Telling the Whole Story: Branding, Memory & Meaning in Cape Town
- Paul
- Apr 23
- 2 min read
Where Brand Meets Place
Cape Town is a city that embodies contradiction. Its narrative is a unique blend of beauty and displacement, heritage and loss, story and silence, all coexisting in a complex harmony.
Storytelling is a potent tool in branding. In places like Cape Town, the stories don't originate from the brand itself; they are deeply rooted in the location. These narratives, often intricate and challenging, are the ones that need to be shared, inspiring us to delve deeper into our brand stories.
As a brand studio, we spend a lot of time thinking about the power of the story but also about who gets to tell it, and who's left out when the story is polished for public consumption.
In Cape Town, these questions about storytelling and branding are not just theoretical, they are tangible and spatial. You can walk between them, experiencing the layers of history and meaning that shape the city.
The City as a Storyboard
One morning, you're strolling through Kirstenbosch Gardens, a curation, design and natural storytelling masterclass. Another, you're in the District Six Museum, reading handwritten memories of families forced out of the city's heart. You sit in the sun at a vineyard built on 18th-century farmland, then drive past the coloured walls of Bo-Kaap, homes painted in defiance, in pride, in remembrance. At the V&A Waterfront, the stories are sleek, intentional, and global.
Each of these spaces holds meaning. But not all meanings are treated equally. And that brings us back to the brand.
No Brand is Neutral
Because brands, especially in places with complex histories, aren't neutral. Whether they acknowledge it or not, they operate inside stories that began long before them. In the case of Cape Town and South Africa, they are stories shaped by colonisation, segregation, aspiration, and exclusion. And the question isn't whether brands should engage with that history, but how they do it. Or don't. It's a call to action for brands to take responsibility for their place in these narratives and to engage with them actively.
Some trade on a legacy. Others lean into progress. Some blend both. But all of them choose what to show, what to reference, and what to leave unsaid. Brands have the power to shape narratives, and with this power comes the responsibility to do so thoughtfully and respectfully.
This isn't a call to politicise every brand. It's a call to pay attention. To understand that context matters. That in places like Cape Town, and places like yours, there are layers under the surface. And those layers carry meaning, even when unspoken. It's about being mindful of the context in which your brand operates and the narratives it's entwined with.
Asking Better Questions
As designers, strategists, and storytellers, we believe the strongest brands don't just find the most compelling narrative. They recognise when they're entering one. They make space for complexity. They resist the urge to flatten. They ask better questions.
So here's ours: What story is your brand standing on, and who does it belong to?
