Expertise

Brand / Design

Channels

Print / OOH

How to give a brand a
LITTLE BIT OF CHARACTER

Whether it’s a high-end restaurant like Becasse, or a fast-food outlet like Charlie & Co, celebrity chef Justin North sources his ingredients from organic farmers and small producers. Charlie & Co’s branding brings this concept to life with a colourful figure from hamburger history.

Charlie & co shopfront

The Challenge

Unlike most food-court outlets, Charlie & Co burgers have a story that’s carefully developed from paddock to plate. But how do you sum that up in a brand?

THE solution

A strong story needs a strong character. Inspired by the back-to-basics approach of the owners, we delved into the history of the burger and uncovered Mr Charlie Nagreen.

Legend has it that 15-year-old ‘Hamburger Charlie’ invented the hamburger at the Seymour Fair in 1885. His popular takeaway meatballs were hard to hold, so he started selling them between slices of bread.

As a bit of burger folklore Charlie Nagreen tied together the elements of traditional tastiness and grassroots innovation that Justin wanted to bring to his customers.

The process

As consummate foodies, Justin and Georgia North naturally feel most at home in restaurants and cafes. To develop the Charlie & Co concept, we left the office and joined them for coffees and chats at their favourite spots.

They showed us the brands they liked, why they liked them, and more importantly, just how passionate they were about supporting small producers and bringing quality burgers to their customers through Charlie & Co.

Inspired by their passion and dedication, the Bang team developed the brand concept into menus, a website, interiors, uniforms and packaging, using locally sourced and sustainable materials in line with the brand.

mock ups to show the announcement of the new restuarant in the newspaper

The results

With the exit of Justin North from the business in 2011, new owners Jones the Grocer are taking Charlie & Co to new locations in Australia and Asia. The burgers may be changing, but the brand story remains the same.

It’s been a pleasure partnering with Bang to make it all happen. They firstly 
took the time to understand our vision. Then brought it to life with a range 
of conceptual design options each underpinned with strategic rationale and a 
‘story’ that can be applied to interiors, menus, the website – the entire 
creative scope.

Georgia north, Joint Owner & Founder, Charlie & Co.

Expertise

Campaign / Strategy / Design / Content / Development / Data

Channels

Digital / Print

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