branded brilliantly

“Great service. Highly recommend.” Lovely feedback to receive. But if you’re a potential customer trying to decide whether a business can help you, it leaves a few...

There’s a particular moment at networking events that makes me groan. You’re chatting with someone you’ve just met. The conversation turns to staying in touch, and...

Your school crest looks impressive on the front gate. But put it on a shirt pocket and the motto disappears. Shrink it into a social media profile image and the details...

You’ve arrived at the address. You’re fairly sure it’s the right place. There’s a faded sign near the gate, another business name still visible on the wall, and three...

Ever had someone pull up to your house to do some work and immediately wondered whether you’d made a big mistake? We had that recently with a flooring contractor. They...

You’ve got the experience. Your team knows what it’s doing. You’ve delivered projects you’re proud of. Then someone asks for your capability statement, and out goes a...

Give a five-year-old a colouring pack and you might make their morning. Give the same pack to a Year 12 student and you’ll probably get a look. School merchandise works...

You pull up beside a work ute. There’s a logo, seven services, three phone numbers, a Facebook icon and something that might be an email address. Before you work out...

“Send us your capability statement.” You’ve had a promising meeting. The organisation needs the services you provide. You know your team could do the job. Then you open...

Vehicle signage has one job above all else. Get noticed, get understood and help people remember who you are. That sounds simple enough, but it is amazing how many...

Every school has a story. The first principal. The original classrooms. The old uniforms. The sporting wins. The school productions. The students who went on to do...

Ever held a really nice business card in your hand? Maybe I’m a geek, but this is the kind of thing I notice. There is something oddly satisfying about holding it.  You...

One of the biggest problems I see with small business marketing is not a lack of ideas. It’s the opposite... there are too many. Post on Facebook. Start doing videos....

You can have a beautiful website with great photos, sharp branding, clear services and plenty of traffic. But if people get to the end of a page and have no idea what...

A capability statement is one of those documents that seems simple until you actually try to make one work. On paper, it is just a few pages about your business. In...

Ever walked into a business and just felt out of place? You stalked them online and on their socials and they looked amazing. The perfect fit.  Then you visit their...

Flyers still work... there, we said it. In a world of social ads, email campaigns and endless scrolling, a well-designed flyer can still earn attention, build trust and...

Think back to the schools you remember most clearly. Chances are, it wasn’t only the classrooms, teachers or playgrounds that stayed with you. It was the feeling of the...

Are you amazing at what you do? I bet you are. Most business owners are. They’ve spent years refining their craft, building experience, solving problems and delivering...

When a potential client is deciding whether your business is worth a closer look, you usually don’t get much time to make your case. They might be comparing several...

We use AI ourselves. It’s great for brainstorming ideas, testing concepts, writing rough copy, or drafting a polite text to your mother-in-law without wandering into a...

We do a lot of websites for trades. Plumbers. Electricians. Air conditioning companies. Builders. Glaziers. Landscapers. The sorts of businesses doing real, practical,...

Recently, I had to give an important presentation in Port Moresby on brand marketing and a rebrand. I did not have much time to prepare, so the obvious things mattered....

When I was in high school, the Brisbane Strikers won the 1997 National Soccer League Grand Final and the city went a bit mad. My memory of Brisbane celebrating that win...

There is a brilliant line in Blackadder where Blackadder says to Baldrick: “Yes, it’s not the only thing that is very small indeed. Your brain, for example, is so...

Most businesses are sitting on a goldmine and do not even realise it. No, I don’t mean your neighbour’s lax internet security settings, opening the door to free wi-fi. ...

I recently visited a local school to quote on some new signage. As usual, I parked the car, grabbed what I needed and went looking for the office. Simple enough, you...

Most people think of signage as something that belongs outside a building. A shopfront sign. A pylon sign. A directional sign in the carpark. Something that helps...

Most schools have values. Respect. Responsibility. Courage. Kindness. Learning. Belonging. Integrity. Good words. Important words. But here’s the thing: if those values...

First impressions are brutal little things. They happen fast, they stick around longer than they should, and sometimes they’re decided before you’ve even had the chance...

Many business websites have the same problem. They look fine on first glance.  Sometimes they look more than fine. Clean layout. Nice photos. Polished colours. A...

A capability statement is one of those business documents that sounds boring until you actually need one. Then suddenly it matters a lot. You’re quoting for a bigger...

There are plenty of ways to spend money on advertising. Digital ads. Flyers. Radio. Billboards. Sponsored posts. Mail drops. Some work brilliantly. Some disappear...

Last week, I took a week’s leave. Between selling a house and preparing for a new baby, life was starting to feel a little too full. Not bad full. Just very, very full....

Some logos age beautifully. Others quietly fall behind the organisation they’re meant to represent. And that’s usually not because the logo was “bad” to begin with. In...

Working with some of the big players in mining, I’ve had the pleasure of visiting a few sites over the years. It’s a nice change of pace from office life. You swap the...

I recently found myself in the market for a new laptop. Like always, I looked at Apple first.  That was it. That was the whole research process. Was I going to compare...

A good vehicle wrap works hard. It’s out in the sun. It cops rain, road grime, bird mess, car park chaos, pressure washers, tree sap and the occasional “I swear that...

Most people do not give your website a careful, generous read. I know. That stings a bit, especially when you spent an hour getting the colour of those buttons juuust...

Most capability statements are built to impress. Which is exactly why nobody reads them. They’re full of big claims, tiny text, crowded project lists, generic language...

I love walking into my daughter's school. It tidy, shady and has a feel of both belonging and prestige. A school’s brand is more than a logo on the front gate. It’s the...

Print has a funny way of making a brand feel more real. In a world full of quick scrolls, skipped ads and inboxes packed with unread emails, printed material gives...

Walk into a school and you can feel it straight away. Some feel alive. Welcoming. Full of pride. Others? Blank walls. Faded posters. A few notices blu-tacked up that...

Community service organisations do important work. They support people in vulnerable, stressful and often life-changing moments. But even when the work itself is...

We’ve all been there before. You walk into a business and you’re greeted by a photocopied, sticky-taped bit of A4 paper with the logo on it… and another sign next to it...

I love a good presentation folder. Honestly, apart from business cards, we use them more than almost any other traditional marketing tool in our office.  Why? Because...

We are getting more and more clients asking for one page capability statements. And on the surface, it sounds simple enough. One page. Keep it tight. Job done. But...

A plain van does the job. It gets you from A to B, your tools strapped in the back. But you’re missing a massive opportunity. A branded van does the job and markets...

A few years ago, I read a couple of standout books on business growth. Book Yourself Solid and Key Person of Influence. They both landed the same idea in different...

My son often asks me, completely out of nowhere,“Dad… why are you bald?” I tell him it’s genetics. I also remind him it’s waiting patiently around the corner for him...