Odearest is Ireland’s most iconic bedding brand. A brand steeped in rich heritage, craft and dedication, handcrafting mattresses for 120 years. Over the years the brand had lost its way with both sales and market share declining. Alkamee were delighted to reposition and redefine this emblematic brand which needed to recruit an additional 100 employees due to the huge level of increase in sales as a result of the rebrand!
We created
- Identity
- Brand Strategy
- Design & Art Direction
- Digital & Print Communication
- Advertising
- Editorial Communication
- Environmental Branding
A history uncovered
The Odearest brand still had strong recall, but little had been done to market the brand in a long time. Historically Odearest ran a very successful weekly advertising campaign by a cartoonist of the time. The cartoonist ‘Warner’ had worked for the owners of the Beano in the past and its influence can be seen in the original logo below. We needed to reinvigorate the love the brand once had, update the logomark without losing its original charm and position the brand in todays Irish marketplace in a way that makes it relevant and appealing to its customers lifestyles of today.
original logo from 1898
Mrs Odearest
Odearest also used an icon of an old lady putting money under her mattress. Like many of the original associations with the brand, Mrs Odearest needed to remain to help retain some of that rich history and heritage. Our challenge was to take on board all concerns, evolve the brand sensitively and successfully marry old traditions and beliefs with today’s lifestyles.
A story retold
We created a brand story for Odearest that encapsulated the associated history, but also outlined its purpose and place. We distilled this down to ‘lived & loved’ as generation afetr generation lives and loves Odearest. Every visual touchpoint was carefully modernised to relate and resonate with their newly identified target audiences. We simplified the range, we renamed the products and projected a human warmth and handcrafted dedication through an expanded colour palette, lifetsyle photography and a new accessible tone of voice.
Impactful results
Odearest exceeded all of its expectations, surpassing target orders nationwide. Once more, it is finding itself in huge demand in the marketplace and taking pride of place in key retailers such as Arnotts and Harvey Norman. Such was the success it has been universally praised from a very demanding core market, recruited an additional 100 staff due to huge level of increase in sales as a result of the rebrand.
Upon relaunch of the brand Odearest was re- floored in all of its target stores finding prime position in Arnotts, Harvey Norman and EZ Living. Take up was so significant that a 100 extra staff were hired.
