Butterfly Cannon is a London-based branding and design studio founded in 2010 by Natalie Alexander and Jon Davies. It works with clients like LVMH, Grand Marnier, Zoe Science and Nutrition and Palm Bay International.
We spoke with co-founder Jon Davies about the moments and decisions that defined the studio.
Jon Davies and Natalie Alexander
In 2010, the studio won the work to become Glenmorangie’s retained agency
We knew some people at Glenmorangie from way back with our old agency and just kept in touch. Obviously we had to wait until our lovely non-compete disappeared.
We had a new way of doing research, which embraced technology from the beginning. It was based on implicit association testing, and we created a bit of software where we tested our concept designs with consumers online.
Part of it was showing a picture of the design, and a word associated with the brand, and timed their reaction to say yes or no. It was quite a big thing, because it’s a really good way of understanding what people really, truly, viscerally think or feel about something, which is the most important reaction to measure.
The Glenmorangie team loved our creative and the way we approached it. After three consecutive pitch wins against the incumbent, they said, “This is getting silly,” and made us their retained agency. What followed was nothing short of transformative.
Being part of the LVMH family meant our creative output was examined under a microscope, every concept interrogated, every detail justified. Colour, copy, balance, light play, haptics, literally nothing was off-limits. It was, frankly, terrifying. But also exhilarating.
That level of intensity became part of our creative DNA that lives on today.
The work opened doors to their wider portfolio, from cult Californian wines to luxury icons, Moët and Hennessy. It was the beginning of an enduring relationship, and the making of us creatively. And 15 years later, we’re proud to say we still work with Glenmorangie.
In 2013, Butterfly Cannon moved into a new west London studio
Opening our first London studio gave us space not just to grow, but to reflect. I think the term now is “bootstrapped” but we were just bloody poor.
We literally started out of our backroom – we were in Ealing, and people get nosebleeds when they come out that far.
We needed a proper studio, and we found one in Hammersmith. It gave us the space to expand, and the credibility of feeling like we were a genuine, proper agency.
The Butterfly Cannon studio
And it helped us attract new talent. I don’t warm to designers who are “designer designers” if you know what I mean. I want people who do their homework and properly think before they start doing. Design is performative and you need to know your audience and your story.
We have a very open structure – our strategists think creatively, and our creatives think strategically. No silos, no boxes, no limitations.
During the pandemic challenges hit hard, and the studio’s values proved crucial
We had to scale down a bit, and put people on furlough. It was horrible as we were hurting people. Challenging our culture of care. We tried to look after people as best as we could, and give them the positivity that things were going to get better.
I think that’s when we solidified our values – empathy, empowerment, enthusiasm, and elegance. Though we had different names for them then. These values saw us through that time, which included a subsequent big client loss and the shift to hybrid working.
Culture is easy to write on a wall – living it is harder. But living it makes all the difference.
Butterfly Cannon’s work for Black Dog whisky
Ten years ago, the studio was invited to work on Indian whisky brand Black Dog
We got an unexpected call about a whisky that was apparently a major player in the Indian market. Honestly? We were hesitant.
At the time, India wasn’t the global growth powerhouse it is today. It seemed quite a stretch.
But curiosity and a little naïve optimism won out. We jumped on a plane, soaked in the culture, held workshops, attended research groups, and learned the subtle art of surrogate advertising in a dark market, where you’re not allowed to advertise alcohol.
That success fast-tracked our footprint across India, opening opportunities with brands in spirits and beyond. And with India on track to be the third largest economy in the world within a few years, we’re in exactly the right place at exactly the right time.
We also won a DBA Design Effectiveness award for that work. That meant a lot. We don’t do design for its own sake – our name is about the beauty,
the butterfly, and the power, the cannon.
Over time, Butterfly Cannon was asked to work on clients’ comms, as well as their brands
Our clients, already trusting us to shape their brands, began asking us to carry that thinking further, to extend the same level of craft, strategy and storytelling into their communications.
We embraced the opportunity and expanded the skills and the team to match. I have always understood AI, and I welcome it. My dad gave me the book Future Shock when I was 12 and it’s kind of stuck with me.
But we have to be careful in its application, craft really does play a role, certainly in aspirational brands, and if AI can’t deliver on our standards, we avoid it.
That craft is always going to be in our work no matter what the journey is we take to get there. “That needs a bit more space, or that texture is a little too forgiving, or the motion and music need to be dreamier.” I know it sounds ridiculous, but it does make a damn difference.