Two ambitious brands working from one iconic landmark. Almost 500 years of history between them. And now, just a stairwell apart.
As luck would have it, we’ve partnered with both The Courier and Blackadders to help them evolve their brands. Steeped in heritage and history, one has embarked on a multimedia storytelling campaign — the other a radical rebrand to challenge perceptions.
Here’s how their stories connect.
Advising established brands with deep-rooted traditions.
You’ll find The Courier in their jaw-dropping Renaissance-style building in Dundee. Around the corner, you’ll also find leading law firm Blackadders.
Reframing a brand is always a delicate balancing act. Throw in centuries of tradition and heritage and the scales become even tougher to balance.
In very different ways, we’ve helped both clients walk the tightrope that brands with deep roots face to stay fresh and relevant. To help inspire and lead the next generation while keeping existing customers (and colleagues) onside. There are lessons here for every business, whether your materials feel dusty or your brand needs a more extreme overhaul.
The Courier has been a cultural anchor point in Tayside and Fife since 1816. Blackadders can trace its roots back 250 years. Navigating change requires: top-down brand guardianship, vision, strategic foresight, expertise, passion and creativity. Meaningful change needs a deep excavation to understand the scale of the challenge before looking for answers. You need to know your audience, competitors and market inside out to find your position of greatest strength.
How will you move there? What’s in your armoury? What assets do you keep, adapt or throw out? How do you project manage and deliver operational change while bringing your people with you — internally and externally?
‘To design a meaningful solution, you need to first understand the level of change required.’
Liam Bonar, Creative Director, LBD Studio
The Courier: ‘Local stories make us’
Audience impact without major brand surgery.
We were asked to help The Courier realign internal and external perceptions, placing focus back on their unwavering commitment to the communities they serve. As you might expect, our initial thoughts were of a rebrand. However, as
we began to dig into the data, it became clear that the best way to win hearts and minds was to develop a campaign and communications strategy to emotionally link these stories.
That campaign — ‘Local stories make us’ — flows from strategy, positioning, tone of voice and copywriting to creative direction and production of their TV commercial, radio ads, OOH and more. The campaign aims to prompt brand reappraisal, increase audience share, and inspire more digital subscribers.
By amplifying The Courier’s commitment to quality community journalism, we empower local voices and build on their legacy of trust and accuracy — and we did it all without performing major surgery on the brand itself.
Real stories with real people
The stories used in the campaign are all real people with real stories to tell.
Like Peter Hay, the lifeboatman who has saved at least 16 lives in over 500 rescues. Or the community of Kenmore fighting to save the identity of their village. Local heroes like KT Tunstall and Cammy Kerr — the list of stories goes on, but the theme that unites these inspiring tales is their undeniable connection to the communities they are part of.
‘LBD Studio helped us refine our strategy and translate it into a powerfully emotive campaign.’
Carly Gilchrist, Head of Brand Marketing, DC Thomson
A call to arms
To help land the message at the heart of the campaign, we wrote a manifesto to beautifully capture the passion and energy that goes into their journalism. A true call to arms for colleagues and a statement of intent for readers.
The Courier brand manifesto
‘This isn’t just news.
It’s where our story meets yours.
From the first glimmers of dawn on the Tay,
to the final whistle on match day.
Where the local heroes’ standing ovation
stands shoulder-to-shoulder with
the buskers song in the square.
This is where lives’ connect,
where voices rise together
and community shows its strength.
Because this isn’t just a patch on the map.
It’s a tapestry of endeavour, impossible dreams.
From family businesses to global themes,
it’s the wins, the losses, the moments we share.
And the truth we hold always is this:
We’re stronger when we stand together.
And The Courier? We’re not just the witness.
We’re the place where all our stories meet.
This is The Courier. Because local stories make us.’
‘The results have been not only creatively compelling, but also highly impactful.’
Carly Gilchrist, Head of Brand Marketing, DC Thomson
Launch and landing
The campaign launched on 10 March 2025 and was deployed across all owned and paid channels: TV (33%), out of home (24%), targeted digital (15%), print (11%) radio and audio (9%) and native editorial (8%).
