Startup branding for lifestyle & hospitality business, Pomalo
We were delighted to be approached by Andrea Hilgers to create the brand identity for her startup business, Pomalo - a hospitality and lifestyle business based at their stunning property near Tunbridge Wells, Kent. There aren’t really enough words for how impressive Andrea Hilgers and her family are. Multicultural in every sense, they’ve lived in glorious countries across the globe before making their way to the UK and moving to their beautiful new home in Pembury at the end of 2019.
Andrea contacted us as she stood at the beginning of a fresh chapter for her career and business. A chef, trainee baker and hostess with a stunning property that provides plenty of possibility, she wanted to create a business that brings together the very best of all that she has to offer. She had ambitions to build a lifestyle brand; one that celebrates seasonality and home grown produce and good health. A brand that brings people together and rewards them by touching their lives in a meaningful, lasting way. What a delicious proposition that is...
When Andrea and I first spoke, her new venture didn’t even have a name yet. And whilst it was an enigma in that sense, Andrea knew precisely what she wanted this business to be all about. At the heart of the brand is a deep sense of home and family. Having moved to the UK in 2019, the family home is Pembury Hall - a truly stunning home with heaps of character. The grandeur of a classic English country house merges with contemporary ideals, providing the perfect backdrop for guests to step away from the hustle and immerse themselves in a different pace. With so many options ahead, both the house and grounds offer an abundance of opportunity to host and gather – from intimate dinners or workshops in the Coach House to picnics in the woodland, inspiring talks in the grounds or cookery classes in the purpose-built kitchens.
Placing wholesome, nourishing food front and centre in all that they do, Pomalo is a brand founded upon Andrea’s lifelong love affair with food, and firm belief in the wonderful things that happens when people come together. Every event, experience and interaction is created with the sincere intention to nourish the mind and body, offering a respite from the everyday.
I truly love working on projects such as this. The entire business is a blank canvas, and working alongside our client to shape their vision and gain clarity in their message is such a privilege! Andrea needed little support in defining her niche; she already knew exactly what the brand was going to be about. But yet, it remained nameless. Naming is such a classically challenging task for any entrepreneur, and the initial seeds of excitement can quickly turn to frustration when creative block sets in and you just can’t conjure up anything that feels ‘right’.
Luckily, we bring both creativity and strategy to such projects. It’s about looking beyond the obvious and seeking to name the essence of the business rather than being too literal. Andrea and I both loved ‘Pomalo’ - one of the most quintessential words of Dalmatian vocabulary. The word literally means ‘slow’, but it’s true essence goes way deeper. It stands for a way of life, where we take a moment to relax, slow down and leave stress elsewhere. And in that way, it couldn’t be more perfect for Andrea’s business.
Visually, we responded to the brief with a brand which is modern yet classic, aspirational yet homely, earthy yet refined. Deliberately understated, energy is infused into the brand with utterly gorgeous photography. But more on that in my next post.
This brand is a complete standout to me, and a joy to work on from beginning to end. From building the vision of the brand to finding the perfect name, to writing the words, styling the shoot and building the website - what a pleasure it is to work on a project like this! Experience the website at pomalo.co.uk
