Design by Minale Tattersfield

Minale Tattersfield Design Strategy Group is undertaking a major brand identity project for a West African fuel company.

Sahara Oil has engaged the consultancy to oversee its corporate identity, having created prototypes that have been applied to six stations in Ghana. These will now be used for each of Sahara Oil's £100 000 'So Energy' petrol stations, with plans to roll out 100 stations over the next two years.
The branding will extend to Sahara Oil's website, corporate literature, brochures, communications and T-shirts, to sit alongside the retail design. Sahara Oil's businesses include a series of organisations within the energy sector across shipping, oil storage and real estate.

The company is currently sourcing sites for its petrol stations, whose red and yellow colour scheme has been developed in 'vibrant colours to help the petrol station stand out from those in Europe, for example', says MTDSG partner David Davis. 'Our designs for the stations are easy to build and reflect that these stations will need to be made locally,' he says, adding that the stations' colour scheme reflects the vibrancy and brightness of the African continent.

'From a production point of view, we have created parts for the interior design which can be made in simple workshops and do not use difficult curves,' says Davis.

MTDSG was appointed in summer 2005 by Sahara Oil directors Tonye Cole, Ade Odunsi and Tope Shonubi on the back of a series of retail identities for clients Lukoil and Thai Oil. The consultancy is also creating the identity for petrol stations for Russian brand Rosneft.

source from: Design Week

Design by Minale Tattersfield

A highly ambitious Iranian company, Fouman Chimie had plans to dominate the local market with its Caspian range of lubricants and called on Minale Tattersfield to realise this.Taking inspiration from the dynamic shapes of racing cars, Minale Tattersfield designed the pack that could be used across the range of lubricants, antifreeze and windscreen cleaners. Bright modern label graphics were then created to emphasise the shape of the container and to stand out on shelf.A very distinctive shrink wrap cap seal was also designed to protect against adulteration and assure consumers of the integrity of the product.

Minale Tattersfield Client

Minale Tattersfield Client

From a business point of view there would be a potential longer term financial benefit in establishing a totally new brand, owned by the oil company. The challenge is to launch the new brand as far along the learning curve as possible. To run this new division of the company, there must be a dedicated team within the oil company which may include many pure retail specialists. Running a C-store may not seem that difficult, but examining existing examples on the market, especially in old petrol stations, shows there is a lack of expert knowledge.

Having an own-brand convenience store does not necessarily preclude partner brands elsewhere on the same site (space-permitting), especially when those brands include the likes of McDonalds, Pizza Hut, Dunkin' Donuts or Starbucks. A strategy of "The more the merrier!" has worked to tremendous effect on the South Superhighway in Manila where all the above brands exist alongside Petron own-brand, "Treats". It is critical for the designers of such developments to avoid visual anarchy amongst the competing brand symbols and colours. Previously, the c-store represented a 'distressed purchase', where the consumer stops because they need petrol and has to go into the c-store to pay. Increasingly, the c-store is now becoming a destination for customers.

© Copyright by Minale Tattersfield Design Strategy