Since 2003, the Invercargill based Market South has been a disproportionately loud voice for its clients and the Southland region. From today, it evolves its brand into a new iteration to represent its future, taking on the name Naked Creative.

Director Carla Forbes said it was time for a new era of the full suite marketing agency, that offers marketing, communications, design, photo and videography, strategy and web development services.

“Naked, as a concept, could lend itself to some colourful casual Fridays, but it has nothing to do with nudity. It’s about being real and authentic,” she said.

“We’re beyond excited to be unveiling our new look. The Naked Creative brand reflects how much we’ve grown as a business, and where we’re headed in the coming years.”

Moving the brand to Naked Creative was the logical next step, with the agency’s approach being direct and stripped bare, letting the deliverables speak for themselves.

Chief executive Erin McCall, who had worked extensively on the new brand, said it was this approach that inspired the business evolution to Naked Creative.

“It mirrors that journey, how the scale of the projects we work on and the clients we work with has changed. We felt a new brand identity would reflect this growth, while also positioning ourselves for the future.”

When working with clients, Naked Creative invests heavily in a deep discovery process, peeling back the layers to get the full picture of the company it is working with. Then, it strips the business naked and re-dresses it as the client wants its audience, team, and shareholders to see it.

Naked Creative’s future builds on Market South’s legacy. In recent years, the agency has become a loud voice for the south. Advocating for the local region was core to the business strategy, McCall said.

“Our brand is about being real and acknowledging our roots. We are proud to be a Southland business and we will continue putting our money where our mouth is, supporting the region that has supported us,” she said.

Advocating to keep neurosurgery in the south, setting up a graveyard at the airport as a protest to garner political support for the Tiwai aluminium smelter, pulling businesses together to create tools to support businesses during COVID-19; the list of high-profile campaigns to better the region goes on. One of the studio’s loudest was the Stand up for SIT protest, which attracted weeks of national coverage from multiple media outlets. Forbes said the key to the campaign’s success was the simple messaging that resonated with the community.

“At its core, Stand Up for SIT was about saying we as Southlanders didn’t feel listened to with the Government’s vocational education reforms,” she said.

Messaging in the campaign included simple and direct statements, such as, “are you listening?” and “be heard”.

“Keeping the messaging simple allowed for clear cut through and instant connection with what the campaign was about,” Forbes said.

This dedication to bolstering Southland remains a cornerstone of Naked Creative. The new brand represents moving from a proud Southland business to a proud Southland-based national business.

“Generally, you won’t see us out front – we let the work we do speak for us. Unless we are cheerleading for Southland – then get out of our way!” Forbes said.