Take To The Water Rebrand

Take To The Water:
Desolve Rebrand

Role: Brand Manager

Brand Strategy
Concept Development
Planning Lead
Photoshoot Lead
Budgeting
Creative Direction
Digital Content Management

In July 2022, I began a 15-month development and 6-month rollout project to rebrand the coastal/lifestyle clothing brand, Desolve. The objective was to redefine the brand's voice, target market, branding, and establish new brand guidelines to ensure consistency across all touchpoints for the years to come.

As the Marketing Brand Manager, I was responsible for the following:

Conducting market research
Developing the brand strategy
Overseeing the creative execution
Managing the launch rollout
Performing post-launch analysis

My research and analysis revealed that the brand lacked a clear identity and authenticity in the fishing market. Authenticity was an essential factor in customers' purchase decisions. Gaining authentic credibility in the minds of the target community became crucial to the brand's long-term success. When developing content for the brand, I followed two guiding principles: ASPIRATIONAL and RELATABLE. The goal was to grow a community around the brand, position it as an expert in the field, and showcase the adventures and experiences that customers aspire to. Simultaneously, the content needed to maintain a relatable, down-to-earth tone to avoid alienating the customer base. In practice, this involved filming fishing trips where the brand's ambassadors caught impressive marlins in stunning locations. These videos showcased the brand's expertise and the customers' dream experiences, while also featuring the ambassadors' personable, humorous, and inclusive personalities. When it came to the development of content for the brand, my two pillars to guide the team were to aim for ASPIRATIONAL and RELATABLE content. I wanted to grow a community around the brand, be seen as experts in the field, do the things our customers dream to do, and to remain relatable as to not alienate the customer. This in practise was to film trips catching huge marlin in the magnificent places with people who showed down-to earth personality, incorporating a sense of humour and be inclusive.

Branding

Building a community

In an industry dominated by larger global brands, I identified a market gap for strong, localized storytelling. Recognizing the audience's desire for authentic local content, I leveraged this to become a unique strength of the brand.

I developed multi-channel campaigns that celebrated the culture of the customer base, which they felt proud to be associated with. We filmed in stunning, lesser-known rural towns, collaborating with local experts, artists, and bands to highlight the unique appeal of the lifestyle.

As the manager of an in-house team, I ensured our content was cohesive across all platforms, including the website, paid/organic social media, email marketing, and influencer content. This approach positioned the brand as an active member of the community, significantly boosting content engagement and conversions.

Shaping an identity

The rebranding project also involved developing a complete graphic overhaul, including a new name, logo, brand colors, typography, and defining imagery and iconography.

I led an in-house team of creatives to develop a comprehensive brand guideline document and roll out the new branding across all assets.

The design focused on the strategic use of fonts, text sizing, padding, and logo positioning to ensure the brand's incredible imagery could take center stage and effectively tell the brand's story across digital and physical touchpoints. The imagery was carefully curated to reflect the brand's core values, inspire emotions, and create a lasting connection with the audience.

View the full website at: https://desolvesupplyco.co.nz/