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Last week, we gathered for the Annual Charge Energy Branding Conference, hosted by EDP at their headquarters in Lisbon. The setting could not have been more perfect—EDP’s contemporary, inviting, and stylish conference facilities provided the ideal backdrop for two days of thought-provoking discussions, insightful presentations, and industry-leading expertise. This year’s event brought together energy branding experts, thought leaders, and innovators to explore how brands can unlock their potential in a rapidly changing sector.

Setting the Stage: EDP’s Commitment to Brand Purpose

The conference opened with an impactful presentation from Catarina Barradas, Head of Global Brand at EDP, the world’s fourth-largest energy brand. EDP set the tone by demonstrating how deeply embedded its brand purpose is in its operations. From driving the energy transition to prioritising sustainability, social impact, and supporting their people, EDP showed how they are “not just walking the talk but running it.” The presentation highlighted their passion for making energy inclusive, sustainable, and transformative, offering clear insights into how a brand can align purpose with action to create meaningful impact across the board. 

Branding Journeys: Insights from Industry Leaders

The day’s sessions featured several fascinating case studies that showcased diverse branding journeys. Will Bosanko of BrandPie and Christine Corkery Steinsholt of Höegh Evi offered insights into their naming and rebranding programme, explaining the strategic considerations involved in selecting and developing a brand name. Meanwhile, Katja Metz from E.ON presented the company’s successful repositioning programme. E.ON’s case study stood out for its seamless alignment between strategy and execution, placing the brand’s new positioning at the heart of their business. This alignment was reflected across leadership, communications, and tactics, with a strong emphasis on data-driven measurement and tangible results. Takeaways included; what’s the point of a brand purpose if employees are unaware or don’t truly understand it, the need to define what we are trying to achieve and with a greater sense of urgency and Fernando Ortiz Ehmann of Saffron Brand Consultants commenting on the need not just to define a brand but to fully activate it, 

Workshops and Breakout Sessions: Innovation, Engagement, and Sustainability

Throughout the conference, breakout sessions and workshops covered essential themes such as influencer engagement, sustainability, stakeholder communication, and innovation. One unexpected delight was seeing our own projects recognized in presentations by João Filipe Torneiro, who highlighted a customer-centricity discussion that featured Energia’s people engagement programmes. These sessions provided attendees with actionable insights into how brands can navigate the evolving energy landscape while staying true to their core values.

Energy Brands and Storytelling

Day two kicked off following a fantastic evening of networking and awards at Lisbon’s Secret Spot, Montes Claros. The sessions focused on how energy brands can elevate their employee value propositions, with Kate Aunaas Ingram of Statkraft sharing their approach to making their brand famous for recruitment and retention. One of the highlights was a workshop by Storyline, which explored how to craft compelling brand narratives. This session emphasized the importance of translating brand values into actions, not just words, to create authentic connections with audiences. Sandra Baer, CEO of Personal Cities, led a valuable session on using a creative question framework to unlock deeper brand insights and engage audiences meaningfully.

Key Learnings and Takeaways

The Charge Energy Branding Conference once again proved to be an essential platform for fostering innovation and progress in the energy sector. From EDP’s inspiring example of purpose-driven branding to the insightful case studies and engaging workshops, the conference offered attendees a wealth of knowledge and practical tools to apply within their organizations. The stunning setting of EDP HQ in Lisbon further elevated the experience, providing a fitting atmosphere for the dynamic discussions that took place.

As always, it was a pleasure to be part of such a forward-thinking and inspiring event. We were delighted to share the few days with clients and sponsor the event. We look forward to seeing how the insights shared at this year’s conference will shape the future of energy branding.

What values are and why they’re important:

Do your employees know your company values and what they mean? Would they be able to recall them or easily recount stories which demonstrate them in action? If not, they may not be truly understood or lived within the organisation. 

Values are the moral code which guides an organisation. They are a set of principles that reflect the ethics of the people in the organisation so that everyone can be held accountable to a consistent standard of behaviour (Coleman, 2022). They are more often than not thought of as how a company should operate at its natural best, rather than being purely inspirational (Sinek, Start With Why).

While most organisations have values, there often is a disconnection between these values are lived in organisations. A study from the workplace consultancy firm Gallup (2018) states that just 27% of employees strongly agree that they believe in their company’s values, and only 23% of employees strongly agree they can apply their organisation’s values to their work every day. What this tells us is that a brand’s values need to be relevant. Values should be simple, and while they don’t need to be completely original they should be distinct, meaningful, and memorable.

Strong values matter because they’re the bedrock of an organisation’s culture. A values-driven culture can fuel organisational growth and attract talent. Talented people want to work for organisations that have strong cultures, and employees who belong to fulfilling workplaces are more likely to serve as brand ambassadors to deliver compelling customer experiences.

How brands are expressing their values 

Values have been typically thought of as one-worded nouns – think, honesty, integrity, innovation. Many of the world’s leading companies subscribe to this view, with one study finding that 55% of all Fortune 100 companies claim integrity is a core value, 49% espouse customer satisfaction, and 40% tout teamwork. Yet, while these inarguably are good qualities to have within any organisation, they do not provide a distinct blueprint for employee behaviour. In recent years, what we’ve seen is a move away from one-worded brand values into more action-orientated statements with more of a behavioural focus, making it easier for employees to connect and engage. As Simon Sinek laments, “The value isn’t ‘honesty’, the value is ‘tell the truth’, but if you have to write ‘honesty’ on your wall to remind you to do it, then you probably have bigger problems anyway”, or likewise, the value isn’t innovation. You can’t execute on innovation, it’s not an instruction. But you can tell people to ‘look at the problem from a different angle’.

