BLE Creative Corner with… Bravado’s Damian Treece

Damian, it’s great to tie-in. What fuels your creativity? What helps you have ideas?
It’s probably the oldest cliché going, but really just keeping an open mind and being inquisitive across different industries, cultures and competitors… And then being humble enough to look at what other brands and your competitors are doing and say: “That’s really cool, we should explore that.” There’s absolutely no shame in that! You just have to adapt it and make it authentic to your own brand and fans. I’m also lucky to get the brain space that comes with walking a very energetic dog in the Surrey hills which helps!

Ha, nice! Now, can you tell us about a recent launch you were involved in that you feel is an especially creative use of a brand?
At the start of the year we launched a very special collaboration between the Bob Marley Estate, Admiral Sporting Goods and Mundial Magazine to tie-in with the launch of Bob Marley: One Love. Bob’s love and relationship with football is well documented, and we wanted to celebrate that connection in an authentic and meaningful way.

We carefully curated a limited range of apparel recreating the famous track jacket that Bob wore when he was playing at Battersea Park during the recording of Exodus in London. From a design perspective, the ‘M’ on the jacket was supplanted with the Mundial ‘M’ and they made a brilliant short film celebrating this legacy and bringing authentic football culture to the project.

Looks great. And can you tell us about a launch you’ve seen – but weren’t involved in – that you feel is a creative brand extension?
I think what Ian Downes has been developing with Nadiya on the whole is best in class. The Schwartz recipe and spice kits is both brilliantly authentic and commercial.

My second would be the Nairn’s Marmite & Cheese Oatcakes, although the fact they are in my shop every week will inevitably bankrupt me.

You’ll be penniless, but happy! What do you feel is the key to successful creative collaborations between licensors and licensees?
There’s myriad factors of course, but if I were trying to distil down to a couple of key tenets, I’d always lean into authenticity and storytelling between brand and fan/consumer. Couple that with good communication and setting clear expectations and you’re in with a good chance of cutting through. We’re really lucky to work with a wide number of licenses and partners – and we’re increasingly working with them on multiple projects and building long term relationships, mostly underwritten by those working parameters.

Good answer. Last question – BLE is coming up. Is attending the show is a good means of fuelling creativity?
BLE has become increasingly important as we grow and move into different categories and areas of the industry. Candidly, it’s more of an important opportunity to listen and be receptive to ideas and conversations, than to actively scout for ideas and inspiration. Working example of that is our aforementioned relationship with Admiral. It stemmed from a meeting at BLE a few years ago and we’re now working on our fourth project with those guys.

Thanks again Damian. See you at BLE.

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