The success of Australia’s economy over the years is due in large part to the solidity of its banks. Already with a balance sheet that is the envy of the Western world, Australian banks have pursued growth by expanding beyond the traditional boundaries of retail banking.

Their strategies have taken them into wealth management – insurance, superannuation, investment and beyond – where they have encountered significant opportunities for growth and cross-selling but also new complexities in terms of culture, channel management and brand architecture. They have had to learn how to shift from a banking model centred on transactions to a wealth management model centred on relationships, and then integrating the two.

Few decisions are as important in life as choosing a place to study, and few decisions are as heavily shaped by brand thinking. When we choose a university, we don’t just choose a course of studies, we also choose a promise about our future self and an idea of what matters
in life.

Branding in the higher education space is branding at its deepest. It’s about meanings and aspirations that people – be they students and alumni, staff and corporate stakeholders – need to understand, embrace and advocate often for the rest of their lives.

Interestingly though, universities have started to adopt a more strategic approach to brand building only recently, following the pressure of growing competition and a new generation of progressive leaders joining their ranks.

We believe that public transport is the cornerstone of any liveable city and any inclusive society. And as more and more young Westerners fall out of love with owning a car, while our urban boundaries keep expanding, the importance of public transport is destined to grow.

Traditionally, branding in public transport has been an afterthought left to engineers and policy makers. After all, there is no doubt that what really matters is that trains, buses and trams get where they’re going safely and on time. Isn’t branding just applying stickers?

Things are changing.  Branding is now requested to fulfill a set of ambitious goals: capture the spirit of a community, make people keener to use public transport, create clarity in the usage of different integrated modes of transport, and convey the right relationship between government authorities and private operators.

Shopping centres are a mirror of people’s values and lifestyles. And as those values and lifestyles evolve, so should shopping centres.

Working with The GPT Group over the years, we’ve had the chance to contribute to the redevelopment of some of Australia’s major shopping centres with an inspiring agenda in mind: to break down their walls and let the surrounding communities in, with their stories, aesthetics and economies. This agenda has brought together researchers, brand consultants, architects, builders and landscape designers in stimulating multidisciplinary projects.

Being a brand like Coke is not easy: how to be everywhere without becoming wallpaper? How to remain single-minded and still be part of the fabric of different cultures, each with their own food traditions?

Over the decades Coke and its creative agencies have answered those questions in different ways, more or less successfully. Coke’s is first and foremost an extraordinary story of cultural adaptation and re-invention around a very simple product.

While heading strategy planning at McCann in Hong Kong, Erminio helped kick start one of those re-inventions. In the hands of a fearless creative team, the brand was immersed into the colourful life of ordinary Hong Kong people. We made it real and relevant to students stressing out for their upcoming exams, to teenagers having a barbecue on the beach, to housewives having a great time together in Hong Kong’s crowded public houses.

Governments are made and unmade around their countries’ welfare and healthcare services – what they do and do not encompass, how they are delivered, and to whom.

Often at the centre of hot ideological debates, these services need instead a balanced view to adapt to a changing society.

Once in a while the opportunity arises for brand practitioners like us to be part of the discussion on how to evolve such a vital portfolio, and this is what happened in 2011, working for the Australian Government.

The success of sports codes is built upon traditions. But often traditions can become a constraint, limiting the appeal of a sport and even contributing to its decline.

This is what cricket was facing in Australia, as its appeal held strong among Anglo-Saxon adults but was on the verge of disappearing among a younger multi-cultural generation.

Cricket Australia reacted boldly and decided to go after different audiences for its three formats – test, 50-over and twenty20. Along the way it changed, literally, the rules of the game through its twenty20 competition.

The Australian retail sector is undergoing a major transformation, pushed along by the entrance of new global brands in the country, the rapid rise of online shopping and a new age of thrift.

At the end of this period we expect the sector to be radically different, with new business and customer engagement models emerging. A number of imperatives must be incorporated into the retailers’ strategies: look beyond seasonal creative themes and sharpen the long term positioning of their brands, engage customers via omni-channel platforms, and, at the back end, increase efficiencies and negotiating power.

A more pervasive use of research and data must enhance the creative flair the sector is famous for. A more accurate and consistent value proposition must put an end to the bottomless race to discounting and promotions.

Zoos Victoria is a not-for-profit organisation which has successfully evolved from a traditional zoo into one of the most passionate institutions dedicated to fighting wildlife extinction.

Its agenda is complex. It manages three different sites –  Melbourne Zoo, Werribee Open Range Zoo and Healesville Sanctuary – set in different environmental settings and hosting different species. It also needs to constantly reconcile the imperative of attracting paying visitors with breeding and recovery programs, and of enthralling children while talking about adult issues.

A bold brand strategy has assisted the organisation with fulfilling this agenda: Zoos Victoria exists to forge a new pact between people and wildlife. This brand promise inspires the voice of Zoos Victoria as a corporate entity and provides the foundations for the initiatives and communications for each of its three campuses.

From a temporary venue on Melbourne’s Yarra River to the big stage in gaming, entertainment and hospitality across Australia and Asia.

It has been an exciting journey for Crown and one during which, from the very creation of the brand in 1994, our team members have been often called upon to provide strategic and creative advice.

The Crown brand is a successful mix of larger-than-life vision and attention to detail. At its heart there is an exquisitely orchestrated portfolio of brands, venues and experiences, in which every aspect is conceived to engage with a specific group of customers – from local Melburnians to international high flyers.