Bringing your values to life 

Values are there to be lived. There are numerous ways in which values can be brought to life and embedded into organisational cultures. One way to activate this is planning, hearing, believing and living it. 

Planning it

Planning is cornerstone of any brand engagement program because it ensures that every action taken aligns with the brand’s strategic goals and long-term vision, and it aligns the efforts of all stakeholders towards a common goal. Planning is not only central to making time with the senior leaders to champion the programme, but who, how and when can train and champion the values through each department, and each facility. Many workforces are in working situations where they have little day-to-day communication, so it is key to plan how to reach everyone through the channels that they have access to. 

Defining it

Creating the approach and platform to engage, listen and create the values is central to ensure they are meaningful, representative, and actionable. Build a diverse and broad team to build the inputs, stimulus and starting points to create initial values that reflect the collective input of the organisation. Ensure that there is also an ongoing collection of stories from around the organisation – these can help bring the values and associated behaviours to life for other employees. Once created these can be focused and refined. 

Hearing it

Employees need to be informed about the brand’s mission, values, and goals. This involves clear communication from leadership about what the brand stands for. This is more than communication giving but inclusive onboarding through workshops and training sessions to give them the reasons, meaning and expectations on what our brand is, the values and why they are important. 

Believing It: 

Once employees are informed, they must develop a belief in the brand. This can be fostered through training and involvement in brand-related activities that resonate with their personal values. Having values front and centre is a must, reinforcing the values, examples in practice that make an emotional connection between each core value and all employees, and communicate these through making prominent in areas where employees can access them or congregate. 

Living It: 

Finally, employees should embody the brand in their daily actions. This requires integrating brand values into company culture and ensuring that employees feel empowered to represent the brand positively in their interactions with customers. Recognising and rewarding values-centric behaviours is important and how values can be integrated and achieved.

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Sources:

_{https://hbr.org/2022/03/its-time-to-take-a-fresh-look-at-your-companys-values}

_{https://www.forbes.com/sites/curtsteinhorst/2019/10/17/rethinking-the-value-of-core-values/}

_{https://www.groovehq.com/blog/core-values}

_{https://www.gallup.com/workplace/406418/company-values-words.aspx}

_{https://www.groovehq.com/blog/core-values}

_{https://www.fastcompany.com/90901044/13-ways-to-instill-your-brands-core-values-across-all-channels}

_{https://www.loreal.com/en/group/culture-and-heritage/our-values-and-mindset/}

_{https://www.americanexpress.com/en-us/business/trends-and-insights/articles/why-values-are-good-for-business/}

The 2024 Employer Brand Management Live Conference, held at the Royal Garden Hotel in London, was an insightful gathering of minds from across Europe, where clients and agencies came together to discuss the evolving landscape of employer branding. This year, the conference ran alongside the 9th Annual Employer Brand Management Awards where we were shortlisted for two awards with Energia Group. It was a day filled with invaluable insights, networking opportunities, and thought-provoking discussions, all centred on what makes a company’s employer brand shine.

An era of transformation

As 2024 ushers in significant shifts, businesses are recognising the growing importance of cultivating a strong employer brand. Staying competitive now requires more than just good business practices; it demands a strategic focus on employer branding.

At this year’s conference industry leaders, agencies, and experts shared their strategies and experiences, offering their views on what it takes to stay ahead. The day was packed with keynote presentations, interactive panel discussions, and breakout sessions, all designed to inspire and deepen attendees’ understanding of employer branding.

A recurring theme throughout the event was Change — specifically, the evolving expectations of employees and the necessity for businesses to continually adapt. Multiple speakers discussed how shifting values, generational differences, and broader societal changes are driving their organisations to reevaluate their Employee Value Proposition (EVP). Employee profiles are no longer static; as new generations enter the workforce and the priorities of existing staff shift, they must regularly reassess and adjust their EVP to remain relevant. By embracing flexibility and staying attuned to what their workforce values — whether it be work-life balance, purpose-driven roles, or career development opportunities — companies can ensure they attract and retain top talent in this dynamic environment.

Adapting to these changes is not a one-time effort but an ongoing process, making it clear that those who fail to evolve their employer brand risk falling behind.

Key takeaways

TUI’s employer brand team brought to life the importance of involving colleagues at every stage of employer branding, stressing the need to build trust by forsaking control and nurturing collaborative relationships between clients and agencies. Their message was clear: when colleagues are engaged and invested, employer brands can thrive.

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We also heard from leaders like Nimai Swaroop from Coca-Cola, Mark Crompton from Airbus, and Alexandra Bairstow from JLR, who discussed the ongoing war for talent as companies transition toward more sustainable energy solutions and drive forward their own digital transformation strategies. They highlighted how younger generations, particularly Gen Z, increasingly question organisations on sustainability when considering employers at those early recruitment stages. This underscored the need for organisations to constantly challenge and evolve their Employer Value Propositions (EVPs) in line with modern values and environmental concerns.

Another key presentation came from AXA and Havas People, who talked about launching their EVP during a period of significant change for their masterbrand. They spoke of the importance of aligning employer branding with the overarching corporate brand, stakeholder engagement and robust on-the-ground research. Their flexible “Take and Shape” approach allows sub-brands to localise and adapt the messaging to suit their needs ensuring the EVP was embraced by all areas of the business.

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Inspirational case studies

Several standout campaigns were showcased during the conference. CGI and Leap Creative’s “No Holding Back” campaign was particularly impressive in its commitment to inclusivity, putting their audience in the shoes of their employees to highlight and celebrate differences. Similarly, Kaufland Romania presented its innovative approach to fostering inclusive workplaces.

