Client list:
Burlison Photography
Frances Bodington Associates
Bucklebury Farm Park
Centuplex Communications
Childhood's Dreams
Datasharp
Forward Together
Icon Interiors
Novamedics
Peter Scott & Partners
Southons of Salisbury
Solent Environmental
Schoolwise
Winchester Kitchens
Wyllie & Mar
Yakanaka Zimbabwe
Yakanaka UK
+44 (0) 1256 892952
Client: Southons of Salisbury, a family-owned furniture retailers in Salisbury.
Problem: In order to celebrate the store's centenary, the client needed to re-visit his logo and all his promotional literature. Having had the same logo for 25 years, the client knew that his branding did not echo the contemporary, quality furniture the store now sold.
Market: The store has something for everyone, though it only sells quality items. The store is traditional in its values, the high quality of its customer service and its highly trained staff. The target market and customer base are those of a middle to high income bracket for whom style, individuality and quality are important factors governing purchases. With sofas retailing from £700, Southons is a world away from DFS!
Creative Solutions 1: The first part of this major project was to design a new logo that encompassed the fusion of the traditional and the contemporary. Kim achieved this by mixing a traditional typeface and a hand-written contemporary font, both of which were re-drawn to create a truly bespoke design. The only restriction we were given was in the use of colour - the client had recently completely refurbished the store at great expense, and wanted to retain the cream and the green that had been used throughout.
Creative Solutions 2: Once we had designed the logo, Kim designed and artworked all the stationery and shop sales items such a price labels, swing tickets and internal signage. She then designed and artworked all the exterior signage and created a set of 3 corporate advertisements that could be used in all press and glossy publications covering the Wiltshire area. The advertisements had to be as generic as possible and not show any furniture items that would date, as the advertisements were to run for a long time, so Kim came up with three advertisements that plainly illustrated the quality of the furniture on offer in order to differentiate the client from cheap superstores. Kim wrote the 'see the quality' 'touch the quality' and 'smell the quality' campaign and sub-contracted a commercial photographer to take close-up shots of the furniture in-store. Under her art direction, the 'see' advertisement showed close ups of the high standards of detail, stitching and construction; 'touch' showed different textures and 'smell' used real woods and crisp leather. The campaign has run successfully for 4 years.
Creative Solutions 3: The clients wanted their new delivery vehicle signwritten, so we came up with the idea of having it illustrated. Kim contacted Salisbury Art College, and with the collaboration of the senior lecturer, set the project up as a commercial brief for final year illustration students.The students were given a real, working brief with set criteria to follow and a deadline for completion. On completion, she took the clients to the College for a viewing of the students work, and of those that had followed the brief and the set criteria, chose the winning illustrations. The successful student was given plenty of press and media coverage and was able to show real commercial experience in his portfolio.
Creative Solutions 4: Southons hold a summer sale and a winter sale each year. Kim designs and writes a different campaign for each sale. We produce direct mail in the form of a door drop that goes to 70,000 homes in the Salisbury area, and to coincide with the release of the door drop, teaser advertisements for the local newspapers as well as full page colour advertisements for the area's glossy magazines. The door drop for the first sale after the re-brand followed the 'senses' theme; thereafter Kim wrote a 'get here anyway you can' campaign using gently humourous imagery which proved to be a great hit with the public. We moved from that theme into another humourous theme utilising vintage photographs, and the latest sale campaign concentrated on the message that Southons sale was one that was worth waiting for.
We have just been commisioned to create a campaign of 3 new corporate advertisements to replace the 'see', 'touch' 'smell' campaign that has been running for the last 4 years.
Client feedback: Southons chose White Cat Design because they wanted something completely different from anything every other furniture retailer had. They continue to use us because Kim comes up with very different, creative solutions to all of their promotions, the success of which is proven by increased store footfall and subsequent sales whilst our promotions are running.
Problem: In order to celebrate the store's centenary, the client needed to re-visit his logo and all his promotional literature. Having had the same logo for 25 years, the client knew that his branding did not echo the contemporary, quality furniture the store now sold.
Market: The store has something for everyone, though it only sells quality items. The store is traditional in its values, the high quality of its customer service and its highly trained staff. The target market and customer base are those of a middle to high income bracket for whom style, individuality and quality are important factors governing purchases. With sofas retailing from £700, Southons is a world away from DFS!
Creative Solutions 1: The first part of this major project was to design a new logo that encompassed the fusion of the traditional and the contemporary. Kim achieved this by mixing a traditional typeface and a hand-written contemporary font, both of which were re-drawn to create a truly bespoke design. The only restriction we were given was in the use of colour - the client had recently completely refurbished the store at great expense, and wanted to retain the cream and the green that had been used throughout.
Creative Solutions 2: Once we had designed the logo, Kim designed and artworked all the stationery and shop sales items such a price labels, swing tickets and internal signage. She then designed and artworked all the exterior signage and created a set of 3 corporate advertisements that could be used in all press and glossy publications covering the Wiltshire area. The advertisements had to be as generic as possible and not show any furniture items that would date, as the advertisements were to run for a long time, so Kim came up with three advertisements that plainly illustrated the quality of the furniture on offer in order to differentiate the client from cheap superstores. Kim wrote the 'see the quality' 'touch the quality' and 'smell the quality' campaign and sub-contracted a commercial photographer to take close-up shots of the furniture in-store. Under her art direction, the 'see' advertisement showed close ups of the high standards of detail, stitching and construction; 'touch' showed different textures and 'smell' used real woods and crisp leather. The campaign has run successfully for 4 years.
Creative Solutions 3: The clients wanted their new delivery vehicle signwritten, so we came up with the idea of having it illustrated. Kim contacted Salisbury Art College, and with the collaboration of the senior lecturer, set the project up as a commercial brief for final year illustration students.The students were given a real, working brief with set criteria to follow and a deadline for completion. On completion, she took the clients to the College for a viewing of the students work, and of those that had followed the brief and the set criteria, chose the winning illustrations. The successful student was given plenty of press and media coverage and was able to show real commercial experience in his portfolio.
Creative Solutions 4: Southons hold a summer sale and a winter sale each year. Kim designs and writes a different campaign for each sale. We produce direct mail in the form of a door drop that goes to 70,000 homes in the Salisbury area, and to coincide with the release of the door drop, teaser advertisements for the local newspapers as well as full page colour advertisements for the area's glossy magazines. The door drop for the first sale after the re-brand followed the 'senses' theme; thereafter Kim wrote a 'get here anyway you can' campaign using gently humourous imagery which proved to be a great hit with the public. We moved from that theme into another humourous theme utilising vintage photographs, and the latest sale campaign concentrated on the message that Southons sale was one that was worth waiting for.
We have just been commisioned to create a campaign of 3 new corporate advertisements to replace the 'see', 'touch' 'smell' campaign that has been running for the last 4 years.
Client feedback: Southons chose White Cat Design because they wanted something completely different from anything every other furniture retailer had. They continue to use us because Kim comes up with very different, creative solutions to all of their promotions, the success of which is proven by increased store footfall and subsequent sales whilst our promotions are running.