Project services
Brand definition and articulation
Brand modelling
Manifesto
Cultural research
Consumer insights
Creative guiding principles
Our brief
What we did
Brand definition & articulation
The vision for the hotel was crystal clear in the owners’ minds, which the architects had used as foundations for their distinctive concept. The stage was set for the brand.
What was the brand’s story to travellers, trade and talent? Why should people come and stay at Cosme – what made it so special? What kind of experience should guests expect? How would we articulate the unique location, atmosphere and architecture?
The name of the hotel was set, but there were minimal visual or verbal identity elements for the brand. How should the brand look, feel, speak and behave throughout the guest experience?
We defined and articulated the key ideas at the heart of this brand and connected them all in a simple one-page model, ensuring it was carefully aligned with all key stakeholders, and captured the simple brand promise:
‘At Cosme, you are free to be.’
Three simple words to capture a wealth of emotion and insight: ‘free to be’. A big idea, discovered by spending quality time with the hotel’s visionary owners and architects, and by digging deep to understand Cycladic culture and history.
Brand modelling & manifesto
As our client said in one of our first conversations, “The time is right to celebrate life and feel free.” The pandemic had left us thirsty for freedom and community. For the joy of human encounters, unexpected discoveries, unplanned wanderings. Thirsty to be together again. And to simply be ourselves. Free from the expectations and pressures we had all experienced. Free to understand our new selves, emerging from the transformative shock of the last two years. It seemed this was the perfect time to embrace the ethos: “free to be”.
Cosme offered this freedom. Spilling onto the sand and azure waters of its own private beach, guests were surrounded by nature, free to step into it. Moments away from the bustling town of Naoussa, guests could easily enjoy the town’s increasingly cosmopolitan upbeat vibe, before recovering in the pool, spa or hotel gardens. The architectural design created an arrangement of spaces to gather and spark chance conversations, whilst also offering havens of escape and individuality. Within the interiors, artefacts and artworks spark curiosity, telling the story of Paros, its people and the merchants, saints and artists who made the island their home.
With the key brand ideas articulated and connected, we started to unpack the Cosme story, building visual and verbal tone and personality. We worked closely with the creative team, making the connections between the brand’s strategy and its expression, building an accompanying guide of creative principles.
This project was a sprint, with the positioning and identity completed in 3 months, in time for the start of the 2022 season. The launch was a huge success, seeing Cosme fully booked over the summer months. It has already received many recognitions in publications including Forbes, Condé Nast Traveller, WSJ Magazine, and the Financial Times’ How to Spend It.
Strategy is a practise. It’s not a formula, it’s a method. Asking the right questions – and listening hard to the answers is key. This isn’t about transcripts and recordings, it’s about understanding the emotions behind the words. It means making the emotional investment to build the trust, openness and empathy required for a real conversation. It means creating time within the process, even if it’s a sprint, to talk, to share ideas, to understand, and to build together. If we can say at the end of a project “These ideas are all yours” we have done our job, and listened properly!
“The hotel has coined the motto “free to be”, and I ask you has there ever been a better, or more needed, time to wholeheartedly embrace this ethos?”
Condé Nast Traveller
