Gumtree UK launched a new logo in 2016 under the guidance of branding agency, Koto. This modernisation of the tree logo was a successful rebrand that Gumtree Australia was to adopt, but also evolve for the Australian market.

Gumtree Australia tasked Pollen Digital with localising the new brand. So, the guys at Pollen contracted me to be their Gumtree Brand Guardian and help develop the new Australian version. The New Logo and the 2 Primary Colours were the creative starting points. From there, we developed the new Gumtree Australia design, a cohesive brand guide and sub-branding, as well as the complete SWAG catalogue.

The challenge lied in the fact that Gumtree has a long heritage in this country and research showed that people still connected with the old brand. So we needed to reference our roots, but modernise to evolve with the times in an increasingly competitive landscape.

A significant influence on our thinking is that Gumtree is more than a logo, it’s a thriving online marketplace that connects people. It’s all about the experience and the brand plays a pivotal role in helping us connect – so we set about creating a brand that puts digital first. We had to create a brand that has legs.

Designing new colour palettes for the Australian sub-brands, ‘Cars’ and ‘Jobs’ was a challenge in itself as they had to stand on their own but remain instantly recognisable as Gumtree. The brand also has to be accessible for our diverse audience of 7 million+ users and adaptable to any device, now and in the future.

Digital brands live in a dynamic environment, so we carefully considered how the brand would move and evolve, as this is a key part of creating engaging online experiences. The brand also needs to speak to people in the right way, so we engaged with Gumtree’s copywriter to make sure it was hitting the right notes tonally from welcome messages for new users to system generated emails. The brand now speaks to its users in a consistent and personalised way.