Unilever – Soft Republick – Where art meets ice cream

The soft serve ice cream revolution is in full swing and our childhood’s favourite summertime indulgence is top of the menu again. It is now an immersive experience of art meets invention. At the forefront of the revolution is Soft Republick, the extraordinary new ice cream brand proposition from Unilever-owned Wall’s. Their proposition of ‘Where art meets ice cream’ is driving the brand to deliver a new experience of creativity, with ice cream as an inspiring and delicious artistic medium.

Working closely with the brand creation agency, I-am and directly with Unilever, Ollystudio wrote the local artists and local communities purpose proposal and then worked as curator in selecting street artists to work in each of the selected pilot destination cities. London, Brighton, Istanbul and Helsinki were the first four territories. Street art plays a major role at the heart of Soft Republick’s creation of community led programmes – with the aim of working closely with local artists and creative groups. Drawing on local creative networks was key to making a brand offer that didn’t alienate, and that became inclusive rather than exclusive. Sourcing street artists from within each territory allowed us to create the individuality within each territory that the purpose proposal centred on whilst still retaining Soft Republick’s overall theme of creativity, thus observing the brand’s integrity and ensuring the respect and ongoing involvement of the local artistic community.