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










One Rail Australia

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.
I have worked with communikate et al for many years in a number of roles. They form an integral part of our team at Walara, having taken the time to understand our community and the two businesses that merged to develop a brand name and identity that reflects our shared values and vision for future growth in the lower mid-north region. communikate has created an extensive range of content and communication assets to establish us as a leading provider of aged care services in the region. We’ve received nothing short of positive feedback from our residents, their families and our staff.
The visual impact of the creative was exactly what the Local Government Association was looking for to engage audiences and drive an increase in nominations from traditionally underrepresented groups on council.
As a result of the advertising we saw a particularly strong increase in candidates identifying as Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander and many more candidates from culturally diverse backgrounds.
The South Australian Museum worked with communikate on a SA Tourism Award submission. The submission is a huge task with many moving parts and communikate helped bring it all together seamlessly. Always a pleasure working with CK!
communikate et al’s design work is visually impactful, and they partnered with us to help bring our vision to life. Our tagline ‘flourish’, is an excellent reflection of our core values, beautiful botanic campus and our genuine aspirations for every young person in our care.
communikate’e professionalism, relatability and ability to give life to our vision is commendable.
The communikate team really took the time to understand our business. They very quickly came up to speed on our products and the nuances of our very technical and specialised industry. They’ve written accurate and engaging content to be used in industry publications, our electronic newsletter, and on LinkedIn, which has performed really well.
We have really enjoyed partnering with communikate on some key projects and appreciate their responsiveness and the quality of service they provide. communikate’s ability to be agile and quickly act on changes to strategy has been impressive and has resulted in us being confident in the fact that they keep the best interests of our campaign front of mind. The level of detail they provide in their reports has ensured we’re able to learn from our hits and misses and adapt our future strategies accordingly.
Bec, Henry and the team understood our brand from the get go and it showed from concept to delivery. During an intensely busy time for our team, they worked seamlessly with us to develop and manage an integrated campaign... The results were outstanding and put the hotel in an excellent position to launch into a competitive market, with strong occupancy experienced. We really value our partnership.
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.
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 were an integral part of the King William Road upgrade team from the initial community consultation right through to completion. The brand they created fit the project perfectly. They took the time to understand the complexities and always delivered with strategic oversight, ensuring things were done with purpose and meaning. Having them on board was invaluable.
Head Office
Upstairs 200 The Parade,
Norwood SA 5067
Get in touch
Telephone +61 8 8331 1444hello@communikate.net.au
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