WPA Pinfold

Increasing sales 300% against pre-COVID levels, a revolutionary repositioning and striking new brand image saved Oxford Brewery following the worst period for hospitality in living memory.

Shotover Brewery was a little-known microbrewer in Oxford. Its beers were excellent, but sales were declining, and its new owners needed to act to widen market appeal and reinvigorate sales. 

Without impacting on pricing, a distinctive new design enabled Kirkstall Brewery to grow sales volumes and fill brewing capacity at its new premises.

Having relocated in 2016, Kirkstall Brewery needed to meet significantly increased production capacity at its new premises. The challenge would be to persuade drinkers beyond its loyal fan base to choose its crafted cask beers.

Engaged to reposition the brand, WPA Pinfold recommended a radical strategic change; a switch from bottles to cans, to move Kirkstall into the growing packaged beer market.

Barnsley Premier Leisure’s (BPL) fitness proposition ‘Fitness Flex’, lacked a unique positioning and had been struggling to compete in a crowded middle-market under pressure from budget and boutique gyms and out-of-gym exercise experiences. By placing members at the heart of a rebrand, member usage leapt to 85% against a target of 50% and the Net Promoter Score jumped from 58% to 82%. 

In existence since 1790, Harvey’s Brewery is Sussex’s pre-eminent brewery with a reputation for quality. But having failed to keep pace with changing times, profits had declined by approximately one third since 2013 and something needed to be done to survive.

Bulwark Cider, a Canadian brand, may have been thoroughly enjoyed by locals, but markets across the country and overseas weren’t on its radar. That is until a rebrand earnt it listings in the UK, USA, Hong Kong and China.

With the craft cider market becoming highly competitive, the design needed to appeal to mainstream markets to have a large-scale penetration, whilst still communicating the artisan story.

Once a value brand and now a key international player – all down to a new, sophisticated design.

Body Sculpture is a Taiwanese brand with a range of fitness equipment. Sold to Western markets since the 1990s, its market share was being eroded by other brands under-cutting on price. With just a four-month turnaround timescale, a strategic repositioning of the range was undertaken to differentiate from the competition, drive premiumisation and create strong on-shelf and online impact.

A rebrand and new bottle designs earned Green’s Gluten Free Beers a place on the mainstream beer shelf and delivered a 366% return on investment in just one year.

Thanks to a brave and contemporary design with an iconic brand logo, the brand looks like the premium craft beer it is. The new design supports its high price point, drives brand recognition and loyalty and gives incredible shelf impact and appeal, whilst still ensuring the beers are seen as a safe drink for coeliacs – ones they can be proud to buy.

Home assistance insurance provider HomeServe UK's response to a three-year FCA investigation and subsequent £30million fine led to a massive transformation in the way it goes about its business. Returning customers to the heart of everything they do, they realised employee engagement – languishing at 56% – was business critical.

Launching into a very competitive market traditionally dominated by both national and public sector operators; new, independent fitness gym Fitness Garage had to be unique in order to differentiate. The challenge was to develop a proposition, positioning and brand to successfully launch as a specialist boutique gym that could effectively compete in the UK market, where over 6,000 fitness facilities are already operating.

Changing consumer habits and growth online has evidently resulted in challenging times for printed press, and having suffered declining sales with reduced advertising revenue, The Yorkshire Post (YP) had downsized and relocated to smaller offices.  Success was going to be critical to the paper’s future survival, therefore a brave step was taken to rebrand and reposition YP to widen its market appeal.