Around 18 months ago, CUBED rebranded the University of Ballarat. It was a big job and it got big results, not only with a 13% increase in new enrolments but also being recognised with an AMI award. Which was nice.

Not wanting to rest on our laurels, our next challenge was to bring the UB Tec brand under the University of Ballarat umbrella while retaining its individuality.

UB Tec offers hands-on, vocational training and, as it already had its own logo, strapline and existing library of images, we had to get extra creative to find a way of injecting energy and excitement into the existing brand.

The first step was to find a way of introducing the new University of Ballarat colour spectrum.

The second was to make the campaign attractive to our target audience of 15–19 year olds.

Taking the vertical colour bars from the main UB branding, we picked out the more vibrant hero colours, separated them and staggered their heights. This gave a feeling of movement and it began to resemble volume bars pulsating on a stereo. Something that gave UB Tec an appropriately energetic and youthful feel. By adding the images of technical career professionals such as hairdressers, mechanics and nurses, we gave the work a life of its own.

Finally the logo was refreshed, and the strapline tweaked.

The look got the thumbs up from not only from UB Tec, but from the students as well. And it’s now been rolled out across the campus and the state as stationary, brochures, press and TVCs.

Now, that’s getting hands-on.

Day 12. Thursday 3.18am. Still trying to crack this brief I got from CUBED Communications to design the front cover of next year’s diary. This is my big opportunity. Must not fall aslee…

The University of Ballarat provides students with experiences and education to help them succeed in the real world. So to give them a taste of what it’s like to work in the industry, we gave them a live brief – design next year’s student diary cover.

To succeed, they needed to produce a design that would ‘wow’ a panel of esteemed judges, namely CUBED Creative Director Dave Scott, Valerie Runyan and Jeannie King from the University, as well as their lecturer, Gavin Nash.

Tough gig.

Especially since it had a set of real mandatory elements like brand guidelines to stick to.

No pie in the sky, do-whatever-I-like designs here.

Twenty-three designs were submitted to the judges.

But it was Kathryn Weightman, a second year student studying a Bachelor of Visual Arts (Graphic Design/Multi-Media) whose design made the biggest impression with the judges and came out on top. With a wood grain concept using knots to represent students who are surrounded by the bigger entity of a tree, Kathryn communicated how a diverse community has come together as one at the University.

For Kathryn, it’s proof that if you want to ‘Learn to succeed’ in the real world, the University of Ballarat is the place to go.

Melbourne Sports and Aquatic Centre (MSAC) isn’t just any old gym. It’s a leader in staging world-class events with state-of-the-art facilities.

And when we say ’state-of-the-art’ we mean the outdoor pool is the world’s first 50m swimming pool with a moveable floor, the gymnasium boasts weight resistance equipment and free weights, cardio equipment with built in TV monitors, a boxing area with speed ball and punching bags plus the Peloton cycling room gives you 25 bikes to hop on. On top of all that MSAC has 10 indoor basketball courts, 10 international-standard squash courts, 12 purpose-built badminton courts and two specialist yoga and pilates studios.

Yup, it’s all a bit special.

As is the Platinum Members welcome kit that we recently produced for MSAC.

The line ‘Go one better’ encourages members to try all of MSAC’s facilities – to swim, cycle, run, lift, punch and ride just that little bit more.

And the lush silver box houses an appropriate welcome gift – a pair of Sony workout headphones –  as well as a Platinum membership card and an overview of the MSAC world now at members’ feet.

Now that’s a fitting welcome.

With the Saints and the Pies champing at the bit for Saturday’s rematch, finals fever is certainly in the air … and on the TV and in the papers and all over the streets.

So we’re thrilled to report some truly grand finals news of our own.

Earlier this week, we received official confirmation that we have two finalists in the 2010 ADMA Awards. One in the creative category and one in the effectiveness category.

Interestingly, it was the same piece that made the finals for both categories, proving that work can be highly creative and highly effective at the same time.

So congratulations to all involved in the success of our TRUenergy ‘Yours Truly’ mailer.

Here’s hoping we’ll see our signature on a couple of ADMA awards this year.

Now you can read about eco-friendly eating, kids’ activities and crumbling Antarctic ice-shelves in an unusual place.

Your electricity bill.

These are just three of the stories that appeared in the inaugural edition of GLOW magazine. Developed in conjunction with the team at TRU, it’s a feel-good addition to TRUenergy’s quarterly bill and a reminder that they do more than just supply energy.

