Brand voice Archives

Valiant Finance

A lion in need of a new roar

Being a business owner isn’t easy. Uncertainty, zero free time and the emotional highs and lows are enough to put off all but the most intrepid souls. As a start-up themselves, Valiant understood this from the inside out.

Lending (a hand)

Founded to help businesses find the best loan, Valiant stand out with the personal touch they bring to an industry obsessed with numbers. But as a fast-growing startup, this humanity needed fierce protecting if it was to survive adulthood.

Alongside a new lion logo created by Principals, the company engaged us to immortalise their warmth in the way they spoke.

Hear us roar

From here, XXVI created a voice that’s a natural at asking the questions a bank wouldn’t. One that appreciates the blood, sweat and lost sleep that goes into business-building. And one that shares the very real pride a business owner feels in what they’ve accomplished.

Epilogue

With a promise to never get so big they forget they were once small themselves, Valiant stand behind every courageous individual out there crazy enough to strike out on their own.

Australian Super

A lion in need of a new roar

Lending (a hand)

Alongside a new lion logo created by Principals, the company engaged us to immortalise their warmth in the way they spoke.

Hear us roar

Epilogue

With a promise to never get so big they forget they were once small themselves, Valiant stand behind every courageous individual out there crazy enough to strike out on their own.

Stride

A name that’s not an afterthought

Despite being Australia’s oldest mental health provider, Aftercare felt invisible in the sector. Even at industry conferences, people were puzzled by the name. Funeral service? Childcare? Post-hospital suicide prevention?

Getting upstream of the issue

While Aftercare began as a way to help people leaving hospital find a place to live and work, these days it supports people from the start of their mental health journey. While not a bad name in itself, the word ‘Aftercare’ had become misleading.

A rebrand was in order – but there were a few caveats. Our brief was to create something short and punchy that felt positive, but not too cheerful. Here we agreed to avoid options that oversimplified or trivialised the serious nature of what Aftercare do.

In their stride

Now known as Stride, the organisation has a name that’s not only fresh and distinctive – but more fitting of an organisation that’s shifted its strategy to prevention.

Epilogue

‘Stride’ is to move forward with purpose. It’s a word that carries a sense of confidence, hope and even adventure. And it recognises that mental wellbeing is not a destination you reach – it’s a promise to keep going. Even if that’s just one step at a time.

Officeworks

A lion in need of a new roar

Lending (a hand)

Alongside a new lion logo created by Principals, the company engaged us to immortalise their warmth in the way they spoke.

Hear us roar

Epilogue

With a promise to never get so big they forget they were once small themselves, Valiant stand behind every courageous individual out there crazy enough to strike out on their own.

Jetstar

Taking Jetstar under our wing

The bright orange colours. The star-shaped logo. The effervescent energy. Jetstar already had the cut through. And, after we first teamed up with the brand in 2018, an engaging and honest voice to match.

Where to first?

Speaking to so many audiences across so many touchpoints, Jetstar needed to put their new voice to work. Using the master guidelines as our launchpad, we partnered with their crew to show them just how far their voice could go.

Pretty far as it turns out

The in-flight announcements from cabin crew. Customer service agents helping people on Facebook. It even inspired the evolution of Jetstar Asia’s voice.

Epilogue

Since those first words and workshops, Jetstar’s brand voice has taken flight in just about every corner of the organisation. It’s brought out a personality that had previously been hard to identify. And made a real difference to travellers along for the ride.

Code Read

Taking Jetstar under our wing

Where to first?

Pretty far as it turns out

The in-flight announcements from cabin crew. Customer service agents helping people on Facebook. It even inspired the evolution of Jetstar Asia’s voice.

Epilogue

Monash University

Taking Jetstar under our wing

Where to first?

Pretty far as it turns out

The in-flight announcements from cabin crew. Customer service agents helping people on Facebook. It even inspired the evolution of Jetstar Asia’s voice.

Epilogue

Virgin Australia

A rebel takes flight

As a staple in the Aussie skies for over 20 years, Virgin Australia had cemented itself as the more accessible and relatable airline than its classically serious flying kangaroo rival. Attracting a broader, more diverse range of customers, the brand was (dare we say it) flying. Then Covid-19 hit. Grounding its fleet, almost for good.

We’re bringing boldness back

With new ownership, came new opportunities. And so Virgin Australia engaged XXVI to craft and then apply a new and holisitic Brand Voice to help them reconnect with their base, grow their market share, and come back from the brink — bolder and better than ever.

The rebel has returned

Whilst the brand had matured over the years, research showed that Australians wanted the famous Virgin energy and cheekiness back. From here, XXVI crafted a unique set of values and Brand Voice traits that provided their heritage tone with more structure and purpose. Giving it the energy, longevity and flexibility to work across their whole scope of internal and external communications.

Epilogue

What followed was a distinctively ‘Virgin’ Virgin Australia Brand Voice. One that harks back to it’s bolder past to create communication that people actually pay attention to, from charming flight delay emails (it’s possible) to cheeky destination headlines, and literally everything in-between. A strategically powerful reset that’s been vital in helping Virgin Australia transition from survival mode amidst the anxiety and unpredictability of Covid, into being a delight to fly with once again. – xxvi

What’s in a name?

Chances are you’ll never know.

In an airport near you, there’s a nondescript door, in a nondescript corner of a nondescript departure’s hall. Beyond it is a world most of us can only dream of. An exclusive space for very important flyers. Where everything is taken care of, seamlessly. It’s Virgin Australia’s exclusive club. And our job was to give it a very memorable name.

