The Challenge
South Australia’s annual, statewide festival designed to celebrate modern ageing, Every Generation Festival, was approaching its 50th anniversary in 2017.
Featuring a series of curated events and more than 200 ‘fringe’ events throughout SA each October, the Festival is about celebrating, challenging and connecting older South Australians.
Powered by COTA SA, the festival was in need of a reboot, which included a new name and brand to mark the significant milestone.
As a long-term partner of COTA SA, communikate et al was engaged to reimagine the brand with nothing but a proud history, a new name and a bold vision by its newly appointed Festival Director, Jayne Boase.
Our Approach
Our goal was to craft a brand that:
- celebrated the Festival’s coming of age
- helped to unlock the possibilities of modern ageing
- reflected ageing as a time of freedom, influence and opportunity
- was uplifting, positive, joyful, punchy and bold
Like the event itself and COTA SA, it also needed to challenge the outdated stereotypes of ageing.
Looking at life with anticipation, excitement, enjoyment and colourful energy, we created a brand that celebrates diversity while injecting vibrancy through colour, allowing opportunities for plenty of colour play throughout the program and brand materials.
The logo mark created was typographic and bold in colour. In the collateral, irregular paint strokes used over black and white imagery demonstrated diversity and energy.
The brand development project included:
- Brand identity and campaign concept development.
- Photo shoot artistic direction and coordination using members of the COTA community which evoke emotion, laughter and connection.
- Development of a positioning statement (A Festival for Modern Ageing) and tagline (Celebrate, Connect, Challenge).
- Roll out of key brand assets including:
- event program
- EDM template
- pull up banners
- postcard and poster series using inspirational quotes about ageing
- social media content
- invitation and ad templates
As part of our ongoing publicity support of COTA SA, we also drive the media relations program for ZestFest each year. We secure coverage across local TV, radio, print and digital media and have provided digital advertising support to sell tickets for key curated events such as the Oration.
The Outcome
The response to the Festival’s new identity was overwhelming. Its new name and identity helped to reposition the Festival in the mind of those who already get involved each year, while drawing the attention of many others who had previously written it off.
ZestFest goes from strength to strength with a new look and feel that matches the vibrancy and energy of the event. The numbers have steadily increased since the new vision has been realised with many curated events selling out.
