Starship was asked by Australian ethical skincare and cosmetics brand MUSQ to expand and develop its current branding (created by Adelaide-based Black Squid Design), as well as create a brand strategy encompassing online and offline touchpoint guidelines that encapsulates MUSQ’s brand promise.
Challenges
The cosmetics and skincare category is cluttered with hundreds of high spending brands staking out space online and offline, making it challenging to stand out. MUSQ needed clear brand strategy with examples of execution so the brand could remain consistent to its customers no matter which suppliers were inputting into it.
Roadmap
Starting with research we gained an in-depth understanding of brand loyalists profiles, their desires, and motivations. We then created a brand philosophy for MUSQ: “Keep it clean, kind and simple”, expressing their commitment to quality, clean urban living, ethically sourced ingredients, and socially conscious enterprise, while still preserving the fashionable, ‘luxe’ quality of the product’s look and feel. This was expressed as a Brand Strategy book showing execution for language, colour palettes, core messaging, and most importantly, philosophy. This concept flowed through the brand conceptualisation, social media and digital strategy, and offline touchpoint execution strategies.
