Responses by Peter Ladd, creative director, Pendo.

Background: When honey brand Manukora came to us, its current brand wasn’t resonating in the market. With honey being highly commoditized and many not knowing the difference and health benefits of Manuka honey, the strategy was to reposition Manukora as a health and wellness brand and target consumers within the space.

Design thinking: Our thinking was to separate Manukora from the other honey brands that all looked the same and design the brand to have an upscale, apothecary feel—products that you would be happy to see on your counter and include as part of your daily health rituals.

Challenges: During the rebranding process, Manukora also had plans to launch Botanicals, a new product line seen as an extension of its brand. This was a challenge as it was all happening simultaneously, so a lot of planning and consideration was done in terms of how the new brand, the Manuka honey line and Botanicals all worked together.

Favorite details: The wordmark and custom typography were exciting to work on as we were able to craft the letterforms to reflect the brand’s feeling and further push the look we were after.

New lessons: As part of our business, we learn so much about our clients and their products with every brand we touch. In this case, extracting Manuka honey is quite special; it only happens once a year in a very short window and in very remote areas, making the products much more unique and limited.

Visual influences: A sense of place was important when developing the brand. New Zealand is a lush, beautiful place, and we wanted to make sure that story was told throughout the brand. The product was also an important part when developing the brand visuals, influencing imagery, packaging, photography, coloring and styling, among other aspects.

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