Big Fish to take on scale of Mothercare branding

Mothercare has appointed Big Fish as its first brand guardian. The announcement coincides with the troubled retailer’s third profit warning in less than a year.

The consultancy will develop brand guidelines, launching in August, to standardise the brand’s presentation across all platforms and will also rationalise the application of the Mothercare logo, says Big Fish partner Lisa Dennis.

Point-of-sale and in-store graphics are being revised to make outlets ‘clear and quiet and calm’, and expert advice will take precedence over cluttered value messages in the brand hierarchy, she says.

Packaging is also being scrutinised, to promote the same perception of authority to consumers, adds Dennis.

The new guidelines will be ‘pretty strict, but not completely stifling’, says Dennis. ‘This is the first time that Mothercare has looked at all the different channels of its business and tried to align them.’

‘When we looked at the brand we saw some really good work going on in various areas and some of it didn’t fit together,’ admits Mothercare marketing manager Tony Holdway.

The consultancy has also designed Mothercare’s autumn/ winter 2002 mail order catalogue and revamped the website, both of which roll out on 25 July.

The 244-page catalogue continues the arrangement of products by children’s age rather than category. Some of the illustrations have been softened with background sketches to create a warmer ‘nursery feel’, says Dennis.

All website typefaces and colour-coded product sections have been aligned with the catalogue.

Big Fish was officially appointed as brand guar-dian last week following a three-way strategic and credentials pitch in April.

The consultancy began a relationship with Mothercare in the autumn after being appointed to work on the spring/summer 2002 catalogue and website.