We’ve been working with Leyland since 2022, building a strong creative partnership. Since 1985, they’ve grown from a single paint and decorating store in Central London to 33 locations throughout the city.
We work alongside Leyland’s in-house marketing team on a retainer basis, covering all of their design requirements so that we are able to prioritise their tasks and work on any brief as soon as it come in, large or small.
As a fast-growing retail business, Leyland has opened a range of new stores while working with us. These special launch events call for a variety of marketing materials helping to communicate the brand and offering.
Leyland wanted to relaunch a store, but that means more than just a lick of paint. They initially asked for a range of assets to make the announcement. The brief didn’t stop there. What began as a store revamp ended up being a major job for us and saw some significant changes to Leyland’s brand.
Leyland’s Kensington store was being refurbished. The client saw this as an opportunity to test some fresh and exciting concepts with us. The store boasts an expanded range of products, including premium Farrow and Ball wallpapers, Johnstone’s paint mixing and timber panelling. It has a fresher and more colourful look to go along with its offering of 40,000 paint options, which includes all the latest colour trends, even Peach Fuzz. Leyland Kensington is the first store within inner London to offer colour mixing for Osmo woodcare products, meaning that oils stains and waxes can be bought in a wide range of colours in-store.
With a cleverly designed new layout, Kensington was set to become the benchmark for what a Leyland store can be and was the perfect place to debut a rebrand.
Leyland SDM’s brand name was confusing to some as the acronym “Specialist Decorators Merchants” wasn’t visible, so was unknown. By dropping this element, the brand was simplified and allowed the revised logo to be positioned prominently on the exterior shop signage.
Shortening to Leyland is clean and modern, and is also a change that many wouldn’t notice, calling the store “Leyland” already.
Removing the SDM part of the name and shifting to a strapline, “The Decorating Experts” demonstrates confidence and helps to position Leyland as the leading decorating company in London.
Leyland needed to divert customers away from off-limits areas of the store which were being refurbished. Enter their usual playful style. The deliverables included copywriting and design for a range of poster sizes and toblerones (that’s a long, three-sided pyramid for anyone who’s never bought chocolate at an airport). We work well with Leyland as they believe, as we do, that even a sign with a simple message doesn’t have to be boring.
Alongside the messaging, we developed all of the in-store POS and graphics and all of the exterior signage and window vinyls. We introduced a new vibrant paint splash graphic which is being rolled-out as part of the new brand activation and has been developed as a striking animation to help emphasise decorating as the number one focus.
We sent one of our Videographers down to Kensington with an Art Director on one of the coldest days of the year to capture the grand opening. We interviewed the store manager and created a one-minute launch video, as well as aseparate Farrow & Ball 30 second video and 15 second versions for use as part of a paid campaign.
All of the videos showcase the gold standard of design, product, and tech which represent the future of their company. The future’s bright . . . or dark, muted, vibrant, warm, soft, subtle . . . there are 40,000 options to choose from.
“Everyone loved the first mock-ups of the store front and the rest of the branding just flowed naturally from there. Arch almost made it too easy! They started to develop Leyland’s new brand guidelines alongside the Kensington pilot and became an integral extension to our marketing team.”
– Leyland Marketing Manager
As part of the rebrand, we developed Leyland’s comprehensive brand guidelines and tone-of-voice. These new documents strengthen brand consistency and brand recognition, helping to accelerate their ambitious expansion plans.
The new brand has been rolled-out across a wide range of day-to-day content that we manage through our monthly retainer. This includes seasonal POS, social posts, signage, video and animation, along with a range of creative marketing campaigns.
The new brand, guidelines and consistent look-and-feel make it easier for employees and external partners to embody the brand, which is essential for maintaining a cohesive image as the brand expands.
“Arch has been really responsive to all our needs – from the big creative projects, right down to the simple, everyday design requirements. Nothing is too much trouble. The whole team are great to work with and I’d recommend them to anyone needing a creative agency.”
– Leyland Marketing ManagerWe’re responsive & easy to work with, so drop us a line and let’s create some amazing work together.
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