Oakman Inns is a fast-growing and award-winning hospitality company comprised of 42 stunning venues across the UK.
The company has been in operation for over 12 years and in that time it has seen rapid growth, expanding its services to multiple towns and cities across the country and attracting a loyal customer base. Despite Oakman Inns’ success, they recognised the need to develop a strong brand identity that would differentiate it from competitors and communicate their business principles to new customers and investors as they expand into new regions across the country.
I began the branding process by conducting research on the client's target audience, regional locations and key competitors.Through a series of focus groups. several key values and unique selling points of the business ranked highly in the eyes of their customers. included their locally and sustainably-sourced produce, authentic Mediterranean cooking techniques, their eco friendly credentials, and the premium quality of their offering, service and venues.
Based on my research, I worked on the company's brand messaging to emphasise the client's commitment to sustainable business practices and the focused on the superior level of craft and experience enjoyed by their customers. I also developed a consistent and memorable visual style across digital and print, showcasing the various facets of the company - from their historic coaching inns to their carefully curated seasonal menus - to communicate the stand-out quality of their business. I adopted a clean, modern aesthetic for the client's brand styling that would appeal to the their target audience and reflect the lived experience of the architectural style, the food and drink offering and the dining out experience Oakman provides to customers.
Since adopting their new brand identity, Oakman has continued to grow the business with numerous new openings planned for the year ahead. I worked with them on applying the new identity concept to a series of fundraising campaigns which successfully raised over £10 million in investments and created over 300 new shareholders. I continue to work with Oakman Inns on their seasonal campaigns and brand development, focusing on the application both externally to their clients and stakeholders, and internally in their award-winning training programme and on-going recruitment efforts for new talent.