What was the problem?

The brand had been an fmcg icon. But it had lost its way a bit, lost sight of what really drives it. And this was showing in less-than-optimal sales across a range of products.

Everyone understood that there was one key word and a core idea at the heart of the brand - but opinions differed about how this should be interpreted in the brand’s future development. The company wanted some input to help settle these debates.

What did we do?

We (along with consultancy from Semiotic Solutions) carried out a semiotic and discourse analysis of the key word, the brand, the sector and the cultural context.

Doing this, we could see how the original brand essence had been eroded. The core word had been interpreted slightly differently over time, and little by little the idea had lost its power.

We re-expressed the core brand idea....

What did they get out of it?

On the surface, our expression of the brand essence was only subtly different from the one the company had been working with.

But it seemed to turn on light-bulbs, make pennies drop for the team - it made sense of many of the difficulties of the past and present.

And it gave a clear brand template against which to evaluate future activities and NPD.