A unique conservation experience
Ōamaru Penguins - Brand development 2025
This brand refresh aligned with a major overhaul of the Ōamaru Penguins visitor centre and a project to bring the rich data stories of the penguins to life. Alongside Dragonfly Data Science and as part of Salted Herring I developed the brand strategy and brand story.
New look and feel
Ōamaru Penguins were clear about the importance of both tourism and conservation for their organisation but needed to find a clearer narrative to bring these aspects together harmoniously. They need to make enough money from visitors to be sustainable yet still be true to their conservation mission. In articulating their purpose we highlighted their passion for fostering deep connections between people and the natural world - to advance global penguin conservation. This also resonates well with visitors.
Real time data on penguin activity
This fed into the core story, their offering is a unique conservation experience—an intimate, educational visitor journey supported by a long-term science and research programme. The commercial and environmental aspects support each other equally; one can’t be without the other.
We created a brand personality that was both authentic to the team and engaging for visitors: they are “warm and welcoming, penguin-mad, green at heart, and seriously scientific”. This came to life across the visitor centre, physical collateral, and the website, which uses delightful real-time data visualisation to show what the penguins are up to each day. We also simplified their name, refreshed the logo and overhauled the entire brand look and feel. A pretty flipping awesome result that has been transformational for their inspiring organisation.
Interactive data visualisation
Client testimonial:
“What I most enjoyed about working with Salted Herring was that Pep & Kate immediately understood our “why”. They got that we’re not just about selling tickets to see penguins, but that our organisation represents a whole lot more than that (conservation, research, a passionate team etc), and all of those elements that make up who we are, were brought out so perfectly in the brand and visual identity.
Feedback has all been wonderful, people love the new logo, website and marketing collateral, we’re very happy and proud of what has been created.”
Philippa Agnew
GM — Science & Environmental
New website pages
