Watch Us Rebrand Soap. | Live Rebranding Webinar

The day we built a brand. Live. In one hour.

On October 29th, the Willow team did something nearly impossible. We built a brand, in one hour, live on Zoom. 

We started with a (hypothetical) brief, to reposition a 100-year-old manuka-honey-infused bar soap brand for a younger demographic.

From there, we prepared some strategic thinking, taking into account cultural trends, competitors and audience insights. We touched on the ingredient literacy of younger generations, the perception that bar soaps are unhygienic and how this interacts with post-COVID germophobia, the persistence of the “clean girl” aesthetic, the move towards more gentler cleansing agents, and the proliferation of older talent in advertising by cool, creative brands. This led us to a brand proposition: A bar soap that uses manuka honey to nourish your skin beyond the bathroom.
A 100 year old beauty secret, used by the women you want to be when you grow up.


Taking all of that into account, we came up with two creative territories in a “no bad ideas” pen-to-paper brainstorming session. We covered crumpets, beehives, BDSM, Australiana, insects trapped in honey and Cleopatra’s idiosyncratic bathing habits. 

Next, we refined the directions into names and moodboards. Contender number one was “Darling!”, an ooey, gooey, sensorial brand that positions manuka honey as an ancient way to preserve and nourish the skin, endorsed by beautiful older women. Contender two was “Lost Bonnet”, a sassy, 60s-diva-inspired brand that tells its audience to “wash your mouth out”. 

Our clients (Jess aka “Betsy Bubbles” and Bree aka “Suzie Sudsy”) chose Lost Bonnet. So we ran with it, crafting key messages, choosing colours, forging a logo, illustrating an emblem, and even mocking up some packaging and out of home. And there we had it: a brand.

If you want to see the final brand in its totality, download the Lost Bonnet Brand Book.

Pretty good for an hour, if we may say so.

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