Our work for Smyths

Smyths gift card

26 March 2009

The new Smyths gift card has just arrived in-store! We have created a single card design which now will be used for their baby, gaming and toy departments. These cards will be displayed at each checkout counter and are credited with the desired value at the time of purchase. The plastic credit card-size gift card is attached to a holding card which wraps around it and forms an envelope for presenting the gift.

Our vibrant design predominantly uses the bright Smyths red colour together with a repeating square pattern in the various department colours. The holding card also promotes Smyths key customer services for online product reservation, text alert for out-of-stock products and home delivery service.

European Design Annual features the Smyths brand mark

14 July 2008

The BFK-designed Smyths brand mark has been chosen for publication in the European Logo Design Annual (EULDA) 2007. The EULDA is the high-profile graphic design award scheme that rewards the best logos and trademarks designed in Europe each year. The winners are selected by an international three-tier jury consisting of 10 top design professionals, 10 marketing managers from major international clients and 10 members of the public.
We are delighted that one of our brand marks has been chosen for this prestigious design publication.

Fun and games at Smyths

06 June 2006

We were appointed to conduct a full brand communications audit for Smyths, the leading Irish toy retailer. This included a review of Smyths customer experience and a visual critique of their print, in-store and on-line communications. This also involved nationwide focus groups with parents and children, exit surveys with customers and key interviews with industry influences to gain an insight into the perception of Smyths. In conjunction with this we visited Smyths stores and competitors, and carried out a visual audit of all marketing collateral to assess the alignment of Smyths brand communications with the actual experience in-store. On completion of the brand audit and as a result of recommendations, we were retained to develop Smyths' communications.

The first step was to evolve their brand mark into a more playful expression of the established blocks mark. It was very important to retain the idea of the blocks but modernising them in contemporary way to reflect consumer expectations. We recreated the blocks from a more dynamic angle and each letterform was drawn to visually fit with the new shapes.The roll-out of the new brand identity has begun in all new Smyths stores. Internal signage and POS applications are the next phase of the project to be developed shortly.

Smyths research and brand strategy

19 March 2006

Smyths Toys, the leading toy retailer in the Irish market, has real heritage having started as a family-run newsagents in Claremorris, Co Mayo, almost 100 years ago.

This research and brand development strategy project was prompted by the need to evolve this existing brand to protect its competitive positioning in an increasingly saturated toy and game market. When this research was commissioned in 2005 the toys and games sector faced many challenges - fluctuating birth rates, ever-increasing pressures on children's spare time and the fact that children are progressing through childhood faster than ever - as well as pressure on margins brought about by increased competition.

An extensive combination of internal and industry expert interviews, focus groups with parents, in-store visits with children, a communications review and store audits culminated in recommendations for brand development initiatives that were based on unique consumer and industry insight.

Research findings highlighted that the name and brand mark should be retained to capitalise on existing nostalgia and equity. However we recommended that the name and logo should be evolved and revitalised to communicate more effectively with the target market. We also recommended that the perceived benefits of the Smyths warehouse / retailer proposition should be retained but its relevance deepened by developing a positioning based on "play".

The research findings were delivered in early 2006 and an evolved Smyths brand mark and supporting brand toolkit elements were designed. In-store brand development and roll-out is ongoing.