The latter, particularly through their A.C.C.E.S. programme, was one of the most talked-about sessions of the day. Kaufland Romania has tackled the high unemployment rate among people with disabilities by not only hiring but also integrating them into the workforce. Their efforts extended beyond the company, introducing public-facing changes like accessible shopping carts and even launching a deaf-focused TikTok series called #KauflandDanceTalk. 

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Networking and Breakout Sessions

A key aspect of the conference was the opportunity to connect with peers. Breakout sessions allowed attendees to dive deeper into discussions about employer branding from both the client and agency perspectives. Whether it was during a roundtable discussion or over a coffee break, the conference buzzed with conversation and collaboration. The blend of networking, knowledge-sharing, and hands-on learning created an environment where attendees could leave not only inspired but equipped with actionable insights.

Our Experience in Employer Branding

This event reaffirmed our belief in the power of a compelling employer brand. Developing a successful employer brand strategy requires not just creativity, but a deep alignment between the company’s mission, culture, and employee experience. Having worked with a diverse range of clients, we have seen firsthand how impactful employer branding can be in attracting the right talent and fostering a strong internal culture. 

The conversations during the conference highlighted the importance of creating tailor-made solutions that resonate with both local and global audiences. Whether it’s through crafting engaging employee value propositions, or creating campaigns that reflect an organisation’s core values, delivering employer branding strategies that connect, inspire, and drive results is key.

Celebrating Success at the Awards

The day concluded with the Employer Brand Management Awards, where Europe’s best were recognised for their impact in creating change. We were delighted to be celebrated at the event, where we took home two awards for our work with Energia Group on their “Energy Moves Us” campaign. The campaign’s innovative approach to creating a compelling employer brand strategy has been a proud achievement for our team.

The event highlighted the importance of employer branding in today’s fast-changing business world, showing how leading companies are adapting. With ideas ranging from fresh EVP strategies to campaigns on inclusion and sustainability, the day was full of inspiration. It was also an honor for us to be recognised internationally for our work in employer branding, reminding us that staying ahead means embracing change every step of the way.

Looking forward to the next year!

We caught up with Simon Richards, Founder & Creative Director at RichardsDee before he facilitates the interactive workshop ‘What can B2B brands learn from B2C brands?’ at CHARGE Europe on 14th October.

How do you see your clients building the business case for brand investment?

Our approach to helping clients recognise the need to invest in their brand often starts with a realisation from the clients themselves. They understand that their organisation isn’t reaching its full potential, and that brand development can help. However, they may not always know where to begin or how to bring others on board with this vision. 

Often, leaders from the CEO, marketing, and business development teams become our best ambassadors, advocating for the value of what we do. Interestingly, some of our strongest advocates have come from procurement and finance teams as well. Several catalysts can ignite the conversation around brand investment: 

Recognition of Neglect: A brand that has been around for some time may have lacked the investment and attention it deserves. With new market entrants and challenges, there may be a need to retell the brand’s story and recapture the attention it once commanded. In these cases, the recognition is there, but the challenge lies in deciding which aspect of the brand to invest in—be it the brand story and proposition, brand expression, or the customer experience. 

Fragmented Brand Story: Over time, the brand’s story or proposition may become fragmented. There may be a need to refocus and retell the core aspects that made the brand great, ensuring alignment among employees, customers, and investors.

Business Strategy Shifts: When the business strategy evolves, it often requires an updated brand narrative that reflects the organisation’s new trajectory. This calls for the creation of a fresh, cohesive story that resonates with all stakeholders.We frequently work with smaller teams that may not have the extensive marketing resources of large multinational corporations. These teams rely on our expertise to help them communicate the need for brand investment, design effective programs, and provide the evidence needed to unlock the value that a strong brand can bring.

The business case for brand investment often centres around the following key areas:

• Brand Investment and Employee Engagement
• Clarity in Brand Proposition and Customer Understanding
• Brand Building and Commercial Results

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What lessons can you share about simplifying complex concepts/technologies for branding and communications?

There is a relentless pursuit to innovate, expand, or add new features to products and services that can sometimes lead to overly complex solutions that confuse customers rather than help them. Also, industries such as energy are going through significant development where the range of products targeted towards the end-user has dramatically increased and requires different skill sets to communicate these.

Simplifying complex concepts and technology problems requires a thoughtful approach that emphasises clarity, usability, and a deep understanding of the customer’s perspective.

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Do customers get it?

There’s a tendency within organisations to continuously expand product ranges, introduce new jargon, or add suffixes to product names, believing that each addition will enhance the value or relevance of their offerings. However, more isn’t always better.Each new addition can dilute the core product, creating confusion and making it harder for customers to understand what they truly need.To simplify, it’s essential to step into the customer’s shoes. What do they value? What makes sense to them? How do they navigate the decision-making process? By focusing on what matters to the customer, businesses can strip away unnecessary complexities.Sometimes, the best innovation is knowing when to remove or retire features that no longer serve a purpose, rather than adding layers for the sake of outdoing a competitor’s offerings.

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Do customers understand your portfolio?

Complexity can be overwhelming. To combat this, make your products or technology solutions easy to understand. Even simple frameworks like categorising portfolios such as “Good, Better, Best” can help customers quickly grasp how products relate to each other. Defining each product or technology within the context of your entire portfolio—not just against competitors—can further clarify its purpose and positioning.Clear language is key. Avoid industry jargon or overly technical terms that may alienate your audience. Focus on straightforward, and crisp communication that highlights the differences and benefits of each product tier and invest in a naming system that helps customers navigate portfolios.

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What are the Purpose and Benefits?

