
COTA SA | The Plug-in
How we delivered a brand identity that empowers older South Australians










COTA SA | The Plug-in

Mercedes College

How we delivered a brand identity that empowers older South Australians
COTA SA is the peak body representing the rights, interests and future of SA’s over 50s. They are at the forefront with their social enterprise, The Plug-in, working with businesses, government and not-for-profit sectors to innovate to improve their products, services and policies for the growing market.
In 2017, COTA SA required a brand strategy and identity for The Plug-in. It needed to visually express older South Australians’ willingness and eagerness to be ‘plugged in’ to research and innovation about technology, services and products that support ageing well.
The brand identity and language needed to be fresh, creative, dynamic, responsive and reliable. It was also important for the audience to feel important, welcome, valued, respected, supported, connected, heard and empowered.
We started by conducting a brand workshop where we profiled:
This resulted in the development of a ‘brand blueprint’, which provided clarity on the brand positioning and informed the design brief.
We felt strongly the brand identity needed to speak to its name and in researching the core elements, they needed to earn their place in the final logo mark with a story and meaning for each.
The main elements represented in the logo include:
The friendliness and warmth of the brand shines through with the playful incorporation of a smiley face also visible in the ‘g’ and equals symbol.
communikate et al conceptualised and managed the following project elements:
The Plug-in has steadily grown since 2017, now with 26 projects completed for 19 clients including Weber, ACH Group, CSIRO and University of Adelaide.
Striking a balance between playfulness and meaning was fundamental to the success of the identity. So too was:
The punchy colour palette:
Leading on the right foot from the beginning, with a highly considered, professional and impactful brand helped COTA SA and The Plug-in to create clarity in the market quickly.
communikate et al’s strategic thinking and appreciation of our complex political overlay as a subsidiary of the City of Adelaide has helped us establish our presence with our stakeholders and the community. They have developed media and influencer campaigns that have delivered outcomes exceeding expectations and identified potential risks and how to manage them. Their digital expertise has strengthened our social media presence and website information architecture and they are a knowledgeable source of digital best practice. The team produces quality work within tight timeframes and keep us informed of progress. It’s a really positive working relationship.
communikate were initially engaged to assist in rebranding and marketing. I was most impressed with the way they listened, interpreted our ideas and turned them into something the whole community took pride in…. Their strategy helped us to achieve strong enrolment numbers… I would highly recommend them if you are looking for a professional, innovative, talented and highly relational marketing (and more) agency.
We have been hugely impressed with the way communikate et al have immersed themselves in learning our brand and respecting our approach. It felt like they just ‘got us’ from the start! It has been such a pleasure working with their professional, smart and dynamic team.
Could not be happier with the team at communikate et al. They understand us, and that is reflected in the brand assets they crafted for our business. The positive feedback has been overwhelming.
We love the Daily Moves branding that communikate et al created. It is friendly, flexible for different applications, and our marketing collateral stands out from the rest. We have received a lot of compliments from participants and stakeholders who love it just as much as we do.
communikate et al has been our trusted partner for strategic communications and advice over a number of years. The team is always responsive and reliable, and the quality of work is first rate.
We've worked with the communikate et al team for 18 months and they've played a pivotal role launching the Mineral Swim brand. They have successfully driven our influencer programme, managed our social media programme and generated leads resulting in sales. They are dynamic and professional, and it’s been a pleasure working with them and seeing our brand flourish.
We turned to communikate et al to rename and rebrand our organisation following a change in ownership. Within a tight timeframe, the team got up to speed quickly and delivered on a brand strategy that set the foundation for the new identity. From an interim website, corporate signage and collateral, merchandise, uniforms, property signage and our rollingstock, communikate were strategic, creative and responsive, and became a genuine part of our team during the transition period. We’re proud of our new brand, which is bold, confident and successfully reflects who we are today and will serve us well into the future.
Following the successful development of our new website, communikate et al has maintained a proactive approach to the refinement and improvements of content and key messages in collaboration with our team. They embraced and supported us in all communication relating to the impact of COVID-19. They’re a friendly and responsive team with all requests being eagerly supported.
communikate et al has become an important and trusted partner... They share our passion. We greatly value their flexibility, their responsiveness, their turnaround times, their honest appraisal of projects and their collegiality. Most of all we love the fact that they have supported our focus on achieving outcomes for older people.
Head Office
Upstairs 200 The Parade,
Norwood SA 5067
Get in touch
Telephone +61 8 8331 1444hello@communikate.net.au
We recognise and pay our respect to the traditional custodians of the land we live and work on and acknowledge their rich heritage from which we can all learn.