Loewe's TikTok Playbook • KFC's Bucketverse Rebrand • Oatly's Marketing Shift

Welcome to the fourth edition of our weekly roundup of branding news, thought leadership, and insightful articles on brand strategy.

Each week, we curate and summarize the most relevant stories from the branding industry, so you can stay informed without having to search for them yourself. Enjoy!

• Channel 7 Children’s Research Foundation rebrands to Firefly Children’s Foundation via communikate et al

  The Channel 7 Children’s Research Foundation rebranded as Firefly Children’s Foundation via communikate et al. The new identity balances scientific rigour with optimistic storytelling, utilizing a glowing emblem to signify progress, clarity, and human connection.

• Your brand is a character, not a logo

  Bringing a novelist’s perspective to brand building, this piece claims the best brands function like fictional characters. Strategic designers must build narratives around a distinct desire and an origin “wound” that explains why the company exists.

• Luna Grill Flips Traditional Branding Pacing By Placing Restaurant Experience Before Visual Identity

  Fast-casual chain Luna Grill transformed its brand positioning by prioritizing operational improvements and cultural relevance ahead of visual changes. This progressive pacing successfully scales the brand’s footprint while preserving long-term consumer equity.

• Gas Jeans’ Strategic Rebirth: Preparing for the Brand’s Next Big Leap

  Italian fashion brand Gas Jeans has pivoted its business model to focus on technical design superiority over high-volume wholesale, positioning itself inside the “accessible premium” tier. This restructuring highlights how classic denim labels recover equity via DTC transformation.

• Bao Fast Foods rethinks fast food through open-source design

  UK restaurateur Bao is launching Bao Fast Foods, an innovative concept modeled on East Asian convenience stores. Billed as the first “open-source restaurant,” the brand shared its designs and spec playbooks publicly to build community and spark creative co-creation.

• How Crocs Made a Punchline Into a Competitive Advantage

  Crocs uses cultural mockery and internet humor as a competitive brand-building asset. Under its chief brand officer, the organization demonstrates that reacting to consumer trends with humor and hyper-fast execution yields high levels of brand resonance.

• Over Two-Thirds of Consumers Will Ditch Brands They Don’t Trust

  A global study from McCann reveals a worsening consumer trust crisis, with 69 percent of respondents willing to abandon untrusted brands. Rebuilding confidence requires transparency about AI adoption, highlighting a shifting landscape where truthfulness outweighs idealized, algorithmically driven marketing claims.

• Dawn is the most trusted brand in America for the second year in a row: report

  Morning Consult’s annual trust report indicates consumers are returning to reliable, “back to basics” household staples. While tech giants face trust deficits, simple, repeated daily utility remains the ultimate builder of resilient, long-term brand equity.

• When brands fall short, accountability matters more
  Prada’s structured response to its Kolhapuri sandal controversy demonstrates that modern brands earn respect not by being infallible, but by owning their mistakes. True accountability and collaborative correction now trump polished, carefully controlled advertising campaigns.

Logo

• Levi’s embraces FIFA’s World Cup stadium logo rule as a new branding opportunity

  FIFA made Levi’s Stadium cover its logo during the World Cup because Levi’s isn’t an official sponsor.
  Levi’s turned the covered-up sign into a clever social media joke, using the still-recognizable logo shape as free marketing.

• Newspaper Club teams up with abcD8 on NC HEADLINE, a tabloid-inspired typeface it owns outright

  Newspaper Club commissioned a variable, tabloid-inspired headline typeface to gain full intellectual ownership of its aesthetic assets. This move highlights how custom typography allows brands to bypass licensing issues and solidify self-representation.

• JKR evolves KFC’s entire identity around the bucket – welcome to the ‘Bucketverse’

  Global branding agency Jones Knowles Ritchie restructured KFC’s design system by turning its famous bucket into a standardized visual framing device. KFC’s biggest visual identity evolution includes a 3D logo, custom fonts, and an illustration-driven asset system designed for global consistency.

• Pentagram’s Hugh Miller rebrands Hiut, the Welsh denim label bringing jeans-making back to Aberteifi

  Pentagram’s Hugh Miller created a visual identity for Hiut denim, marrying industrial factory life with local heritage. The design features custom typography inspired by the makers’ own signatures, rooting the premium label in its historical location.