When introducing or refining a technology product, always start by defining the problem it solves. Why does this product exist? What specific benefit does it offer the customer? By clearly articulating the product’s role and purpose, businesses can ensure that customers understand its value and relevance to their needs. 

This clarity helps customers connect with the product on a practical level, making it easier for them to see how it fits with their business or solves a particular problem. It’s about the struggle of deciding what is a feature, proof point or technical specification and to emphasise the tangible benefits that matter most to the user.

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Are your sales and customer team confident in promoting it?

Complex concepts and advanced technologies can be challenging for sales teams, whether they’re internal or external, such as third party retailers. This often leads to atendency to fall back on selling familiar products instead of promoting new and innovative ones. To counter this, investing in on boarding programs and providing your sales force with the right tools and resources is crucial. 

When Marketing and Sales work together seamlessly, both teams feel empowered and better equipped to drive results. This effort is not just about pushing product information, but understanding each departments needs and ensuring both have a shared point of view, support and tools to boost confidence, helping to feel more comfortable building trust and authority when promoting new technologies.

This is also a challenge for customer service teams, where once they were dealing with simple transactional queries, where as they now have to deal with several products, services and technologies questions that previously did not exist.

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Is there another way?

Finally, ask yourself: Does it have to be this way? Just because something has always been done a certain way or conforms to industry norms, doesn’t mean it’s the best approach. In fact, questioning the status quo can lead to more straightforward and customer-friendly solutions.

Understanding the lifecycle of your products and services is also critical. Recognising when a product has reached maturity or when it’s time to retire a solution can prevent clutter in your product lineup, making it easier for customers to navigate and choose the right option for them. Always consider the customer’s viewpoint when making these decisions to ensure your product lineup remains relevant and accessible. 

Simplifying complex technology problems isn’t just about reducing features—it’s about honing in on what truly matters to the customer. By focusing on clarity, ease of understanding, and challenging unnecessary complexity, businesses can create solutions that not only solve problems but also resonate with their customers. In a world where complexity often reigns, simplicity can be a powerful differentiator

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What can attendees look forward to hearing from you at CHARGE Europe?

We will explore innovative strategies to reimagine the customer experience and sales journey for B2B brands. By examining industries outside our sector, we can gain insights into how they’ve successfully built customer loyalty, tackled complex brand challenges, effectively segmented audiences, and aligned sales and marketing efforts. Ultimately, our goal is to learn from these examples and prioritise putting the customer at the centre of everything we do.

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Established in 2012, RichardsDee is a world-class strategic and creative branding agency, specialising in brand strategy, design, engagement, and communications. They help multinational organisations navigate change, achieving sustainable, tangible, and meaningful impact by seamlessly aligning brand and business strategy. Whether building brands from the ground up, repositioning them during transformation, or refreshing them for future growth, their approach merges strategic insight with focused creativity. They empower businesses to stand out, connect, and grow through impactful brand-led change.

Originally published: https://charge.events/https-charge-events-wp-content-uploads-simon-richards-1-jpg/

We’ve been recognised as the Irish agency leading the way in design practices

Our drive to be a company recognised for our work, team and impact has been acknowledged by the esteemed Institute of Designers in Ireland. At their annual IDI Awards in November we were elated to win Design Practice Team of the Year 2023. 

The judges noted: 

“(RichardsDee) demonstrates how an Irish design agency can show up with heft as a trusted design partner for organisations across the private, public and civic sectors; as an employer that understands the need to develop and retain talent; and, as a fulcrum for community mobilisation.”

This award is testament to our dedication to our purpose – Designing Meaningful Change for our people, local community and our brilliant clients.

Meaningful Change centres around our foundational belief that our work makes an impact. That strategy, creativity and design combined can bring truly meaningful, positive and game-changing transformation. We’ve built our whole ethos, client mix, employee value proposition, outreach activities and ways of working around this vital purpose – and it’s evident in every endeavour we undertake.

In 2022 we celebrated 10 years in business, won four Transform Awards and began working towards becoming Ireland’s a B-Corp brand agency. This year we’ve partnered with exceptional mission-focused brands like DEBRA Ireland and Childline and are competing (and winning) against large global agencies for projects in Ireland and USA.

And, for our own team we’re making sure everyone feels inspired and supported to do their best work – including hybrid working, health insurance, finishing early on Fridays, birthday days off and paid leave for volunteering. We’re also dedicated to ongoing learning programmes to ensure people and careers progress. 

There’s so much more to the above than one blog post can cover, but this gives a sense of how we’re achieving our ambitions as an agency and why we won this amazing award. The judges on the night commented:

“RichardsDee have a strong selection of projects that demonstrate strong originality and excellence… and have articulated a clear vision, for the organisation and for its people. A clearly evidenced commitment to learning, experimentation and innovation, with particular emphasis on providing space and financial support for the team to learn, develop, experiment, and thrive at work…”

We couldn’t of put it better. This Christmas and New Year we’ll be raising a glass to every one of our ambitious team members and clients who make us the agency we are…

Power NI Perks is Power NI’s customer rewards scheme that offers discounts, savings and cashback on 100s of brands on the high street and online.

Power NI wanted to promote over the Christmas period not only the discounts they offer, but also the other benefits of Perks with Christmas guides and hints and tips. In order to create meaningful change we needed to create a Christmas themed key image that could communicate all of this throughout a range of touchpoints and use brand elements that would increase brand equity.

Perks has 100s brands and the opportunity existed to enhance and contribute to the rewards scheme, its perception and the overall character of Power NI.

We wanted to strengthen the brand by using elements from the Power NI brand identity. Our starting point was the burst of energy symbol from the logo. This immediately lent itself to being used as a Christmas wreath  — from the original sketch, into concept illustration and finally as a 3D rendered wreath with felt texture.

