The problem with topics such as Brand Honesty or Brand Openness is that they border on the ethical. As such, the conversation can quickly get mushy and idealistic. There is a compulsion, even among accomplished strategists, to wax lyrical about a future where brands willingly air all their laundry and every motivation and action is shared and discussed. But this is not a likely tomorrow. Nevertheless, we do expect a push towards greater (albeit not total) openness. And we expect this push to be driven by two closely related forces: 1. The brand-busting/building powers of an increasingly connected and chatty online society. 2....
Read more »
What does Red Bull Mobile have in common with a Puma bicycle? Not much except that they’re both examples of extending an iconic brand to encompass a previously unassociated product or service. So basically they’re brand extensions. To be sure, horizontal brand expansion (say it often, it will make you smarter) is nothing new. Remember when mobile machinery specialists Caterpillar (CAT) started branding shoes? How about when Virgin – originally a music label – became an airline too. Then more forgettably, a range of soft drinks? Then a rail service. Then a gym. And let us not forget the Swatchmobile... now,...
Read more »
STUDENT LIFE VS REAL WORKING LIFE Chrisli Oostehuizen is a budding brand thinker and planner who recently joined us for her year-end internship, wrapping up her honours degree at Vega (The Brand Communications School). Here she shares shares insights and defines her experience of student vs "real" life as an aspiring brand strategist. “This is how it works in the industry.” Yeah right. ‘The Industry’ is the one thing that no amount of theory can explain. It’s like someone telling you about a “very funny incident” and then ending off with “you should have been there”. That is how ‘The Industry’...
Read more »
THREE BROAD BRUSHSTROKES FROM THE BRANDING UNDERWORLD This past Wednesday morning saw a greater-than-usual number of Cape Town design professionals pitch up at work drunk. Not because Phuza Thursday has officially been moved to Phuza Tuesday. “Phuzaness” was in fact replicated across all 4 working days of the Capetonian calendar week some time back. Rather it was because, both as citizens of the mother city and as expressive types, we hate wasting Champagne (Cap Classique?). And since Wednesday morning 6.15 saw the official announcement come through re Cape Town’s selection as WDC 2014 – well, we had to push some...
Read more »
Between business branding, admin, deadlines and meetings, it’s easy to forget that the centre of the universe is not the office coffee machine (although we are not disputing its importance). But once in a while it’s good to get some context and step out. Maybe even use available resources to help someone else. There are many ways to add value to people’s lives and it often only requires a small donation of your time – a phone call, a positive attitude, spare change or in this case…a short trip to pay a visit to some inspiring people. After a brief detour...
Read more »
Engage Brandcraft (together with the talented folks at Sentient Communications) have recently had the privilege of creating and launching a brand alongside two of South Africa’s biggest names in their respective fields. In accepting the challenge, we took on the task of creating and establishing both a product (payD) and parent product (Oltio). Together these brands will be responsible for increasing the online buying power of millions of South Africans! Intrigued? Here’s the latest news hot off the press: MTN Mobile Money and Standard Bank have partnered to bring a revolutionary online transaction technology to...
Read more »
The Engage Brandcraft team is very proud to introduce the unique Legacy Parks concept and related identity. The brand has been on the drawing board for quite some time while the service rollout and communications plans were being finalised. Due to its strategically sensitive nature, we’ve been keeping it under wraps for the duration of this process. The Legacy Parks formally launched last week with the opening of the first park at beautiful Wiesenhof in Stellenbosch. Ian and Dijon attended the auspicious opening event, joining the Legacy Parks team as they unveiled this ground-breaking concept (and brand!) to the South...
Read more »
At Engage Brandcraft, we often talk about a Brand Paradox. By this we mean an intentional contradiction within a broader brand identity. Think of it as the yin and yang of brand personality. If crafted carefully, these subtle balances can significantly contribute to the overall character of a product, service or organisation. When developing a brand strategy and concept, we always try to remain cognisant of potential brand paradoxes. In our experience, identifying and developing these can often contribute to deeper brand engagement. To help present and explain this important pillar of our approach, we’d like to share an example (with...
Read more »
We are a team of passionate creatives and strategists who live, breathe and (occasionally) sleep branding. We’ve started this blog to share some of our insights into the world of branding and design. Insights that have turned us into a successful and innovative brand development agency. Join us as we share our approach, opinions and tips of the branding trade - you might even find our between-deadline-undertakings entertaining. Please send us your comments or tweet at @Brandcrafters to join the conversation. We really value feedback, questions and even critique…and we’ll do our best to respond as soon as possible! Thanks in advance...
Read more »
We received an email from James Fernie from Uthando (www.uthandosa.org/pages/1), a great organisation that gets involved in community development projects in South Africa. In his mail to Engage, James gave us a report about Mama Gayiya, an older lady from NOAH in Khayelitsha. She was living in really bad conditions contributions were needed to help build her a new home. A couple of donations and helping hands later, and Mama Gayiya was hosting a housewarming in her brand new home! It’s quite humbling to see how a relatively small contribution of resources and time can make such a significant difference. To James...
Read more »
This post currently has 4 responses.