International Brand Refresh Requiring Cultural Considerations
In 2024, ASEAN NZBC partnered with Virtual Marketers for a culturally sensitive brand refresh. The goal was to appeal to New Zealand and Southeast Asian businesses by using neutral symbols and colours, avoiding political and religious connotations.
Virtual Marketers delivered a modern, versatile brand and guidelines praised for meeting ASEAN NZBC's diverse needs.
the brief
ASEAN New Zealand Business Council Inc
The ASEAN NZ Business Council approached Virtual Marketers to support their brand refresh in 2024. The ASEAN NZBC are a business-led membership organisation bridging the gap between New Zealand businesses and South East Asian (SE Asian) trading partners and providing one pathway to 10 SE Asian markets.
They provide market information, advocacy and support networking and trade connections between NZ businesses and a range of SE Asian countries.
The Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) is made up of Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Thailand, Singapore and Viet Nam.
The ASEAN NZBC’s brand needs to appeal to NZ and SE Asian businesses, government officials, and those with an interest in SE Asia trade, tourism and education.
THE APPROACH
Starting with a brand discovery workshop with the ASEAN NZBC team, Virtual Marketers were able to better understand the cultural environment of the ASEAN member countries.
The significance of certain colours and use of symbolism differs slightly amongst member countries so it was important to ensure the end product reflected the role of the ASEAN NZBC and was respectful and accessible to the 10 SE Asian countries it interacts with. It was also important to ensure the new brand attracted a Kiwi business audience and stood out from other ASEAN organisations.
THE SOLUTION
Brand Discover Workshop
The brand discovery workshop was important to ensure that all key stakeholders were aligned on what they wanted to retain from the existing brand, and what they were keen to see in the new look brand design. Agreement was sought to consider the following:
01
Symbols
Discard the wheat symbol (traditional agriculture) and use of red/yellow (Communist Party connotations).
It was important to avoid religious symbols as there is a mix of religions across the SE Asian region.
02
Colours
Safe colours were considered to be green (representing peace and money), red (representing victory and power) and blue (representing peace and stability).
03
Brand
The brand was to have more emphasis on NZ than SE Asia.
The brand needed to be accessible, appealing and appropriate to all businesses and stakeholders, regardless of their size, public vs private sector, academia etc.
Stand out against other ASEAN organisations.
KEY OUTCOMES
Some pretty incredible outputs
Amazing Brand
Virtual Marketers were able to develop a number of brand designs that fit the client brief, then work collaboratively to agree the best direction for the brand.
This included a suitable colour palette, complementary typefaces and a modern look, feel and flow.
Assets
They also requested a variety of logo formats to fit their various digital channels.
Brand Guidelines
The ASEAN NZBC team needed a simple, clear brand guidelines document in order to allow anyone in their team to develop ‘on brand’ design assets for the business.
“Virtual Marketers provided us with a complete service in order to rebrand our organisation. Martina worked with a group of the Executive Committee to better understand our role and our needs.
This ensured that the Virtual Marketers solution was incredibly well thought out and covered all aspects of our work.
Virtual Marketers provided an efficient, detailed and thoroughly painless experience!”
Liz Bell
Executive Director, ASEAN NZ Business CouncilGET IN TOUCH
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