Newcastle-based independent media and creative consultancy, SOLVD, has been recognised for its strategic and creative development of a new brand for its client, Kandui Technologies’ Noveco Surfaces.

The agency was awarded at the Transform Awards ANZ, held at Sydney’s Jones Bay Heritage Wharf, a platform that acknowledges excellence in creativity and strategy across the entire brand development process.

Noveco Surfaces, a brand of Australian sustainable surfaces manufacturer Kandui, is the only onshore manufacturer of a silica-free, waste-to-product engineered stone alternative. This follows the Australian ban on engineered stone earlier this year.

Noveco Surfaces produces a range of eco-luxury tiles and benchtops from the stone alternative. The brand was created to introduce innovative 'Green Ceramics' technology to the building industry. The ceramics redirect glass and textile waste from landfill and transform them into benchtop surfaces. In its first year of production alone, an estimated 35 tonnes of waste will be saved from landfill, with more than one million tonnes of waste diverted each year as Noveco expands its manufacturing operations.

"Our collaboration with SOLVD goes beyond a rebrand - it has supported the transformation of our commercial potential," Noveco Surfaces CEO, Ryan Fritsch, said. "Clients and other stakeholders are overwhelmingly supportive of the new brand, highlighting the brand and products are exactly what the market needs. Receiving recognition for the work with SOLVD is a testament to the relationship we’ve built. We’re excited to continue revolutionising sustainable building."

SOLVD developed the brand name Noveco Surfaces and undertook a deep strategic process including key stakeholder discovery workshops, customer research and a competitive analysis to deliver the brand vision, purpose, values and personality. The launch campaign is aimed directly at the design-savvy architect and developer markets, with SOLVD creating the brand strategy using visual elements of the organic nature of the product itself.

“With so many big names on the Transform Awards shortlist, we’re so excited to see regional agencies like ours represented amongst the winners. There is fantastic work being done all over the country, and I’m so proud to see SOLVD’s campaign making a mark on the regional stage,” SOLVD Principal Consultant, Sam Gannon said. “Noveco Surfaces and Green Ceramics are set to revolutionise the building industry, with audiences invited to embrace an innovative, cost appropriate alternative that is highly beneficial for both people and the planet. In the months since launch there has been overwhelming support for the brand, which is paving the way for significant growth opportunities.”