Nubo

Recognising that the average playcentre fails parents and children with loud and over-stimulated destinations, our client came to us with the idea of creating a new type of indoor playcentre that could redefine the market. The idea was in its early origins, with the design of the space and the experience yet to be determined. The brand needed to help develop the playcentre concept as well as how it could come to life as an experience and launch to the market as a brand that celebrated its uniqueness.

Workshopping closely with the client, we developed the idea of ‘Pure Play’ as the foundation for the playcentre brand and experience. This is based on the insight that parents and children were seeking a calm, clean and beautiful place where play is celebrated together rather than loud, brash places where children run amok isolated from their parents. The word Nubo means ‘cloud’ in Esperanto, a universal language invented to foster harmony between nationalities. The cloud is a powerful symbol of purity and imagination that comes to life in the brand design with the ‘B’ cleverly becoming a cloud device.

The new brand has been instrumental in the successful launch of the new playcentre and its growth to more than one centre. Its universal appeal and clean, modern design have created a new market leader and opened up significant new opportunities for expansion. “We have received incredibly positive feedback from parents and children who have visited,” says Mollie Li, Chief Imagination Officer, NUBO. The brand has helped an idea turn into a viable and growing business that is exceeding projections for visitation and turnover.

The Nubo scope has spanned everything from customer experience design to spatial elements in the centres themselves. Working closely with PAL Design Architects we designed environmental graphics that complement the space and even a scientific learning room and theatre in the second Nubo centre. Sensory experiences and experimental play are facilitated by a large illuminated Corian resin sink, designed to encourage children to create, investigate and explore by mixing colours, liquids, bubbles and ice. Marketing included the development of the brand language including the tagline ‘Exercise your imagination’, as well as merchandise, livery and the website.