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Wolves in Sheeps’ Clothes: The Risks and Rewards of Branding Big Corporates as Independents

By Danielle Stagg on 3 January 2013

We ran across this story in the Guardian yesterday which highlights that Tesco have bought into a new coffee shop concept chain which some feel is misleadingly branded as if it’s an independent. This struck us as particularly interesting as since starting up last year, we have received briefs from both small upstarts which are hoping to pass themselves off as more established brands, as well as larger corporate ones who are spinning off ‘independent concepts’ and selecting branding and design firms outside their normal stable so that no essence of their existing brands will taint the new firm’s.

This leads us to question which is the greater sin: appearing to be more, or less ‘corporate’ than in reality? Or is either mission sinful at all?

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