We developed warm and friendly messaging that tied into Power NI’s positioning and the spirit of Christmas. And adapted the key visual to work across multiple formats.

Ideas Made Real is a school outreach programme designed to bridge the gap between curriculum and industry needs, championing the role of advanced manufacturing in our lives and opening young minds to the limitless potential of a career in STEM.

STEM education equips students with analytical, problem-solving, and critical thinking skills that are relevant to many careers. Furthermore, it fosters creativity and innovation, which are essential for addressing the most pressing challenges facing society and our world today

The Ideas Made Real program is a nationwide STEM and advanced manufacturing schools program from Irish Manufacturing Research (IMR) that empowers the next generation of makers with the tools for the future. We’ve been involved in helping with brand naming, brand identity, and the challenges of managing the many brands and organisations involved in this program. The objective was to inspire students of all ages to create, innovate, challenge stereotypes, pioneer new technologies and make their brilliant and bold ideas real.

Often, projects may seem straightforward at the outset, but as you unbox the complexities of branding programs and initiatives involving multiple stakeholders, branding projects can help create clarity regarding who should lead and who should endorse. In this case, we had to determine the correct branding relationship, whether the program should have its own name and brand or if it would add value and credibility by being closely associated with IMR.

Evaluating the correct branding relationships

Both options had merits, but when evaluating the outcomes, it became clear that this program needed its own name and brand assets while also maintaining a close connection to IMR. The rationale for this decision was that the delivery, content, and investment were made by IMR, so they should take credit for it. Additionally, IMR brought value and credibility, demonstrating that the program was run in association with a recognised and reputable body that could connect schools with leading manufacturers.

Brand naming and identity solution

Although the solution has a clear association with IMR in terms of colour, typefaces, and visibility of the IMR brand, the program required a shift in tone and language that could resonate with schools and students. It also needed a name that could quickly generate interest, be active, and serve as a signpost for the program. The name ‘Ideas Made Real’ was developed to work on multiple levels: it provides an understanding of the activities, emphasises creative opportunities in manufacturing, and is fun and straightforward. This naming structure allows ‘Ideas Made Real’ to lead communication with a close relationship to Irish Manufacturing Research and be used as an ingredient brand when courses are led by a third-party educational brand.

Upon launch, it became evident that the close association with IMR had two significant benefits. First, it lent the program credibility and expertise. Second, it added value to the IMR brand through the awareness, leadership and innovation-focused outreach program. While the final brand solution may appear simple in execution, the journey and process to reach this solution took time and involved input from various stakeholders. Success was evident in the adoption of the program by many schools.

The know-it-all newcomer, no-break, no-holiday people pleaser.  

AI is the new co-worker that’s causing quite the stir. ChatGPT, YouWrite, WordTune and Jasper are just a few of the countless copy generators out there. With the ability to generate paragraphs of text in mere seconds, what does this mean for the future of brands and their brand voice? Should we embrace the new-age tech or run screaming from the AI-pocalypse?  

Like your brand logo, colour palette, and typeface – your brand voice makes up the distinct personality, tone and style used to communicate and connect with audiences. It encompasses the words, rhythm and overall feel of your brand’s content. With the sudden influx of generated copy, what are some of the potential knock-on effects for the future of brand writing?   

Speed, productivity, and brainstorming.  

AI outpaces human thinking. The speed at which it generates ideas, replicates styles and completes tasks is scarily impressive. The opportunities this creates for streamlined workflows, quicker project deliveries, cost efficiencies and scale are exciting. This may have a huge effect on how we work as teams and where we spend our time. It may eliminate the need for larger teams or reduce time spent on basic tasks, leaving more space for creative and strategic thinking time. Additionally, as these tools advance, the potential for brainstorming, enhanced creativity and new pathways of thinking are ever-growing. With hundreds of ideas generated in seconds, AI lets you approach ideation with a more editorial eye.  

So, clearly, AI has a place in enhancing the creative process, but could it replace it?  

Empathy, creativity and originality. 

With the explosion of generated content, it’s now even harder for brands to stand out. Crafting a unique voice and point of view is critical – and writing is a key component to creating meaningful connections with customers. Good brand writing is all about resonating with the consumer, tapping into their innate human needs, desires, and fears. Authentic storytelling, empathy and personalisation can be the cornerstones to long-lasting customer relationships, influencing people to feel, think and act differently. AI can get close, but it lacks the empathic, “humanness” of writing that is critical to persuasion.  

Creativity is also uniquely human. Memorable writing often pulls on colloquialisms, metaphors, turn of phrases and humour, drawing insight from lived experiences. AI’s current capacity to think or link independently is limited, and the output can often feel one-dimensional. It’s a fascinating tool to sharpen up your thinking – but typically the ideas it generates are only as good as the quality and diversity of the prompts you give it.  

Plus, we’re still in the early days of understanding this type of tech. AI can be “stupid in ways we can’t predict” (watch this great skit from John Oliver here). Sometimes these chatbots confidently generate falsified content or tweak the truth. These so-called “artificial hallucinations” can be convincing, so it’s essential to always fact-check and apply your own critical thinking. The existing regulations around ownership are also blurry. Of course, information trawled from the web must come from somewhere, but generative tools make it extremely easy for people to unknowingly create content already belonging to someone else (check out this dispute by Reddit). Despite some businesses tackling this problem (see Adobe Firefly case), usage rights and plagiarism are still of major concern, particularly in the copywriting field.  

What does this mean for brand voice?  

