When the refillable deodorant brand Wild approached us to help sharpen up their communications, there were many things that were already working.
For a recent start-up, they were doing pretty well. Their core audience loved the idea of a deodorant they could refill rather than discard, liked the carefully designed pack and appreciated the core scents (and the occasionally crazy ones too).
But the client team admitted that everything was a little too slick and functional and not as ‘wild’ as it could be. They hadn’t found a consistently persuasive way to explain their stance on sustainability – and while they were delivering a good product, to a fashion-led audience, they felt everything could be stronger and more memorable.
So this became a process of retaining what was working, and carefully improving what wasn’t. For example, we felt that Wild’s logo was intriguing and quirky, so we simply ironed out some of its oddities.
Typographically, their previous brand font, Brandon, didn’t work well when partnered with the logomark. After testing multiple options, we agreed on Gelica, which seemed to have just the right amount of ‘quirk’ - and also worked well immediately adjacent to the new logotype.
We also agreed on a simple way to encapsulate their core offer: natural deo that does good. And smells great.
The biggest part of the project was to develop a quirkier tone of voice and a photographic style that we began and they could continue – in short creating a far brighter, punchier and ‘wilder’ design toolkit.
The brand name can work in multiple ways, as an adjective, noun (or even a verb). It’s also a really expressive and memorable word, so we were immediately off into copywriter heaven.
Collectively we all liked the idea of adopting a bolder and more surreal look and feel for imagery. The new photography style keeps pushing at the edges of what ‘Wild’ can really stand for.
We were also determined to help Wild make more of their sustainable credentials through the revised imagery style and far punchier copy.
The revised brand is now rolling out across digital and printed media.
And here’s how the new ideas cross over into packaging and merchandise.
The team
- Design and branding: Johnson Banks
- Additional copywriting: Rebecca Magnus
- Photography: Beth Johnson and Isaac Goode, Creative Lead at Wild
- Styling: Stefania Lucchesi
- Animation: Robbie Hancock