Bolin Webb – Branding | Cardiff Design Festival

Brief

The Bolin Webb razor capitalises on a niche in the marketplace; beautiful design coupled with performance integrity when other razors either focus on scientific brilliance or traditional designs. The client approached us to develop a strategy to take this razor to market. Brand messaging was required to promote the razor including a new name and visual identity. Defining the target audience and understanding their purchasing behaviours would reveal the brand and product loyalties within the marketplace. Focus groups with the target audience would provide product feedback providing a strong proposition to sell to partners and retailers. Our Brand Blueprint process would crystallise all that Bolin Webb represents and this definition of the brand would help to control the messages surrounding it. This process outlines where the razors and any subsequent products should be positioned in the marketplace. It also enables a strategy to identify and target specific retail channels.

Result

There has been a buzz surrounding Bolin Webb and their products since the recent launch of the razor. The Bolin Webb stand at UK trade show Pulse, an event that focuses on the best new products from the UK and abroad was a resounding success. Marina Bolin, company founder reveals: ‘Stills’ Brand Blueprint process helped us to position the product within the marketplace. Their guidance and strategy gave us and the razors direction, without which we would not have been able to launch the products as successfully as we have.’ The full range of razors is now available to purchase in leading retailers.

Solution

Research revealed that men were unlikely to buy the razor for themselves so the messaging is tailored to women. It was crucial to select the right price point to place enough value on the razor to ensure women purchase it as a gift. The brand name creates a distinctive identity with an aura of design suitable for the introduction of products other than razors. The logo uses a classic yet modern typeface and the graphic device created allows other products to be introduced into the product range. The razor design was inspired by the clean lines of classic cars which we wanted to pay homage to in a subtle way. We developed renders to capture the unique detail of the razors. A brochure-style website full of rich imagery was developed to showcase the razor and the paper packaging reinforced the design-led feel of the product.