It just works: Brother New Zealand launches ‘honest’ brand platform via Wave Agency

Brother New Zealand launched its first Aotearoa-facing brand platform this week via Wave Agency. The platform offers a fresh take on tech-marketing led by a new tagline ‘It just works’ and campaigned with an artful TVC and a spread of straight-talking billboards across the country.

Says Craig Parker, creative director at Wave Agency: “It’s been a really lovely process working alongside Brother to get to this point. We’ve found a positioning together that’s different, honest, and true to who Brother is.”

Brother has been operating in New Zealand for more than 60 years, offering print technology and services as well as craft, sewing and labelling devices for business and home. This is the first major refresh of the brand on a local level in recent years.

Parker said ‘It just works’ was born in response to the exaggerated promises of modern technology advertising – instead owning quality as a benefit: “We are so often bombarded with commercials where tech products promise the world. All you need your printer to do is work, and work well.”

The film (in 45, 30 and 15 second edits) pulls Brother’s customers to the forefront, showcasing the exceptional and the ordinary of everyday business, with printers given a subtle nod as a background character.

Julie Chappell, marketing manager at Brother New Zealand said the campaign is an ode to Brother’s customers who are ‘making the magic happen’: “We wanted our ad to hero the work our customers do, not the work we do.

“They’re coming up with the big ideas, they’re putting in the late nights, they’re juggling school projects and business proposals – we just make sure that runs smoothly, that we don’t disrupt the day.”

The on-demand commercial is supported by print, radio, digital and OOH, all stating what a Brother printer doesn’t do.

Says Parker: “It is a brave choice for a technology business to actively not list off functions and product benefits.”

Eagle-eyed Kiwi’s may spot that Brother’s iconic jingle is absent from the TVC, a decision that Chappell said wasn’t an easy one: “The jingle has graced our airwaves for decades, so it was a tricky choice to evolve from something that’s so linked with our brand. It was important with this platform to re-establish Brother in a more modern light, so it has been replaced with three contemporary notes to the words ‘at your side’.

“We’re grateful to have partnered with Wave to take Brother to this exciting place.”

Client: Brother New Zealand
Marketing Manager: Julie Chappell
Marketing Executives: Katie Axcell and Anna Clayton

Agency: Wave Agency
Creative Director: Craig Parker
Senior Creative: Megan Raynor
Art Director: Guy Thompson
Agency Producer: Jenna Mills
Business Director: Victoria Easton Wrinch
Account Manager: Sonja Motus
Strategy: Emma Fern and Brendan Herring

Media Agency: MBM

Director: Chris Clark