ROYAL OAK FLOORS
Telling a story 165 years in the making; a house of brands and the family that built it.
Work Completed
Insights & Opportunities Report, Discovery Workshops, Brand Strategy & Story, Brand Identity Design, Brand Video, Brand Guidelines
“We’re not good at talking about ourselves…” Despite being one of New Zealand’s largest liquor distributors, Hancocks and its people—as we’ve experienced firsthand—are defined by their family values and humble nature.
As a distributor, Hancocks is a house of brands. To support a generational change of leadership, this project was to brand the house in a way that honours the endeavours and convictions of the extended family that built the business.
With a legacy spanning 165 years, Hancocks’ new brand honours its heritage by preserving its classic dark green palette, while introducing a vibrant fluorescent green to infuse a contemporary edge.
It deliberately breaks from corporate blandness in favour of an identity that is more approachable than Hancocks’ corporate contemporaries.
Hancocks’ design system balances boldness with the flexibility to harmonise with the diverse range of brands it represents. It’s a considered evolution rather than a revolution; one that captures the jovial nature of an intergenerational business without overshadowing the brands they distribute.
Strategic visual treatments help delineate Hancocks’ brand from those of its suppliers. Supplier brands are consistently presented in full colour imagery, while Hancocks’ own imagery is rendered in black and white.
Hancocks’ distinctively gregarious tone of voice speaks as an expert, a family friend, and a straight-talker all at once. It’s a voice that encapsulates the convivial spirit the business was built on, and the expertise that underpins it.
At the outset of this project, Hancocks didn’t know how to articulate their point of difference. By the end, they understood that the essence of their brand was the spirit of family. A spirit that its corporate counterparts can’t contest; one that brings people together, and grows partnerships of possibilities.
