Its always nice to get some feedback on the work we have produced, and it doesn’t get much better than this.  Have a read of this quote from Simon Askew, the fresh food buyer at Harvey Nichols about our work for Inishturkbeg

‘It is important that food not only tastes fantastic but also looks fantastic if it is packaged . Our  customers naturally will shop with their eyes.  The packaging design of Inishturkbeg is for me an exceptional piece of work that manages to cleverly evoke not only a sense of the quality of the product inside, but also of the beauty of the enviroment from which it is sourced.’

Not bad, even if we do say so ourselves!

London Pearls

A year and a half ago, we here at Coley Porter Bell created a new identity for the Museum of London with the aim of bringing its venues and values together, changing perceptions from ‘just a dusty box of old things’ and to pave the way for the opening of the spectacular new £20m Modern Galleries of London. Our identity was based on the idea of an ever-changing city and the marque was created from coloured layers that map out the shape of its past, present and future. London’s very own thumbprint if you will, illustrating the patterns people have left throughout its history. Well the new galleries were officially opened on the evening of Thursday 27th May and we had a ticket.

London Style

The correct way to run a marcoms agency?

Is an agency just a place where ideas can have sex? Are they merely handy locations for concepts to screw around, where notions can have multiple partners and produce large sprawling families of new ideas?

You may think swingers-club-come-love-dungeon is a strange metaphor for a commercial communications organisation. But the conventional take on creativity is that it is the product of solitary and internal processes. Think sociopathic art directors, tortured geniuses in garrets, borderline autistics who break the all rules but come up with brilliant new ideas.

So it’s a bit of a surprise to learn that creativity is in fact a ‘network effect’. According to Matt Ridley writing in the Wall Street Journal, the inventiveness and rate of cultural change (ie creativity) of a population is directly related the amount of interaction between individuals.

Greenpeace activists hoist a flag after climbing on to a balcony at BP headquarters in London.

Full disclosure here: I’m a journalist’s daughter. Actually, I’m a columnist’s daughter, so there goes the impartiality. And yes, this blog post comes straight on the heels of some paternal prose. But I can’t help but think that it’s about time Coley Porter Bell weighed in on the BP brand in the face of the Deepwater disaster.

BP’s rebrand ten years ago has been held up as one of our industry’s biggest success stories: a tired, uninspiring oil company making the leap into the shiny future of renewable energy, going ‘beyond petroleum’. Employees embraced the new ethos, the bottom line flourished, and the company’s reputation as a leader in corporate sustainability efforts was cemented in the public consciousness. BP was sitting pretty.

And then in April, disaster struck.

To be clear: this is a disaster, no doubt about it. The victims of the oil rig explosion are not only the eleven people who lost their lives, but their families, the population of the Gulf Coast, and countless species of animals in the area. We have no idea how the situation will play out, or how much damage will ultimately be done. It’s scary stuff - the sort of fiasco that can relegate a company to the black hole of contempt in people’s minds. And while the BP brand will take a hit, ultimately I believe it will make it through. There are two reasons for that.

First, BP’s longstanding and considerable investment in brand-building will have helped to futureproof them against public relations disasters just like this one. Compared to energy companies with less inspiring brands (ahem, Shell and Exxon), BP seems like the good guy. Instinctively, we tend to believe they’ll right this wrong, and continue on their virtuous path. That’s what it means to have captured the hearts and minds of consumers.

Second, BP has done more than simply building a brand, they’ve built a culture. The open, honest, optimism that’s core to their brand has come through in their response to the oil spill. Sure, there were some hiccups at the start, but ultimately, they’ve raised their game. BP leadership is truly living their brand, reinforcing their positioning with every press conference, every shared internal document, every apology. The BP brand, it seems, is more than just a cheery logo.

We’ll have to wait and see how this all nets out, but this blogger’s money is on a triumphant BP brand re-emerging. Eventually.

The new London bus

Ask three designers a question and you’ll get four opinions, one sulk and a hissy fit.  So it’s a sign of just how good it is that the design for London Transport’s new bus has drawn nearly unanimous rave reviews from the massed aesthetes at Coley Porter Bell.

