Notes: Chapter 05

    Kassem Kazal walks across wet asphalt in a dark laneway lit by an olive-green glow

    Brand and The Street

    Reading the campaigns around us, from bus billboards to the harbour.

    Reading a campaign comes down to fit, because a clash follows when an agency's niche does not suit the brand, and contrast, because real people stand out when pretty people are everywhere. These Shorts apply that to the Jaguar rebrand, Sydney bus billboards and Vivid.

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    01

    Reading the Jaguar rebrand

    People associate identity with a luxury car; that is what they are buying. Jaguar meant sleek, stylish, upper end, and the rebrand delivered sunshine and lollipops. The lesson is not that rebrands are bad. It is fit: a great agency is great at a niche, and if the niche does not fit the brand you get a clash paid for by the customer base. The food photographer at a wedding takes brilliant photos of the canapes.

    Watch the short

    02

    Coke vs Pepsi on Sydney buses

    White Fox floods the streets with beautiful models: textbook volume marketing. Venroy answered with the exact opposite, real people, polarising on purpose, and love it or hate it, it takes your attention. Contrast is a strategy. Pretty people everywhere means the real ones stand out.

    Watch the short

    03

    Vivid, the missed opportunity

    My family has been in hospitality around Circular Quay and The Rocks for two decades, and Vivid is not something the venues look forward to. It is sold as foot traffic; the reality is imported food trucks while local businesses watch. If I ran Vivid's marketing, every venue in the precinct would have a say and a share of the trade. Is helping the local out not supposed to be the Australian way?

    Watch the short

    04

    The quiet period that got quieter

    Rent around Circular Quay runs to a million a year. Vivid exists because winter is the quiet period, and the event that was meant to carry venues through it now pulls people away from them. I have watched businesses shut over it. That is what happens when an event forgets who it was for.

    Watch the short

    Quick answers

    Why did the Jaguar rebrand get such a bad reaction?
    Because of fit. People associate identity with a luxury car, and Kass's read is that the new direction clashed with what the brand meant to its existing customer base.

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