Oil of Ulay – the first brand that meant something to me…
I was educated at a very young age that brand names didn’t necessarily mean something was better. My parents were very careful to point out the power of curiosity and that I could and should question things; that a healthy dose of scepticism is no bad thing because in some cases a brand name can mean bullshit.
The fact that this was given such emphasis caused me to pay attention. It caused me to pay attention to my own experience which initially felt at odds with that I’d been told. This experience taught me that a brand can hold meaning; it can hold emotion and feelings and sensory experiences.
The first brand that I remember doing this for me was Oil of Ulay which became synonymous with my Nan.
The specific shade of pink of the box and colour of fluid in the bottle.
The preciousness of the bottle because it was small, it was boxed and it was made from glass – something to be extra careful with.
The distinctive design of the black and pink label with its classy typography and elegant illustration - always on my Nan’s dressing table.
Oil of Ulay became sign of love for me.
I loved my Nan as much as I’ve loved anyone; most of all for her heart and soul as she was such a wonderful person but wrapped up in that was the way she smelled and her impossibly soft skin.
However much I was cautioned not to be blinded by brand names my experience of this was something else; it felt magical and special and if this bottle had a genie it was my Nan; it was love, beauty and kindness.
It was a little later on that I started to learn about ingredients, company practices and ethics. (I was only about 6 or 7 at the time of this memory.) I realised that a brand can stand for integrity and enrich lives if built with care, intention, and principles.
I also discovered that branding is about solving problems creatively. For example, making a sustainable product doesn’t mean it has to feel cheap or fall apart—it’s a design challenge to make it beautiful, functional, and environmentally friendly. Excellence doesn’t need to come at the cost of ethics; it can amplify them.
Over the past 30 years, this belief has guided my work and my goal to develop brands that resonate with truth and purpose, helping businesses build trust and loyalty by aligning their values with their visuals. For me, branding isn’t just about looking good—it’s about doing good, helping businesses care for their customers by delivering something remarkable.
Because when a brand holds meaning, it becomes more than just a name. It becomes part of someone’s story—just like my Nan’s Oil of Ulay bottle was part of mine.
I would love to know what was the first brand that held meaning for you?