Poplin Data
“The work that Julia has delivered in this process has been on brief and beautiful. She was able to help us over every decision hurdle, and bring us through this rebrand journey with ease.”
The Challenge
I started working with the Poplin Data team (previously known as Snowflake Analytics) in October 2018, when Chief Operating Officer, Chloe, got in touch with me about helping them rebrand their business. They were stuck within the naming process, and before we got too much further down the track, could I come in and lend a hand in trying to get some traction through this phase?
I really enjoy working with scaling businesses and Poplin Data were textbook-perfect clients - a talented team of around 10 who build pretty awesome data analytics capabilities for an impressive client list. They’ve been out in the market for around three years, and as their business had grown over that time, and broadened its offers, they saw it as an ideal time for a rebrand.
These types of businesses are great because they above all - they get stuff done. Nothing sits on desks for long, and each meeting I attended with these guys was met with passion, purpose and productivity.
The Brief
Brand strategy, Brand Naming, Visual Identity & Collateral Design
Our journey to rebrand together looked like this:
Brand Name Exploration
Brand Strategy Workshop
Strategic Output
Visual Identity Development
Detailed Design
Brand Implementation
We kicked off with a workshop with all three founders, plus Chloe and Conrad, their advisory board member. Together we went through some core brand strategy exercises, brand archetypes and exploration of visual brand preferences. From there, I was able to assimilate this into a cohesive strategic guiding document, and play back to them what I understood their brand essence to be.
Magic can happen in these workshops - and this instance was no different. The energy the team brought to the workshop meant that we identified a brand strategy right away, and I was able to confidently proceed to the visual brand development knowing that I had everything I needed to build three compelling directions. Around this point the team settled on a brand name “Poplin”, referring to the notion that when data is seamlessly integrated into a company’s culture, it forms the very fabric of the organisation. Robust, flexible and skilfully woven - poplin is made up of countless individual threads which can be woven together to create any number of things.
The Outcome
The three directions were really well received and there was lively discussion about each as they considered the different direction that each one took the brand in. Ultimately, their decision was a relatively easy one, with the team unified on the chosen direction - a bold and dynamic (and can we say fun?) take on who Poplin Data are.
Here’s a preview of the rebrand:
