Brand Stand

Lush's brand differentiation and positioning take advantage of a gap in the market for a cosmetics brand heavy on ethical awareness and environmental friendliness. Their six primary values are apparent in all their touchpoints and also reflect in the brand's fun, witty verbal and visual languages. (Images: www.lush.com, www.google.co.za; Graphic: Martin Jacobs) In 1995, in a coastal town in southern England, a new brand, Lush, set out to differentiate itself from competitors by attracting consumers in a most innovative manner, and one previously unexplored – through smell. No traditional media, be it print, television or radio, was employed in seducing consumers to experience this brand. Rather, on a sensory level, an enticing scent (heavy on minerals and earthiness)  emanated from its stores  and could be detected metres away, and  was used to differentiate the brand from its competitors. Twenty-five years later, apart from the tremendous growth of the organisa...

'Farewell to the Humdrum! Farewell to the Normal! (as if such a thing exists)', one of Hendrick's Gin's brand taglines, encapsulates a sophisticated visual and verbal language rich with wit. (Images: www.rwquigley.com; graphic: Martin Jacobs) In the twenty years since Scotland’s Hendrick’s Gin launched, it’s become a brand highly respected for its originality – particularly in its brand identity and marketing strategies. Its visual language is so compelling that amongst its target audience, the mere mention of its name brings to mind its black apothecary-inspired bottle, and conjures up a whimsical world of quintessentially British, idiosyncratic Victoriana. Tremendous successes in its evolving brand strategy have resulted in Hendrick’s Gin becoming one of only seven gin brands globally to have sold over one million cases in 2017 (the others are largely established brands like Gordon’s, Bombay and Tanqueray) and in it earning the title of  The Spirits Business ’s Gin Br...