Getting the measure of audience perceptions
The Courier actively surveyed members of the public during the first two months of the campaign launch to measure impact, gather live feedback and gauge evolving brand perceptions. The results have been overwhelmingly positive, with an increasing number of subscribers ‘feeling more connected to their community’ and higher brand pillar recognition.
To qualify, respondents had to live within The Courier’s heartland and have engaged with the brand in the past 3 months. Most significantly, a whopping 43% of the target ‘non-subscriber’ demographic stated they would take an action after viewing the TV advert.
Some of the questions they asked
• The 3 words they would use to describe The Courier
• How well they felt the campaign demonstrated their brand purpose
• How well the campaign reflects its brand values
Demonstrating brand pillars
Respondents were also asked how well The Courier aligns with its brand pillars of ‘community building’ (pre-campaign result of 7.4 increased to 8.0 post campaign), ‘championing local’ (7.6 increased to 8.1) and ‘reporting with trust and accuracy’ (7.9 increased to 8.1). Results were scored 1 to 10, with 10 being ‘extremely well’.
Campaign impact
The new positioning is a single gold thread that runs through everything The Courier does. On its updated website, for example: ‘We’ve been at the heart of Tayside and Fife since 1816, bringing our region the local news that matters. That’s because local stories make us: they shape our neighbourhoods, connect our people, and power our community.’
A North Star for the editorial team
We often say that it’s the people within a business that are the ones that breathe life into a brand. For The Courier, it’s the journalists who live and work in their communities and have deep, local connections. Day-in, day-out, they articulate who The Courier is, what it stands for, and why it matters.
The new positioning is a North Star for journalists to guide their reporting. This campaign is evergreen.
Watch this space.
Blackadders: ‘Breaking from unhelpful traditions’
A radical shift in brand perception.
From 2022 to the present day, we have worked with the team at Blackadders to write and launch the next chapter for their firm. With a proud heritage and enviable reputation, their revitalised approach is confident and resolutely future-facing.
The philosophy behind their new position is one of breaking down barriers.
As a modern firm that puts value on transparency, their work breaks down the complexities associated with the legal system while building positive experiences for both clients, staff and industry partners.
Smashing perceptions
As with all brands with a history, there was work to do to break away from unhelpful traditions. Our first job was to do a deep dive on the industry, identifying common pain points in the client journey before creating a design system that would make for a better experience. We created a language guide to help steer communications and make sure clients felt included and looked after at every stage.
The resulting brand has built trust, passion and belief throughout the firm, helping Blackadders to become a ‘destination employer’.
‘From the outset, the team took the time to understand how the firm was perceived in the market deeply.’
Emma Gray, Joint Managing Partner, Blackadders
Designing for the future
The new visual identity signals a significant gear change.
This change is expressed by physically breaking the old approach in two, demonstrating the cultural and operational changes made. The colour palette followed suit — out with the corporate black and yellow, and in with a ‘digital-first’ neon turquoise and a calming navy.
Broadening the visual system
We expanded upon these principles and built a holistic design system of photography, illustration, animation, iconography and more.
To ensure the brand landed well with clients and colleagues, we designed and produced everything from custom notebooks and stationery to events, staff portraits and the firm website.
The impact of the rebrand
Blackadders is considered a pioneering, people-first firm that breaks barriers and sets new standards in the industry. It reported strong financial results in 2023/24 driven by a period of investment and consolidation. Combined turnover (law firm and Blackadders Wealth Management) was £16.9m, up from £16.7m in 2022/23.
A slate of measures have improved performance, including investment in people and brand. As Joint Managing Partner Ryan McKay told insider.co.uk: ‘We have used resources to ensure we are an employer of choice within the profession by improving staff reward and investing in the best offices and technology’. The law firm has embraced the new values and ramped up awareness across external communications and social media.
Here’s how they talk about their brand now:
Breaking down barriers
‘We’re challenging the stereotype of what a law firm does — for clients, other professionals, and those simply starting their legal journey.’
Breaking from unhelpful traditions
‘In a world of fast-paced change, it is easy to do what’s always been done. But at Blackadders, we only ever do what’s right — for our clients, our people and our business.’
Breaking the glass ceiling
‘We create opportunities for people who show talent, integrity and a willingness to learn — regardless of their background. We show people what’s possible and help them get there.’