The Wrightbus styled by Thomas Heatherwick is the successor to the much loved design classic, the Routemaster, and a replacement for the much hated bendy bus. In design terms at least, it has brilliantly struck a balance between making the bus modern and relevant to contemporary needs on the one hand, while on the other retaining enough of the character of the original Routemaster to make it recogniseably the same family.

As a company that makes a living from refreshing brands we know just how hard that is.

One of our planners summed up the general feeling when he said: “I love it for its retro chic. It takes what is great about London and embodies it in a bus - tradition mixed with progress. So much better than those bender buses.”

He’s right. How typically, quintessentially English to want progress liberally seasoned with references to the past. Think Tudorbethan semis, Roberts radios and anything by Kath Kidston.

People love the curved sweep of the back. People love the subtle rounding at the front and the slightly asymmetric line of the front window which picks up on the hood of the original Routemaster. People love the way that glass is used to emphasis key features like the stairs. And most of all people love the open platform at the back of the bus, which will allow them to hop-on and hop-off. Just like they did in the old days before health and safety went mad.

That’s not to say everyone loves it uncritically. There is a definite school of thought which says that the retro styling is not integral to its function which means that the resemblances to the original Routemaster are just cosmetic.

Its only when you start examining functionality that the wheels start to come off Heatherwick’s design. Like other double deckers currently on service it carries 87 people. But according one driver the much maligned bendy bus can easily carry 150 people. “It’s supposed to be 135 but at rush hour you can just keep on squeezing them on,” he said.

So London Transport’ll need two new buses for every bendy bus it replaces. What’s more because every new bus will need a conductor of some sort to police the open platform, one driver will need to be replaced by two drivers and two conductors.

The conflict between heart and pocket, between beauty and lucre is also a familiar issue at Coley Porter Bell. Let us just hope that in this case, beauty wins.

Coley Porter Bell has given the bar of the exclusive Martinez Hotel in Cannes, a Chivas Regal-branded make over for this year’s film and design festivals.

The premium whisky brand has signed a two year sponsorship deal with the £5,000 a night hotel to promote its luxury credentials.

It has revamped the bar which is frequented by many of the most famous film stars and celebrities in the world, with Chivas Regal brand icons. The redesign employs elements from the ‘Brand World’ that CPB and Chivas have developed. (‘Brand World’ is part of an ongoing drive to ensure the Chivas brand’s positioning is brought to life visually and consistently throughout the world).

CPB has created muted but glamorous branding and wall coverings in black on black using elements of the Chivas brand. The company also enhanced the lighting in the bar using amber coloured accent lights around the bar itself, the bar shelving and the walls of the bar.

In addition the product will be displayed as a focal point behind the bar and plinths either side of the bar will display Chivas Regal 25 and the limited edition bottle designed by Christian Lacroix. Chivas images are displayed on the walls of the bar in luxurious gold frames.

“This is a fantastic opportunity for Chivas to build and extend its glamorous reputation in such exclusive surroundings”, said Ana Claudia Saba, global senior brand manager at Chivas Brothers.

“Although in many ways it was a dream brief for CPB, it was a challenging design problem requiring the agency to strike a delicate balance between the need for branding and discrete luxury”, said Simon Adamson design director at Coley Porter Bell who also acts as global creative director at Chivas Brothers. “The brand’s positioning is cool, sophisticated and luxurious. We had to capture this spirit and ensure that it feels part of the glitterati life style.”

http://www.creativematch.com/directory/coley-porter-bell/

Coley Porter Bell has beefed up its client services offer with the hiring of former Goodyear national marketing manager Naomi Farrugia.

In her role as business director Farrugia will run CPB’s international Coca Cola and Pernod Ricard business.

She joins from integrated communications agency Rapier where she was business director running the Virgin media account.

Farrugia, an Australian by birth, previously spent three years working for Goodyear in Australia where she managed the Goodyear retail brand and was responsible for rebranding and repositioning the Goodyear outlets as Goodyear Autocare due to reflect the breadth of its service offering.

“Of all the things I’ve done in marketing, I am fascinated most by branding because brand creation determines what all the other marketing activities will be. I look forward to the challenge of improving the standing of a project based business,” said Farrugia.

