✦ Brand
Project team
Brian
CondeHouse is a 50 year old heritage brand widely known in Japan for their high quality wooden furniture selling directly to the public through stores across Japan. However in crowded and fluid digitally driven market they had lost ground to national and international competitors, struggling to move beyond an ageing retail market to reach international designers, architects and digital customers. They needed to reshape their proposition and position to reach these new markets, and allow them to be responsive to market shifts and opportunities. And to build a brand that cut through the noise with clarity and confidence.
We established a position that focused on the depth of care, custodianship and craft that sets Conde House apart. And that customers, local and international, home-owners and architects can feel in every product and interaction with them.
A new CH tree monogram captures this idea and acts as a symbol of that care and quality whether stamped into furniture, backlit on signage, or foil stamped on brochures. And the positioning line - from Hokkaido with care and respect, roots everything in their location and expertise as masters of wood - from forest to function with respect and care, and thoughtful caretakers - of people, place, resources and relationships. Managing their own forests and constantly innovating to ensure the quality, sustainability and longevity of their products.
We developed a brand playbook that established a contemporary, digitally responsive suite of assets that helped them build a cohesive brand across markets. A rich colour palette to connect with nature and reflect refinement of product, and brand typefaces are consistent across languages.
We also outlined approaches to brand actions, storytelling and content, to bring cohesion to their communications across platforms and interactions. A suite of templates for publication and promotional materials celebrates the detail of considered, textured materials and ranges from newsletters to catalogues and brochures.
Brian
This was all about creating a language for an international market and empowering local teams to use it though guides, templates and an overall strategy.
Our suite of brand elements were used by the team in Japan to consolidate existing photography and roll out the new identity. Empowering them to move beyond their focus on the Japanese retail landscape, to connect new markets with nature, place and craft through enduring products – providing CondeHouse with a brand new platform to go from forest to function for the next fifty years.