A peek behind closed doors

Virgin Australia (VA for short) emerged from the pandemic with a new lease on life. And a bold transformation strategy. One that saw them make a hefty investment in the products and services guests told them they love most.
This project was a significant milestone in that journey. And part of a raft of changes happening right across the board.

Landing the perfect name

We were tasked with renaming ‘The Club’ to align with Virgin Australia’s new brand framework, strategy, and bold ambitions for the program.
The name needed to be original, flexible and capture the essence of the offering while evoking a premium yet uniquely ‘Virgin’ feeling.

Welcome to Virgin ‘Beyond’

A whole new world of luxury. All highly personalised, fuss-free, and built around your needs.
The name epitomised Virgin Australia’s promise to provide service that’s as tailored as it is effortless. And to consistently deliver an experience that goes above…and way beyond.

Epilogue

Beyond was always intended to be more than just a name. Members took advantage of a whole range of exclusive benefits beyond the lounge. From bookings and upgrades to airport access, boarding, and flying.
In fact, with everything thoughtfully designed to be turbulent free and flawlessly catered to the individual, Beyond begun to embody luxury — the Virgin Australia way. — xxvi

Active Super

A super star is branded

In early 2021, Local Government Super rebranded to become Active Super. As part of the project, we created a new name and voice to bring the superstar energy of Active Super to life – one that could talk to the idea of the fund as a fun, ethical trailblazer.

The pioneer emerges

In a competitive market, Active Super aimed to grow beyond its local government roots and appeal to people looking for something better. To do this, it was time to be louder and prouder about who they are: a pioneer in responsible investing since they stopped investing in tobacco twenty years back. (In fact, they were Australia’s first super fund to do this.)

Positively encouraging

With its community ethos and track record of examining investments for positive impact, Active Super had an authentic proposition to inspire its new identity. ‘Active’ was picked as a name to reflect how it chooses and manages investment, its role in the community, and how it empowers members to get involved in their super.

Along with fresh visuals by Principals, we created a voice that felt bold and assertive, yet playful. Rather than doom and gloom, the idea was to inspire confidence in the future.

The winds of change are here

No more having its thunder stolen or failing to champion its longstanding expertise. Active Super is out celebrating the good message it has now, placing top three in its industry for positive attributes and boasting its highest member growth in four years.

Much more than a coat of paint, the rebrand celebrates the best of who the organisation has always been – a leading fund for investments that are brilliant for both its members and the world. I.e. Profitable and responsible.

Prospa

From disruptor to innovative leader

Prospa is Australia’s largest online small business lender. After a decade as a challenger to the banks in the lending space, they were gearing up to expand their product offering. In late 2022 they added a smart business transaction account with overdraft to their line-up of fast-approval loans and line of credit. It marked a shift away from a conversions-focused culture to one based on ongoing customer relationships. To reflect this change, they needed a new look and feel. And a voice to match.

Shifting from a pure sales focus

Cash flow is the biggest single pain point for most small businesses. In a sector that spans big banks to payday lenders, Prospa wanted to be there for the long haul, not the quick sell. The way they spoke to customers would have a big part to play, so they asked for our help. The task was pretty clear. Smooth sales talk and tactics had to go. It was now about building trust with transparency and direct, helpful communications. We just needed to work out how to do it.

Being straight up, keeping it human

We kicked off with a discovery phase that included an existing comms review, workshops and lots of colloboration. The voice we developed, Straight-Up Human, became Prospa’s new brand voice, and we delivered a practical guideline segmented by audience. To ensure the new voice was properly embedded, we got to work training Prospa’s team and getting on the tools ourselves. We rewrote key brand communications including their primary web pages, along with a product naming strategy, messaging matrix and 50 customer eDM templates.

A voice to match a grown-up brand

Throughout the transition, Prospa’s whole team began thinking in terms of customer relationships, not just conversions. Language was critical to this change, and we helped Prospa’s team articulate the cultural shift internally. In the lead up to launch, we worked with writers across the business, and in external agencies, in a series of weekly creative reviews to ensure all new work was in the new voice. So by the time the updated brand launched, Prospa sounded every bit like the small business finance innovator it had become.

“A huge thank you to you and your team – Simon, Nick and the two K’s! We loved working with you all and are incredibly proud of where we’ve landed. Thank you so much for coming on this journey with us, making it so easy to work with you and producing a great result!”

Andrea Darling
Head of Brand Program

A lion in need of a new roar

Lending (a hand)

Hear us roar

Epilogue

A lion in need of a new roar

Lending (a hand)

Hear us roar

Epilogue

A name that’s not an afterthought

Getting upstream of the issue

In their stride

Epilogue

A lion in need of a new roar

Lending (a hand)

Hear us roar

Epilogue

Taking Jetstar under our wing

Where to first?

Pretty far as it turns out

Epilogue

Taking Jetstar under our wing

Where to first?

Pretty far as it turns out

Epilogue

Taking Jetstar under our wing

Where to first?

Pretty far as it turns out

Epilogue

A rebel takes flight

We’re bringing boldness back

The rebel has returned

Epilogue

What’s in a name?

A peek behind closed doors

Landing the perfect name

Welcome to Virgin ‘Beyond’

Epilogue

A super star is branded

The pioneer emerges

Positively encouraging

The winds of change are here

From disruptor to innovative leader

Shifting from a pure sales focus

Being straight up, keeping it human

A voice to match a grown-up brand

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