is what we do with our clients all the time, and we knew it was time to turn the tables on ourselves and embark on that journey too.”
Rikki continues, “We’ve really embraced the full process, treating ourselves exactly as we would a client.”
From conducting market audits; brainstorming new names; developing brand values and creating an impactful brand identity as well as curating an intriguing and engaging launch campaign, Episode Two have truly practised what they preach.
“There really is no better way to fully experience what our clients go through” says Kate Clayton, Head of Marketing. “Through doing this for ourselves we’ve expanded our knowledge which will only have a positive effect on our clients’ projects. We’ve experienced all the challenges, all the excitement and showcased the impact of a full rebrand.”
The new brand is fully embracing the joy of design, their website and social channels create an overwhelming sense of positivity – you just can’t help but smile.
“This is our Episode Two” adds Mark “and we can’t wait to help other brands discover the next chapter in their brand story.”
#changestartshere
Mr B & Friends has welcomed Charlotte Hoare to the team as an Account Director to bring her client services expertise to some of its newest accounts.
Having spent over a decade in London consultancies, from BBH to VMLY&R to Isobel, Charlotte brings a wealth of experience to the agency. She’s led campaigns across a range of sectors for clients such as Virgin Media, Silent Pool Gin, MS Society and Petplan, and has honed her skills in seamlessly bringing client’s visions to life. Among the notable projects Charlotte’s worked on is RSPB’s ‘Give nature a home’ five-year strategic campaign to shift the charity from solely focused on birds to a wider approach to whole nature preservation. She was part of the team for the Savills ‘With us it’s personal’ advertising campaign, designed to reposition the estate agency with a warmer approach increasing appeal to a wider audience and BrewDog’s ‘Rate Beer’ OOH activity across central and wider London.
Mr B & Friends stood out to Charlotte because of its no jargon, no bluff, no added nonsense approach. She says that she got a sense that while an efficient outfit, there was a great sense of culture at the agency and the focus on relationships appealed to her.
Charlotte says, “I came across Mr B & Friends and felt the values reflected mine, and the agency just seemed to be a great fit generally. I’m really enjoying getting stuck in.”
Based in Totnes and working predominantly remotely, Charlotte enjoys throwing ceramics and spending lots of time outdoors when she’s not at her desk. On top of effortlessly juggling multiple projects at work, Charlotte is also organising her spring wedding and daughter’s first birthday celebrations.
Simon Barbato, CEO of Mr B & Friends, says “We’re delighted to welcome Charlotte to our growing team. We’ve had a really positive start to the new year, and I have no doubt that Charlotte will help to contribute to that momentum.”
AgencyUK have announced the launch of the latest NHS public campaign which is designed to encourage people to call ‘111’ rather than ‘999’ when they have non- emergency minor conditions.
The campaign activity is aimed at high risk groups in deprived areas, those with poorer access to GP care, or people with small children, young adults or older youth, who live close to emergency departments or far from urgent care centers and without easy access to transport.
Although national awareness of the existing ‘111 help us help you’ campaign is high (of those surveyed, 98% were aware and 72% had used 111) there is still a requirement to continue encouraging consumer behaviour to change, particularly in these deprived areas.
The figures in Bristol (61% used) and 80% in North Somerset and South Gloucester is lower. NHS Bristol, North Somerset and South Gloucester CCG (BNSSG) also have targets to increase these numbers by a further 10%.
Taking a more direct, harder hitting approach is unlikely to work, and this was demonstrated following a programme of qualitative research conducted with people in these target audience groups. The agency and NHS team have developed a proposition and creative campaign that is clear and simple, showing the benefits of dialing 111 through illustrations.
“The campaign is simple in encouraging people to use 111 by showing how the service provides immediate advice and guidance for those who need help right away. The graphics can be easily understood and have been brought to life in the digital and outdoor elements created by AgencyUK.” says Dominic Moody, head of communications at NHS.
The integrated campaign leverages social media as well as traditional (OOH) and digital out of home (DOOH) formats such as buses, posters and interactive display screens.
