Branding with Empathy: J O H N
S H AW
‘Branding’ is a word people sometimes use with
a bit of a sneer, but it is of course a crucial element
in how we respond to well-known companies
and products, from the swoosh of Nike to the
typeface used on the London Underground.
I
t might seem strange for a school to care for such
things, but these days it’s par for the course. As
someone with experience of Winchester College,
you might well have a rough idea in your head of
what sets it apart from other famous schools, but
could you articulate that in a way that people who
have never even heard of it would easily understand
and be interested in? Could you do it in a sentence?
How about an image, or a font? What defines the
school’s ethos, and how can one present that in a
way that cuts through in the 21st century?
That’s the challenge facing Marmalade on Toast,
an award-winning local creative agency who have
worked with the school over the past year. But a fresh
set of eyes is never a bad idea, especially if it comes
from a highly experienced professional who also
went to the school.
John Shaw, who was at Trant’s in the ’70s, has
worked in three continents with large advertising
agencies such as Ogilvy & Mather, where he was
Joint Worldwide Planning Director. His client
list has included Microsoft, Coca-Cola, Disney,
Amazon, Ford and British Airways. He is currently
the chief strategy and innovation officer for the
agency Superunion in Clerkenwell, London. ‘We
work with brands on the distinct place we want
them to occupy in people’s minds,’ he says, giving
as an example the way Persil has slightly different
associations from Ariel. As part of this, they will
often end up writing a ‘brand narrative’. ‘That’s
really the story we want to tell,’ he says, explaining
that it encompasses a brand’s history, culture and
values. The agency will usually carry out design
work to complement this. Last year, he was part
of the team that created new ‘idents’ – the graphic
segments between programmes – for BBC Two.
This was the first refreshing of the channel’s brand
16 The Wykeham Journal 2018
In the Superunion office in Clerkenwell
in 20 years, and consisted of 16 brief animated
sequences, each of which form the number ‘2’
to give an elegant and modern look to the channel.
After a fortuitous introduction by Miles Young,
former CEO of Ogilvy & Mather and now Warden
of New College, Oxford (and on the Governing Body
of Winchester), John came down to Winchester in
the summer of 2018 and met up with Marmalade on
Toast to carry out interviews with the Headmaster
and several dons, have lunch in his old house, sit in
on a lesson, and generally soak up the atmosphere
of the place again.
What was it like coming back? He singles out
being in the lesson as the most striking experience.
‘That was amazing. Although it was taught in a
very different style from in my day – they were
looking at YouTube clips to see different ways in
which Shakespearean speeches were delivered –
the stimulating nature of it reminded me of what