Oasis brand refresh sees logo update, new inspirational campaign

By

Sandra Halliday

Published
Mar 12, 2019

Fashion retailer Oasis has unveiled a major brand revamp with a refreshed brand identity and the launch of a new ad campaign. The company worked with agency Red Bee Creative, which was tasked with “strategically reinvigorating the Oasis brand to help the retailer to move away from a seasonal-led campaign approach to a more consistent brand-first campaign style.” 

The new approach is part of a strategic overhaul by Oasis to “push their brand into new categories and retail environments, with a particular focus on how [it] operates in digital and social spaces.”

That’s a move being undertaken by many brands at present as the increasing importance of digital not only means new channels through which to buy but more radical changes in consumer behaviour as a result.

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And of course, this has to fit in with the existing overall brand image and not alienate core consumers.

Red Bee said that the “heart of the challenge was to celebrate its inherent femininity with power and conviction in a fresh, modern and relevant way. We talked a lot about the word ‘lovely’ and how the Oasis customer used that word to describe both the clothes and how they make her feel.”

Head of planning Lisa Matchett added that “we wanted Oasis to boldly own that idea and to make being ‘lovely’ aspirational to a new generation of stylish, high-achieving, and caring, women.”

All of which could be a recipe for an excess of cute prettiness that doesn’t feel remotely modern, although the company was careful to avoid this.

“The new brand idea moves away from cute, twee, eye-candy associations,” it said. “Lovely, with a capital ‘L’, is the remarkable combination of style plus substance that defines the Oasis product, its boutique retail experience, and the modern, polymath women who shop there.”

The new brand tagline is Lovely does it and it comes with a number of new inspirational brand ambassadors who are meant to sum it up. They include actress, marathon-runner and dyslexia champion Kara Tointon; baker, novelist and charity ambassador Nadiya Hussain; and TV presenter, fitness guru and campaigner Katie Piper.

They’ll be the stars of a six-week in-store, digital and social campaign that takes in their wider achievements beyond style.

Red Bee also worked on the brand’s logo, which had last been updated in 2011. It retained the existing lettering but “tightened its application to either black or white only, to move the brand away from its widely-applied ‘pink’ aesthetic.” The new brand palette also introduces cooler grey tones “and a more sophisticated and modern hero brand colour, Oasis Coral.” That’s described as being “two notches off” the brand’s previous pink.

The whole campaign and new look are rolling out in the company’s stores from today (Tuesday March 12) with Oasis MD Sara Walsh saying "it felt like the right time to revisit the overall look and feel of the brand, ensuring that it remains fresh, modern and relevant in today’s ever evolving market.”