As AI pervades all types of content and media, it’s even more important to stand out from the generic chatter. A well-defined voice creates consistency, builds trust and fosters emotional connections with audiences. While AI has amazing capabilities, it still lacks the depth, emotion and creativity of genuine brand writing. Although it will undoubtedly enhance the creative process, it’s difficult to say whether it will replace it. Having an authentic brand voice is still a strategic advantage that helps make lasting impressions in an oversaturated market.  

AI is reshaping and reinventing the copywriting landscape, heightening our creative abilities and pushing existing boundaries to reach new levels of innovation. It’s what Spotify did for music, what low-cost airlines did for air travel, and what Photoshop did for design. Creating tools to enhance our lives is how we evolve, and if we don’t embrace them, we get left behind.  Ultimately, AI is a tool that will augment human creativity. A tool that has the potential to transform our industry for the better, if used with wisdom and care. But like any tool, we should learn when to use it, how to use it, and be mindful of its limitations.

We’re back to reality, or at least trying to come to terms with reality, given the truly exceptional experience we had over a period of 5 days at the Cannes Lion International Festival of Creativity. It’s been both an honor and a dream to represent our country in what we love to do; design, and are proud to be able to share the experience.

Our main reason for attending the festival was to compete as Young Lions in the Design category for Team Ireland, but of course, we wanted to fuel our hungry brains with words of wisdom from the best-of-the-best in the industry. We heard from Kate Rand, head of HR at design company Beyond, orchestral composer Max Richter, Japanese organising consultant and author Marie Kondo, and Nick Law, to name but just a few.

The selection of speakers at the Cannes Festival offers insights into a wide variety of disciplines, but what we found consistent from them all, is to keep things simple. Trust the process. There will be days when we will hit blocks. Creative blocks. It’s okay to have these days. It’s the brain striving to achieve more. Trying to be better. And if you want to be better, you will naturally become so.

We were inspired, that’s for sure and we had an opportunity to put the good vibes to use over the week. Below is a brief account on what we did each day.

Monday: We woke pretty early Monday morning, excited by the sunshine that crept into the room through the parting of the curtains, and the pastries that awaited us downstairs for breakfast. From there we went to the Palais where we registered for our pass and were gifted the 2019 tote bag with a sustainable water bottle. What we found interesting about the first feel of the festival, is the push and promotion of sustainability. Over the course of the festival, we learned that a good number of the briefs were from WWF, tackling the issue of climate change.

While we had a few hours on the Monday, we dedicated our time to absorb the inspiration from the speakers we mentioned above. The talks were spread across The Palais, some in The Auditorium, some in the intimate breakout space of The Basement, and others were outside on The Terrace – which happened to be our favourite space.

Being able to tune into the discussion of the panel, but soak up the glorious sunshine made us feel guilt free. It was tough being indoors on occasion we must admit.

Later in the day we found time to take a swim in the sea, refreshing to say the very least. Afterwards it was back to having dinner, a glass of wine, and then networking at the official festival opening party.

Tuesday: “…And so it begins”, muttered Dylan, as he woke with a sense of uncertainty of his surroundings for the second day in a row. It was the morning of day one of the competition. We were ready. We had to be. Off we went to our briefing, which lasted the best part of an hour. In–depth. Thorough. You could even say it was motivating. The client, WWF, certainly got us in the competitive spirit. As soon as we were left to begin our research, we went for lunch to debrief and gather our initial thoughts. It was after this, back at the hotel, where the real work began and the creative juices were flowing.

Wednesday: We were up bright eyed and bushy tailed from 5.30am discussing our idea once more, and confirming we were happy with everything. Needless to say, there would be changes.

We arrived at our designated Team Ireland design booth, successful only on second attempt. We actually plonked our bags at the Digital Design booth first. It was when the login didn’t work that we quickly scattered.

With only the one computer to work with between the two of us, it was only natural we were at each others throats throughout the day, laughing it off two minutes later. We were semi-used to this process, having completed the competition in Ireland for IAPI. However, the rules were strict. We couldn’t use a second device under any circumstance. Everything was being monitored. It made it quite a challenge, but a fun experience all the same.

There were some tense moments, moments where one of us would walk away to give the other space. This worked wonders. We returned with a clear state of mind, being able to produce constructive feedback on the progression.

The lunch buffet was a welcomed sight. We had been so engrossed on the computer, it was time to take a break. We discussed our progress, reflected on our plan of action, and arranged next steps. The minds were clear and sharp once again, for the 7pm deadline that was only around the corner.

After we submitted that evening a rush of relief swept over us. It felt surreal. On screen read “Entry submitted for Ireland, Design!”. What had been an eagerly awaited few months in the build up to this, felt like it concluded at the click of a submission button. “Pint?” asked Ryan. It was a rhetorical question. Dylan was already on his way to the Cannes Croisette.

The evening was shared with the other teams from Ireland, who had completed their entry. We discussed each other’s experiences over a few drinks at the private beach parties. It really added to the whole surrealness of the day.

Thursday: We took it nice and chill that morning after the hectic Wednesday. By chill we mean, we had a nice little lie in, we then got ready and headed down to the Palais. “To the Boulangerie!” demanded Ryan, while pointing in the direction of the bakery and marching off to lead the way.

We met with Katherine at the winners showcase where we would find out if we were to be crowned King and King of Cannes. We grabbed a nice little seat mid row awaiting the announcements. We didn’t know we were nervous about it until the spokesman started talking. At this point I could hear Ryan’s stomach rumble in uneasiness. “And Bronze goes to… BRAZIL! The crowd went wild. “Hmmm” we thought, “if Brazil are third we still have a chance”. “Silver goes to… UKRAINE! “Hmm, interesting” Ryan murmured. With Bronze and Silver announced we thought perhaps, “Could Gold be Ireland!?” “And the winner of Cannes Young Lions Design 2019 goes to… RUSSIA!!!