Said Coley Porter Bell chief executive Vicky Bullen: “Naomi has a rare combination of wide ranging client side marketing experience, different types of marketing communications experience, brand insight and fantastic people skills. She will help us as we take our brand world offer to clients.”

Thursday's debate

Last Thursday, despite the cloud of volcanic ash that grounded flights throughout Europe, one of the cornerstones of the American electoral process made its way across the pond: the televised debate.

For the first time in British politics, leaders of the Labour, Conservative, and Liberal Democrat parties gathered in front of a studio audience to share their views on hot button issues, including the economy, immigration, education, and the military. Brown, Cameron and Clegg stood toe to toe for ninety minutes, and beamed their way into the homes of 9.4 million people nationwide.

It remains to be seen whether debates will be a feature of all future general elections, but it is worth noting the migration of a practice that has defined American political campaigns for the past fifty years. And with Barack Obama’s groundbreaking campaign in such recent memory, it will be interesting to see if more of the principles that worked so well for him will translate here.

One of the most compelling aspects of Obama’s campaign was the effective use of design. In fact, an entire book has been written on the subject. The introduction explains, “For the first time in American politics, a candidate used art and design to bring together the American people—capturing their voices in a visual way.”

The Obama logo

From logo to website to pamphlet, the visual language worked incredible hard to embody the core principles of the candidate’s platform: hope, change, and unity. Scott Thomas, Design Director of the campaign, explains, “One thing that design can solve through consistency is it can establish a certain sense of balance.”

The campaign’s commitment to design consistency, however, was refreshingly modern – no overbearing brand rules or restrictions to abide by. The website’s downloads page allowed people to take ownership of the design work, creating their own websites, t-shirts, and signs. It was open source design at its best, contributing to the greatest grass roots movements in this blogger’s lifetime.

And so it will be interesting to see how Britain’s election season plays out, and whether design can do for candidates here what it did for Barack Obama in 2008. We’ve seen them present their own personal brands on television, but can they bring them to life in a visually compelling way over the next few weeks? We at CPB will certainly be watching.

Are you psyched about May 6th? You know, The General Election. Are you really looking forward to it? Are you enthusiastically engaged with the thinking, the campaigning, the issues, the people, the ideas?

Thought not.

Sadly you are not alone in your indifference. Over the past few weeks it has become increasingly apparent that there is a near universal lack of engagement in the country with our upcoming quadrennial vote-fest.

Even antagonism would be preferable. At least that implies some interest. But instead we seem to be in the grip of the most severe outbreak of mass apathy we have seen for decades, perhaps ever. And we cant help wondering why?

Easter means Easter eggs. But increasingly Easter eggs mean Easter trauma in our household.

First they plug straight into the tragedy of global warming. These days even the smallest egg consumes enough resources to melt a polar ice cap with their wanton use of packaging materials. You know the drill: encase egg in foil; insert wrapped egg into suit of protective plastic armour; protect protective armour with cardboard cage.

And then there are the even greater surgical tragedies that ensue when you try to open the bloody thing. Try to claw it open it with your hands and all you get is broken nails and lacerated finger tips. So move onto heavier ordnance. A screwdriver perhaps?. No it’s too thick to get into the gaps. Time for the ever faithful Stanley knife.

So you end up slashing wildly at the egg, probably wounding yourself and several small children in the process.

And what do you get? Chocolate smithereens. Which is what all that packaging was supposed to protect against in the first place.

So it is on behalf of the planet, small children and A&E departments everywhere, that I say thank you to Nestle which this year has replaced the plastic armour on its eggs with a nice, simple, biodegradeable cardboard basket.

They’ve had to get rid of the flimsy flirty peep-hole packaging that allowed the eggs to stand out on shelf .  In its place they’ve introduced a protective veener they call a ‘cardboard box’ in the packaging industry.

Inside that sits the cardboard basket with wicker design.

So now all you do when you want an egg is open it, revealing two intact and enticing chocolate halves, eat it, then recycle the aluminium foil wrapping and carboard box. You wont have so much as a scar to show for it.

It’s a small but perfectly formed model of how corporations can act responsibly while increasing consumer satisfaction and making themselves look good in the process.