Behind Wonderhood’s Effort to Help Soho Businesses and Its First Blessing

The last few years have doubtlessly been hard on independent businesses of all sizes, entrepreneurs at any point in their careers and especially the hospitality and travel industries.

Agency Wonderhood Studios tell me that London alone has suffered a net loss of 7,695 local enterprises only last year, many of which are based in the beating heart of the capital - Soho. Taken aback by this, and more shocking statistics revealing the true number of new businesses opening in London (and importantly, that being outstripped by the number of closures), the team at Wonderhood knew something had to be done, and fast.

In response, Wonderhood launched an annual pro-bono initiative parallel to the opening of their design studio - Wonderhood Design - focused on supporting local Soho businesses through free branding and design. 

To battle the grim reality of a post-pandemic world for small businesses and their owners, the agency has agreed to support the weird and wonderful indies around their own Soho office, while “allowing [themselves] to create great work for a worthy recipient,” says co-founder of Wonderhood Roy Barker.  

 

This effort to save a prideful spot for small businesses on the streets of the capital comes not only as a survivor’s push after the pandemic, but also as a stand against chains taking over the neighbourhood and London as a whole. 

Naming and branding of Soho’s newest coffee shop, Sacred Grounds, for the iconic St. Anne’s church became the first of a string of projects. 

A key to helping smaller brands stand out in a sea of Joe and the Juices to Wonderhood is helping owners truly get what their brand is about, what their values are and what is true to them. “We did a lot of research early on to understand the local market, which gave us a pretty clear idea of what was missing,” explains Roy. Simply, people crave connection with the brands they buy from, and the meaning behind their existence within the spaces they occupy.

“As an independent business that has been at the heart of the Soho community for years, they already have their own tone of voice and personality, making them stand out against the multitude of chain brands,” he adds.  Because of this, sticking to the true origin story was key in creating Sacred Grounds as well as establishing it as part of the community.

Before finding Sacred Grounds, the agency tried a myriad of approaches to find their fit - cold calling, cold visiting, door drops. But they also contacted the Soho Business Alliance, who advertised the pro bono project on their branding & design support section on their forum, which was ultimately what spurred the community’s interest.

“St. Anne’s stood out,” says Lara Price, new business and marketing. “The unique aspect of what they were planning - a church opening a coffee shop - was exciting. Crucially, too, their values of community and inclusivity rang true to us and the values we share at Wonderhood Design," adds Millie Smith, new business and marketing. "They felt like the perfect candidate and luckily, they really were.”

Once the choice was made, Wonderhood came to meet Jake Lee, a parishioner and operations manager for St. Anne’s, as well as Father Simon, both of whom had plenty of ideas. “Mostly, though, they knew what they didn’t want,” adds Joe Harris, strategy director. “Through the brand audit and looking at the local coffee landscape, we quickly gained their trust and worked collaboratively to ensure our vision matched theirs.”

Wonderhood co-founder Simon Elvins calls working with St. Anne’s a “collaborative process from the get-go” and praises the church for being “the perfect client.” Apparently, the St. Anne’s team was totally open to Wonderhood’s semi-risqué ideas, as well as being pushed beyond their comfort zone, but were not afraid to hold firm in certain areas.

Choosing the name was about finding the sweet spot in the interplay between coffee shops and churches. There’s one in pretty much every major cathedral in London, but this is a bit different. It’s the coffee shop of the church. After compiling a huge list of potential names, Sacred Grounds stood out as the right balance of not being explicitly “religious” but not too “generic coffee shop” either. “It felt welcoming and stood out at the same time,” adds Joe.

But a unique name isn’t enough to stand out in a sea of coffee shops and even more so, in a sea of coffee evangelists. Sacred Grounds ended up sporting a signature colour palette, helmed by a bright, sunset orange that is guaranteed to catch a bypasser’s eye against the grey building facades.

And, if you’re a Soho frequenter, you know that a lot of Sacred Grounds’ competitors have opted for a ‘classical’ black and white look. Wonderhood knew they needed something with more warmth and vibrancy to it. “We wanted to avoid any of the major colourways of the big behemoths - the green one, the burgundy one, the blue one and the fancy white one.” If you can name them all, it’s time to buy your brew from a smaller shop.

The typography, too, came with its own character: “It had an ornate and classical feel of the church, but within a more contemporary setting,” explains Simon.

Of course, typography can only go halfway, especially if you’re trying to convince people to drink coffee with OOH advertising. You also need what Wonderhood call “a brilliant tone of voice,” which in its own right allows for brilliant copywriting and is backed by brilliant design plus cheeky usage of religious iconography. “Whack them on a tote and a long-sleeve tee and you’ve got some banging merch!” 

Besides the Sacred Grounds merch, you can see the cheeky copywriting and church-y font on posters across the area. “We targeted Soho and the surrounding area with something visually distinctive in a medium that we feel kept with its spirit and creativity,” adds Roy.

By the way, said merch is in store right now, so if you’re reading this from anywhere in Soho, pop down and take one. But don’t worry if you miss out, as there’s more in the pipeline, so watch this space.

Wonderhood say they’re just coming up for air after the project with Sacred Grounds, but they will soon be back looking for more brands in the local community. Their target is particularly companies who might have not previously worked with a design studio, but when it comes to specialism they’re open to all, from sex shops to newsagents and DIY stores.