We were slightly disappointed to have come so far and so close, but we were delighted to see a worthy winner take gold. Later that day we attended the winner debrief, where we learned why these teams placed where they did. This was great to learn, as we knew immediately where our entry fell short. There was also the opportunity to discuss our entry with the judges, and understand what we could have done better.

Friday: We’re not ones to tell tales, at least not usually, so we will be very honest. Friday was a day of relaxation, shopping, food and wine. We had our usual morning feed of pastries. We grabbed a coffee in the Armani Cafe, because if we can’t have notions at least once in our lives, when can we? We browsed a few shops on the way to the Palais. We got our Team Ireland photo, and then, only then did we find ourselves flat out on our beach towels beneath the near 32 degree heat of the sun. “This is mint”, gasped Ryan, as his pasty Cork skin began to toast ever so slightly.

Our Cannes experience has been amazing and memorable, made possible first day through the perfect collaborative opportunity. It was a challenge, one we have never been involved with before. It challenged us to think left of centre. It challenged us to perform as a team. We’d like to thank IAPI, Fairtrade Ireland, JCDecaux and the team at RichardsDee for this opportunity, and for the support both at home, and over the course of the festival.

Regardless of winning or losing, we had this wonderful experience of representing our country through design. We’ll put what we’ve learned into action, and return to Cannes in 2020 looking to learn even more. We’ve returned inspired and are excited to take on the next brief. A brief that will challenge us to design meaningful change. Until then, we’re thinking more, learning more and most importantly, growing more.

Au revoir,

Ryan & Dylan x

You may or may not know that RichardsDee has moved address. After many happy years in Portobello we eventually ran out of room for our ever-expanding team. We’ve ventured across the Liffey and into a beautiful space on O’Connell Street directly across from the GPO and right next door to Clery’s. A new chapter, and inspiration in a new part of Dublin.

Moving to a new studio means discovering a new part of the city. Here are a few things we’ve noticed about our new stomping ground that help to keep our minds fresh with new ideas. We thought we’d take a minute to share them.

First things first, the morning sun on the quays is a sight to behold. It’s hard to not feel energised and ready to create meaningful change when the walk to work is this charming.

We’re also lucky to have history living right on our doorstep, there’s the GPO, James Joyce’s statue on Earl Street or the statue of Big Jim Larkin, the founder of the Workers Union. He’s usually exclaiming something or other to us when we walk past! With all this history right on our doorstep, it helps us shape brands with authenticity.

It’s a privilege to see the DoDublin buses drive past every day, a project that we worked on in ­2017 and one we’re very proud of. It’s fantastic to see the buses in action, packed full of tourists learning more about our beautiful city.

Walking around our new hood, we’ve noticed that there’s lots of old signage on the buildings above our heads, you just have to look up to see it. Our necks are craned looking upwards, whether it’s signage for pubs, Clery’s clock or ghost signage from places past. It makes for an interesting walk around the block.

One thing you won’t find everywhere, but you will on Marlborough Street is a place to get a pint and your confession heard all at once. Well, not anymore, but legend has it that during the War of Independence, this is where rebels that were going to be excommunicated would get communion and receive confession beforehand. Apparently, Michael Collins was one of them. Our favourite local spots include The Big Romance, Pipers Corner, Tang, Bowls, and Kimchi Hophouse.

If that’s not enough to keep us inspired, there’s also constant entertainment on O’Connell Street. Whether it’s parades, protests or the sound of music being played by Dublin’s buskers, there’s certainly never a dull moment.

O’Connell street is an exciting change from the sedate Portobello, and with every day that passes there is a new discovery to be made. The area is changing daily, new shops appearing, scaffolding being erected and an exciting new wave of independent bars and international food styles to enjoy. Through the work we do on a daily basis designing for our clients, we hope to leave our own mark on O’Connell Street.

The 2017 Airline Economics Conference is taking place in Dublin’s Shelbourne Hotel this week and is attended by airlines from across the globe with specific interest in finance and leasing. The theme of the conference is Growth Frontiers, a name perfectly suited to our client Goshawk who themselves have undergone significant growth since their inception only 18 months ago. 

We were appointed as brand partners to Goshawk, an aircraft leasing company, with the focus of rebranding this young, but highly experienced team of aviation experts. In a short amount of time the company a committed portfolio of 89 aircraft with an attributable value of approximately US$4.4bn. Achieving these numbers in this short amount of time is reflective of the high level of ambition within the company.

 

Our creative solution for them had to be equally ambitious. Having reviewed their international peers, we identified a very conservative approach to brand and communications existed. Many employed the old trusted blue colour of financial institutions, however we wanted to reflect the passion and ambition within the company, therefore choosing a vibrant red to orange gradient as the primary colour palette. 

This bold gradient brings energy and dynamism to communications when used in combination with the new photographic style. Black and white images of open skies and horizons reflect the Goshawk approach of looking at things differently than their competitors while the use of a handwritten font reflects the personality of the company.

As part of a strategy to engage Dublin County Council to improve the experience and increase footfall and dwell time around Henry Street and the surrounding area, Dublin Town together with retailers and business owners, wanted to embark on a journey to create destination value for the area. The first part of the journey was to create an identity, which would resonate with local, national and international audiences alike, and enable the area to come together under the same banner providing a holistic experience that together was greater than the sum of its parts.

The area in question spans the streets of O’Connell Street to Capel Street and Parnell Street to the end of Liffey Street and the vision is to transform what is today one of the busiest shopping hubs in the country, and create a diverse area where people can live, work, shop, eat, stay, relax and be entertained.

