Canny Creative unleashes monster rebrand

A North East creative agency is repositioning itself for its next phase of growth with a fresh brand identity aimed squarely at business clients.

Blyth-based brand design and web agency Canny Creative has unveiled a new look and website as it makes a strategic shift towards the B2B market. 

The rebrand follows the company’s tenth anniversary as a limited company and signals a renewed focus on growth. 

Featuring a pastel colour palette, hand-drawn illustrations and a new mascot, Mark the monster of marketing, the updated identity sits under the strapline ‘Taming marketing monsters since 2015’. 

Designed to satirise the marketing industry, the playful approach also reinforces the agency’s credentials.

Tony Hardy, founder and managing director at Canny Creative, said: “Canny has changed a lot over the last ten years. 

“Our thinking has evolved, along with our client base, and our brand identity just hadn’t kept pace. 

“We wanted something that would reflect our evolution, without losing the fun, approachable side that people know us for.”

“We carried out a tonne of research and played around with lots of different concepts until we landed on something which felt authentic. 

“It’s a bit outside of the box, but that’s exactly the point. 

“The creative sector is saturated with agencies promising to help their clients to ‘stand out from the crowd’, but then their own visual identities don’t practice what they’re preaching. 

“We didn’t want to do that.”

“Introducing a big, hairy purple monster into our branding was a calculated risk.

“Brand mascots have been around for years, but they’re almost never used in B2B. 

“B2B branding is traditionally very safe and accessible, but instead of seeing that as a limitation, we saw an opportunity to create a character that didn’t just represent Canny, but represented marketing itself to help us really speak to our audience. 

“Because the truth is, marketing today is a bit of a monster.

“We work with clients all over the world, from big multinational corporations to owner managed businesses, and the one thing that all of the marketing teams have in common is that they’re stretched too thin. 

“Sometimes the ‘team’ is just one or two individuals, expected to manage the entire marketing function, from video production to social media, all the while keeping tabs on KPIs and ROI to justify their budget. It’s a lot, we understand that.

“Mark the monster is the embodiment of that spirit. 

“He is a lot. 

“He’s the unpredictable brilliance of the creative sector which, for all of its fun and playfulness, is absolutely vital to a businesses’ ongoing success. 

“People will either love it or hate it, but we hope that they at least get it. 

“It’s been a labour of love for our in-house team, and I’m really proud of how it’s turned out.”

Founded in 2015, Canny Creative provides brand design, website development and SEO services to B2B clients across sectors including technology, recruitment, training and healthcare.

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