• Case Study: How Lay’s Reinvented a 100-Year-Old Brand by Returning to Its Roots

  Potato chip leader Lay’s launched an extensive rebrand to highlight ingredient quality and agricultural transparency. Realizing consumers missed that its chips are real potatoes, the updated strategy centers on farm-to-bag authenticity and heritage storytelling.

• Born launches major rebrand for Unity Bank

  Independent agency Born built a unified brand system following a double bank merger. Grounded in the platform “Standing with you,” the modern identity shifts from category rates to straightforward, human-focused support for everyday working lives.

• First State Auctions brings ‘Perpetual Joy’ in new rebrand and creative platform via Nibble Edge

  Pre-loved luxury online auction house First State Auctions unveiled its new visual platform, “Perpetual Joy.” Developed by Nibble Edge, the asset system injects emotional excitement and premium aspiration into what was previously a traditional, functional brand.

• How Derek&Eric gave Manomasa a Latin American glow-up with ‘Snacks With Spirit’

  Design studio Derek&Eric modernized premium tortilla brand Manomasa to step out of local farm shops and into the mainstream. Infused with vibrant colors and expressive paper-craft dancers, the updated system celebrates the brand’s Latin American roots.

• How Loewe Traded Polished Luxury for Viral TikTok Hits
  An interview with creative consultant Lucas Yiu on how he revolutionized Loewe’s TikTok strategy by trading polished luxury campaigns for organic, iPhone-shot videos. By Substack’s channel “Link In Bio”.

• Why Oatly’s Marketing Went From Wordy Billboards to Beverage Events
  Oatly is shifting from quirky billboard ads to a more event-led, digital-first strategy focused on shaping coffee and beverage trends.

  The company is using barista insights and partnerships with cafes, restaurants, and retailers to position itself as more than just an oat milk supplier.

• How Fifa and The Rolling Stones are selling more than a soundtrack

  FIFA partnered with Universal Music and The Rolling Stones to launch collectible vinyl versions of the band’s latest album. This partnership builds a durable music and merchandise ecosystem for diverse sports and rock music audiences alike.

• ‘When you strip out culture, you get a hollow brand’: why India is killing the design game

  This analysis challenges the global drift toward muted, minimal designs, arguing that stripping away cultural roots is detrimental. Highlighting the vibrancy of contemporary Indian design, it showcases how layered storytelling and local meaning drive lasting growth.

• Coach unites celebrities, Gen Z storytelling under new brand platform

  Leather goods maker Coach has introduced a storytelling platform called &Coach. Seeking to move past typical prestige branding, the collaborative project links influencers with Gen Z creatives to emphasize unfiltered self-expression rather than status symbols.

• These fake AI ads are perfectly soulless
  Comedians Harris Alterman and Dave Ross have created a series of parody subway ads to mock the vague, minimalist, and jargon-heavy advertising style of modern AI startups. Their project satirizes "slop voice," highlighting how tech marketing has become increasingly cryptic and meaningless to the general public.

• How to build a brand that matters

  Panel participants at a Fast Company event emphasize that true brand utility originates from aligning purpose with actions. Modern consumers easily spot disingenuous, marketing-first advocacy, reinforcing that a clear purpose must be embedded into the company’s business model.

• L’Oréal upscales reuse awareness campaign into new brands and products

  L’Oréal scaled up its “JoinTheRefillMovement” campaign to make refillable packaging accessible across all price points. By utilizing specific metrics to reassure shoppers that refills do not lose performance, the campaign aims to close the consumer value-action gap.

• How Deoleo is Driving Sustainable Growth Through Regenerative Agriculture, Circular Packaging and Climate Action

  Olive oil manufacturer Deoleo continues to integrate sustainability across its supply chain by pursuing circular economy initiatives. The brand achieved its recycled plastic objectives early, illustrating that sustainable manufacturing can build consumer trust and business resilience simultaneously.

Thanks for reading until the end! We’d love to read your thoughts and feedback in the comments of this Substack newsletter.

Your Team at The Branding Journal
www.thebrandingjournal.com