Our lead story is about a team of TRUenergy engineers who were sent to Antarctica earlier this year to repair damaged equipment at E-Base – an educational base on King George Island, set up to tackle the issue of climate change and send a message that you can generate renewable energy anywhere.

The magazine also includes practical tips, like hints on saving energy. So if you’re a TRUenergy customer, keep an eye out for GLOW in your next bill.

When the Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ACCI) spoke to CUBED about doing a brand audit we were all ears.

No one more so than our designer, Ellie. She quickly recognised the need to retain the current logo and brand equity while standardising the appearance of the name and refreshing the colour palette. Easier said than done of course, as the trick here was to retain the integrity of the brand while simply refreshing the look and feel.

In other words, don’t go overboard.

So we carefully toed the line between ‘refresh’ and ‘retain’, ultimately developing a consistent logo lock-up, a refined two-colour palette, and an ownable, flexible blend of images and graphic elements.

The retro cool of the logo has been brought to life with the use of ‘UN blue’ while the deep navy is retained to add a certain weight and trustworthiness.

We were happy with the results. As was ACCI.

In fact, Ben Carter, ACCI’s Marketing Manager, (snapped below with our Chantelle) was so proud of the work he devoted a page of the Winter 2010 edition of “Commerce & Industry” magazine to the project.

Thanks Ben!

To quote Mary Poppins, a spoonful of sugar makes the the medicine go down.

In this case, the spoonful of sugar was a tank-full of petrol. And the medicine was a meeting with a financial planner.

We were working with AMP’s Financial Planners last year on the launch of their new superannuation product and they decided an incentive was needed to encourage clients to visit them – a $50 fuel voucher.

We just had to come up with a cost effective and engaging way of delivering the message.

We created an oversized postcard with a lift-up ‘fuel cap’. By die-cutting and hinging the ‘cap’ we created something that was tactile and playful whilst also adding some drama to the offer and giving the piece impact.

A big impact helps to generate big results.

And big results mean happy clients, happy customers and a very happy agency.

On the official scale of exciting things, paying bills is usually a notch above watching paint dry.

Thankfully, TRUenergy bill payments just became far more interesting. Because paying your bill on time now comes with a chance to win a Samsung 3D (yes, 3D) TV.

To let customers know about this great deal, we developed a piece to be sent out with their bill that literally puts the offer right in the customers hands.

A life-size Samsung TV remote control with the competition details inside.

It’s simple, tangible, straight-to-the-point and it quickly dramatises the idea of winning a shiny new 3D TV.

So if you’re a TRU customer, look out for your next bill, pay it before the due date, cross your fingers and leave your fake remote on the coffee table to impress your friends.

And if you’re not a TRUenergy customer, click here and join in the fun.

Hard work pays off in the end. Everyone knows that.

But guess what?

Easy pays off too.

As part of our work for AMP last year launching their simple superannuation offering, we had to get two rather cynical audiences onside – which wasn’t so easy.

One audience was financial planners. The other was the general public, whose interest in superannuation is even lower than Stef’s interest in Justin Beiber.

So what’s the best way to talk to these audiences?

Straight up.

Instead of beating around the bush, we asked the financial planners if they wanted new clients and demonstrated how easy it is to get them:

And Joe Public?

A different sort of demonstration. One that shows what the product means to you.

Easy.

Like the man says, it’s not rocket surgery – sometimes the most obvious answer is the right answer.

Pfffftt. Mortgages. Seriously who’s got the time to figure out if it’s worth swapping banks? Not gonna happen. We all have better things to do with our lunch breaks than hang about in a queue. You know, things like eating our lunch.

That said, ANZ have a solution for those of us who are time-poor. Or just plain lazy.

Mobile lenders.

A hardy bunch of mortgage experts willing to go anywhere, any time. And to illustrate the point we recently created a full page ad for ANZ Mobile Lenders to appear in the Qantas in-flight magazine.

What an ace medium to use! Not only did we have a buckled-in, captive audience, we were also able to make the creative message perfectly relevant. It’s not often you know what your readers are doing, but if they’re strapped into a 747 you know exactly where they’re going next.

So it seemed apt to point out that if ANZ mobile lenders can meet you wherever, whenever, then they could even greet you at the airport gates as you step off the plane.

Which sounds great to us. Because it would be a nice change to be greeted by someone who’s not expecting a present.