Blue Panda – building brands to love and last
8th March 2023
Author EditorPosted on Categories Features
Passionate brand professionals at Yellow Fish are excited to launch a sister agency to the business. Blue Panda delivers a fresh approach to branding and marketing services that ensures brands are built to last. We meet Blue Panda co-founders Laura Pace and Sarah Pick to learn more.
Helping build brands that can scale and grow comes as second nature to Laura and Sarah. With stellar careers established at creative agencies in London, they have supported ambitious start-ups to global multinational businesses with their branding and marketing – Unilever, Coca Cola and L’Oréal to name a few.
Working together at Yellow Fish during the pandemic, they pivoted how they supported brands to being more broadly brand and marketing focussed, rather than events sector specialists the business had mainly been pre-covid.
While demand for live brand experiences remains huge, requests for help with crafting powerful brands and executing effective marketing services grew too.
That work brought Yellow Fish to a crossroads.
“Alongside our live experience and incentive work, we have always had an offering to help businesses strategically and creatively with their brand and marketing efforts,” said Laura. “But, as demand for this work increased, we came to a crossroads and decided it made sense to separate the two.
“Our brand and marketing services offering has really grown in recent years. Now feels like the right time to have a dedicated agency to expand this side of the business.”
Unique content creation has proved popular, with more brands recognising the need to tell their stories in a way that their customers will empathise with. Blue Panda’s offering ensures the right content is created for the right platform and the right audience. It’s not just compelling, it’s engaging – with narratives that truly deliver for brands.
Blue Panda was born with the aim to build brands that people don’t just love, but go on loving. Brands that last. This is achieved by the combination of powerful strategy and killer creative.
Its own brand name was created for that very purpose.
“Don’t think of a blue panda,” says Sarah. “See what we did there? We understand the psychology of branding – it’s so much more than a name and a logo. We help our clients figure out the mind space they want their business to occupy, and then we help them fill it.”
And it’s not just about creating a new brand name that sticks. When it comes to Blue Panda, Sarah adds: “We wanted something memorable but also something that would make people smile.”
While Yellow Fish has clients that include big hitters like BT, Currys, Mazda and Ford MS-RT, Blue Panda will serve the needs of businesses of all sizes and from a wide range of sectors. That includes start-ups and businesses local to Sussex. In fact, it has already partnered with a start-up in Brighton, providing it with everything it needed for a successful launch.
Bigger isn’t always better
Laura says brands of all sizes love working with Blue Panda because ‘bigger isn’t always better’.
“We’re a small, tight-knit team which allows us to build personal, lasting relationships with our clients.”
Laura adds: “When you work with us, you work with our founders. That way, you get top-end strategic thinking and powerful creative, every time.”
Blue Panda’s first local partner is a neighbourhood grocery shop located in Seven Dials, Brighton. Porthall Stores launched last month and provides good quality, fresh Sussex-sourced produce, coffee and daily essentials.
As well as building the Porthall Stores’ brand, Blue Panda created content and built their website.
It aims to form similar partnerships with other local brands, including established businesses that want to expand or diversify.
Dig deeper, discover more
Laura says: “At the core of every great brand is a fundamental truth – the tricky part is finding it and bringing it to life. It’s worth it though. Which is why we start each project with a miner’s mindset, unearthing the best things about your business and getting them to shine.”
Importantly, Blue Panda meets its clients ‘where they are’ in terms of growth and aspirations.
“Whether you’re starting out, starting over or beginning to grow, we’re flexible enough to find a way that works for you,” Sarah explains. “That’s the beauty of being boutique – free from cumbersome layers of process and systems.”
Having a small, highly creative team means Blue Panda doesn’t have to pigeonhole itself.
Laura, who became the Managing Director of Yellow Fish in 2020, says: “We won’t be specialising in one particular sector. Our strengths mean we can apply the same level of creativity to ambitious start-ups as we do with global brands. And we like the idea of partnering to support brands in Sussex.”
Their business partnership is based on friendship, shared values, a genuine love for what they do. They are passionate about driving businesses forward through the building of brilliant brands and campaigns that deliver results.
sarah.pick@wearebluepanda.com