We started by developing the brand positioning – “heart and soul”, which celebrates not only the area’s physical location at the heart of the city, but also the individual characters that make up the area. Heart and soul speaks to the blend of old and new, of heritage and living culture and the authentic and diverse experience on offer, not found elsewhere in Dublin or in the sterile out of town shopping centres.

A naming exploratory followed, in which over 100 names spanning the 8 different naming typologies were created. Dublin One proved to be a clear winner with the project team and research validated the name choice in supporting the positive vision and future potential for the area.  The name Dublin One is both descriptive, anchoring it in a sense of place but it also has scope to be imbued with deeper meaning and capture the imagination of current and future visitors alike.

The Dublin One visual identity has been designed to represent the contrasting neighbourhoods and experiences that make this area such a unique space in Dublin city. The brandmark combines typography that represents both tradition and modernity, with the Dublin blues providing inspiration for the primary colour palette.

A pattern created from the shapes of Dublin One’s streets acts as the main brand graphic, which highlights the vibrant and dynamic neighbourhoods this brand covers and is used to call out the different experiences on offer, from food to retail, when extended into iconography. Another key aspect of this identity is the tone of voice. A distinct local tone is adopted in headlines to reinforce the authenticity of the area.

To celebrate the launch, Dublin One has teamed up with photographer Peter Varga of Humans of Dublin to create an exhibition showcasing individuals from Dublin One, living, working and enjoying all that the area has to offer. The photography exhibition ‘Humans of Dublin One’ is free to the public and will be housed in the Jervis Shopping Centre from now until Christmas.

We are always keen to support the design community and recently we set a brief and design workshop for ICAD’s Upstarts programme. The Upstarts programme is a great initiative for designers to pair with mentors and grow as creative and strategic thinkers.

The brief we set was based on whiskey gift packaging and the designers were given only one week to develop their ideas and present back to us. The energy and enthusiasm always impresses us and given the short period of time for the project, each designer developed and produced great thinking and creativity. We are looking forward to participating again next year and hoping to keep up with what these creatives do in the years to come.

Ireland’s Biggest Coffee Morning for Hospice together with Bewley’s, is 24 years old. In over two decades, Ireland’s longest running one day charity event has raised over €32 million for hospice care nationwide and served over 16 million cups of coffee.

However, the non profit landscape is changing. There are more charitable organisations in Ireland, with more fundraising initiatives to compete with, than ever before. Donations are down, consumers are skeptical and contributions to ensure the vital services of hospice groups to our communities, are being challenged. Hospice services remain in desperate need of funding and in many areas around Ireland, there is a real lack of available services.

We all know people who have been supported, comforted and cared for by hospice services. Staff work tirelessly to help patients to live life as fully as possible with dignity and comfort whilst making the most of precious time with their family and friends. Realising first hand the critical nature of these services, we were delighted to come on board to transform Ireland’s Biggest Coffee Morning for Hospice supported by Bewley’s.

We began with stakeholder workshops to get under the skin of what the event was all about. We conducted international benchmark reviews and positioning studies on all Irish same day charity events. As a team, we rewrote the campaign ambition, aligning everyone behind a huge, audacious goal.

e created a campaign identity that brims with personality, its loose typographic style feels personal and everyday, rather than institutional, reflecting the deep personal nature of the services delivered. Our key visual is a coffee cup with the sun rising in the background and our optimistic orange colour palette reflects the comfort and care provided by the staff.

We set about developing a messaging system elevating why this campaign is so important. A core message being that all money raised locally, stays locally. So by supporting the campaign, you are supporting a vital resource for your local community.

Our next requirement was passionate brand ambassadors, ambassadors that had experience with hospice, and that could speak fluently about the importance of supporting the campaign and the impact the monies raised made at local level. To date, Domhnall Gleeson, Brendan Gleeson, Imelda May, Gabriel Byrne, Mario Rosenstock and a host of other high profile advocates have readily come on board to support and promote the day.

 

The campaign launches this week and Ireland’s Biggest Coffee Morning for Hospice is on Thursday 15th September 2016. We’re hosting a big coffee morning in the studio and are asking all our agency friends and clients to register on hospicecoffeemorning.ie to host a coffee morning at your workplaces. If you can’t host one, please donate online at hospicecoffeemorning.ie where you can select the hospice you want to donate to. Remember, all money raised locally, stays locally and in this campaign, every cup counts.

 

 

 

 

Having won some great new accounts this year, we set about recruiting the best of the best to add to our ever growing team, and we are delighted to welcome our three latest superstar designers – David, Kyle and Fiona to RichardsDee.

David joins us as a Digital Producer, having spent the last 8 years crafting digital brand engagement projects at various branding and design agencies in London. He has delivered internal engagement campaigns for Reckitt Benckiser, digital advertising campaigns for KLM Air France, as well as building responsive websites, creating identities and apps, and designing wayfinding systems for clients ranging from multinationals and professional services to not for profits and start-ups.

Fiona, our latest Senior Designer has a masters degree in graphic design from St. Joost, in the Netherlands where she immersed herself in the internationally renowned design culture there, which has had a huge impact on her design sensibilities. Fiona has over 6 years experience working on publishing, branding and and digital design projects, working with clients from the food, wine, fashion, cultural and hospitality industries . Some of her previous clients include Brown Thomas, Arnotts, M&S, Food&Wine Magazine, Irish Tatler & Irish Tatler Man and Dundrum Town Centre.

Kyle joins the team as a Brand and Digital Designer. From South Africa, he has over 5 years experience working on a diverse range of projects for FMCG clients and international fashion brands. With a strong focus on brand identity development, digital campaigns and brand activations, he brings passion and great energy to the team.