Sydney Fish Market
A once in a generation opportunity to reinvent an icon
The challenge
The Sydney Fish Market is iconic and it’s moving house. And not just to any old house.
Securing a $750 million investment from the New South Wales Government into redeveloping the Sydney Fish Market, along with an expanding business to include a b2b online seafood trading platform as well as a range of other new business ventures. The business needed a new brand strategy and identity to take them forward for the next 100 years.
This investment is the largest of its kind on Sydney’s foreshore since The Sydney Opera House.
This is a once in a generation opportunity.
The process
The challenge at hand was to delicately balance the preservation of what has made the Sydney Fish Market so iconic today, as well as its bold plans for the future. This included taking on roles such as Australia's premier foodie destination, a versatile events space, elevating it’s seafood education offer, a cutting-edge digital trading platform. And that’s just the start of it.
An intensive discovery phase involved collaboration with C Space, Interbrand's nationally representative community of Australians, engaging trade and internal stakeholders, benchmarking against global standards, and immersing the Interbrand project team in the world of the current seafood school, the site, the auction floor process, and the maritime history of Australia and Sydney.
In addition, a series of co-creation workshops were conducted with Sydney Fish Market stakeholders.
The process was firmly focused on unravelling how Sydney Fish Market could maintain its authenticity that has made it so successful today while being set up for success to grow.
The solution
To capitalise on this once in a generation opportunity, a new brand strategy was created.
This strategic direction aimed to position the Sydney Fish Market for future success, with the essence of the brand articulated as ‘The Spirit of The Sea.”
Sydney Fish Market described this essence in CMO magazine well, “We really looked at our connection to the sea itself, with seafood trading and the literal interpretation of bringing seafood in to be sold at a market, but also the kind of ebb and flow of the market itself, and the way that it moves across the course of a day.”
This brand strategy underpinned everything else created, from a flexible monolithic brand architecture system, a dynamic and alive brand identity, internal brand and behaviours, and even the naming identity of SFMblue – the new B2B online trading platform.
Results
Winner: Best overall visual identity, Transform Magazine Awards 2023
Silver: Transform Awards: Best Use of Copy Style or Tone of Voice, Transform Awards 2023
Gold: Transform Awards: Best Brand Evolution (Consumer)
Gold: Transform Awards: Best Visual Identity from the Public Sector
Check out CMO mag & Transform Magazine Awards for more
Deliverables:
Brand Positioning – Brand Strategy – Brand Architecture – Tone of Voice – Brand and Product Propositions – Employee Value Proposition – Naming
Client
Sydney Fish Market
Creative Director
Alex Creamer
Agency
Interbrand