Research drives new brand for Subi
Pro Subi, the independent marketing body for businesses in the Subiaco CBD commissioned Cooch Creative this Spring to create new branding for the vibrant Perth suburb. The decision was made as a result of research by consultancy Knowl’edge, which showed that it was time to refresh brand ‘subi’ to better reflect the reality of its position in the marketplace i.e. the atmosphere, life and shopping experience.
Michael Janiec, Pro Subi said, “We commission market research annually and each year we see where we have 
made improvements and where our focus needs to be for the future.”
Ron Samuel, Director & Creative Director, Cooch Creative, said, “A successful brand is one that is able to make an emotional connection with its target audience. Achieving this with a business precinct is far more challenging than a brand like Apple or Nike.”
He explained that it is also a challenge to represent the diverse rangeof businesses under one brand.
“Fortunately Pro-Subi had done theirhomework very well before they spoke to us. The research conducted byKnowledge gave us a very clear path to follow in terms of communicatingthe strengths of the brand and which ones were relevant. Not only is it a question of communicating the brand to the targetaudience but also to the stakeholders themselves that Subiaco mustregard itself as a brand and not a collection of interesting streetsand shops.”
“Our first step was to go back to basics in terms of indentifyingSubiaco. Everyone knows it as Subi and always will so rather than fightit we embraced it. The research revealed that residents and visitorsalike valued the village type atmosphere of Subi. We used this toarrive at the positioning statement “Be Yourself”. The next step was toincorporate this into the new identity and give a reason to believe thepremise that we were making.”
One aspect of the campaign is that it features people who live and work in Subi.
Michael Young of B M & Y Chartered Accountants featured in the advert promoting the professional services in Subi.
“I have had a lot of comment from friends, business colleagues andacquaintances; I was surprised by the number of people that saw it andcommented to me directly.”
The research revealed that the number one preferred communicationchannel for the majority of those surveyed was local papers and that asignificant number of people coming to Subi use public transport andwalk.
The current advertising campaign featuring the new branding will rununtil Christmas in local papers and outdoors on railway lines and atbus shelters. A range of adverts will promote the various Subiofferings.
Pro Subi will measure the success of the campaign through furtherresearch in 2010. Goals include securing an increase in market share inretail categories by a defined percentage and getting people to spendmore money and stay longer in Subi CBD.
Janiec says the campaign is generating interest. “There are spikes inhits to the new website www.subi.net.au and an increase in entries to$3,500 giveaway when the ads appear.”
23 Comments
If they are so ProSubi why didn’t they use an agency based in Subi?
cheers for the branding lesson ron, didn’t know that mate….
also, surely its a bit harsh showing a fat bloke smashing chocolate eclairs!
The whole play on ‘b’ yourself etc… etc… has been done to death. I seem to remember VB doing something similar for the telco B way back in the 90’s, and there’s been lots since. Not particularly original.
Big semi-grunge type…please. I don’t see this as being particularly ‘subi’ at all.
Ha ha.
I’m a cashed up bogan with great boobs and a miniskirt and I’ve been coming to Subi for 8 weeks now after I realised it was on the train line.
Sue (Be yatch)
“Knowl’edge”? What on earth is the apostrophe there for?
Are there any decent ones in Subi?
Anon 12:19 – obviously you are just trying to show everyone you are a a humorous smartypants.
I suggested you do yourself a favour and be better informed – ProSubi used to use a local agency until that business shut down.
Anyway, shouldn’t work be given on merit and post appropriate agency for the needs of ProSubi at this point in time.
Well done all involved with ProSubi – I think they are fresh ads that make that emotional connection and are believable unlike a lot of the destination shopping centre and tourism campaigns we see……
I have never understood the hype about Subi. Anyone who has ever been outside WA will have seen real, vibrant local cultures which have grown out of the community in which they are based. Subi is just a collection of rubbish shops and small-to-medium sized businesses run by miner’s wives in a suburb full of tasteless executive homes and over-priced lock-up-and-leave apartments. Let’s face it, people only rave about it because the next nearest city is 5000kms away and the local alternatives are awful. People have to go somewhere and Subi is simply one of the least terrible places. Perhaps that should have been the line, “Subi. Not quite as bad as other places”. Or, given it is way behind Northbridge, Mt Lawley and Freo in the atmosphere stakes, how about “Subi. The fourth best place to be”?
9.59 – “Emotional connection and believable”, what a croc. You sound like your doing a preso to a bunch of government jocks.
Dear anon 9.59. Anon 12.19 here. Thank you for bringing me up to speed. I now consider myself better informed and can now make a more informed suggestion: Maybe they should’ve used an agency in Subi that is good enough to stay open.
Also, I don’t think the ads will give me more of a reason to visit Subi. On the other hand, the recent Hullaballoo Cottesloe promotion with a closed street fair, was very well promoted with a lovely piece of design and branding and had hundreds of people there all day, looking at what the shops there have to offer. The Subi ads look nice but I think Cottesloe showed how much better a Local precinct promo can be done.
Cottesloe 1
Subiaco Nil
The whole thing is a mess.
And very old fashioned.
b Yourself? uuhhhhg
9.59
– or are you bs’b upside down?
I like your press release about freshness of the eclair, but I think you can never beat Karrinyup “Star of the North” or the ever memorable Dogswamp “Pies Half Price”.
9.58 – Not bad. I like your style. For all the right reasons. Slating but yet possibly true.
Although I do feel ‘safer’ in Subi rather than Northbridge for some reason.
Maybe a line like. Get pummeled in Northbridge, but just a light kicking in Subi, with a moody shot of a couple of bouncers.
10.57 Yes maybe a touch dated…but what is dated, and why does everything always have to look like a spread from the latest mags. Surely there is a case for pleasing your audience?
Subi: Nightlife Lite.
Subi-standard
Subi-liminal.
subi – aco… DOH!
subi yuck-o
subi-crapo (see what I did there?)
Who shot this?
Someone who loooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooves grey.
Subi tack o
subi – awesome – o… I mean… ummm… can I have my go again?