Sammy Mansourpour, managing director, AgencyUK says “Working with the NHS is always a privilege, and as a leading brand communications agency our team have always felt an overwhelming sense of responsibility when it comes to helping improve our national services. We’ve been pleased with the media selection and KPI’s being applied to this campaign and look forward to seeing the impact it will make. The message is clear. Think 111 first.”
AgencyUK are an independent brand communications agency. The company has demonstrated significant growth over the past 12-months, contributed by the rapid expansion of their life science and healthcare portfolio. NHS is the latest major account win for the agency in the past 12-months.
It’s hard to think of a brand subject to as much controversy as BrewDog lately. A recent BBC documentary brought a fresh raft of accusations against the company – off the back of which, it has emerged, boss James Watt hired private investigators to scrutinize former employees. Here, AgencyUK’s Sammy Mansourpour digs into what brands can learn – good and bad – from BrewDog’s stratospheric rise and tumultuous second phase.
There’s only one thing that makes a brand brilliant and that is meaningful difference – meeting consumers’ needs while successfully standing out from the crowd.
Kantar and Millward Brown have been testing this out for over a decade and the numbers are in. Brands with a quantifiable meaningful difference can grow 207% faster than the rest.
Never has this been so brilliantly showcased than by BrewDog, the punk beer brand imploding in front of our eyes. But let’s look beyond James Watt, the sometimes-ridiculed book he wrote and all the reasons why BrewDog is in such a pickle. Let’s look first at what made BrewDog so brilliant.
No one can say building BrewDog was just blind luck. Look at BrewDog’s ability to define itself precisely, then talk about it. The core of its image is ‘punk’. You might think building out an anti-establishment vision based on troublemaking would be easy, but the alcoholic drinks market is highly regulated and getting a foot in the door is expensive. To dodge those rules you need to know them – particularly the ones you intend to break.
To build an establishment-challenging brand, you need mass and movement. BrewDog delivered both in spades. It quickly grew a following into a sizable community.
BrewDog seized on every challenge it faced, using them to talk about how industry titans (and regulators) leveraged legislation, introduced red tape and increased cost. This messaging made the small but growing BrewDog community feel duped and enraged. This galvanized them around the BrewDog brand and started to distance them from other beers.
With social media in hand, Watt (and co-founder Martin Dickie) were able to start a revolution, then get their revolutionaries to pay for it. Their crowdfunding investment gathered millions before private equity got involved and these investors are the same folks buying the beer.
If you read Watt’s book, you’d believe this would never end. But for anyone with a grasp of social media and a flair for stunts, this is where the lesson begins.
Harry McCann famously said that advertising is “truth well told”. But did BrewDog always stick to the truth? Some of its social media marketing has been called out as false or misleading. The promotions team pledged to plant trees for every investor and drinker of Planet Pale Ale. The land they bought reportedly remains empty and an application by BrewDog for a Scottish grant to pay for the trees has now been made public.
And with all the attacks on beer brands and the need to fight the good fight – even blowing up cans of rival products on Facebook Live – it turns out Watt invested in Heineken.
Oh, and did anyone mention the reported non-disclosure of banned additives present in BrewDog beer that may have rendered some shipments illegally imported into the US?
Through all of BrewDog’s punk rule-breaking, no one asked why the rules and regulations existed until they came crashing down around them. If they did, the media gave them little airtime.
No one seemed to adequately explain the reasons behind regulating a market and constraining companies from acting so freely. BrewDog stuck with its belief that the consequences were always minor when compared to the commercial advantages of a breach – until it was no longer possible to keep telling that story.
Building a brand that is meaningfully different is the key to success and that success can only be realized for the long term if you’re not lying about it. So perhaps authenticity is what makes a brand brilliant. But who wants an authentic brand that nobody wants?
Sammy Mansourpour is co-founder and managing director of AgencyUK.
You need to load content from reCAPTCHA to submit the form. Please note that doing so will share data with third-party providers.
More Information