Wonderfuel Issue 28 – The joy of Memories

Sometimes the best way to find more joy in your life is to remember where you left it.

I was asked the other day what my most prized possession is. I paused for a moment before replying "my memories." Not my house, my Keith Harring print or my snowboard collection or any of the stuff I've accumulated over the years. My memories. Because it's not the things I've owned that have shaped who I am, it's all the things I've done, the people I've met and how those experiences made me feel.

I've been lucky enough to do some pretty amazing things in the 53 years I have been on this planet. Free diving in the bay where Jacques Cousteau grew up, jumping off a 65ft bridge in Greece and scuba diving with manta rays in the Maldives, but it's also the little things. The laughter with friends, family holidays and those wonderfully insignificant moments that somehow become unforgettable.

One of my definitions of joy is simply remembering what joy means to you. The people, places and experiences that made you feel truly alive. Because joy isn't always something new we need to go looking for. Sometimes it's something we've already experienced but forgotten about.

And that's what makes memories so bloody wonderful. They don't just remind us of what happened, they remind us of how we felt.

If someone took away everything I owned tomorrow, I'd still have a lifetime of wonderful memories. But take away my memories and despite having amazing family and friends around me, I'd have lost so much of what makes me, me.

Because the greatest things we collect in life aren't things at all, they're the wondermoments that make us feel something worth remembering.

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// Quote of the fortnight //

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// The founder diary //

For years and years I wanted a tattoo. But there was one rather large problem, I'm a designer.

As any designer will tell you, looking back at something you created five years ago without wanting to change it and make it better is an almost impossible task. Different typefaces, better proportions, a little tweak here and there. So the idea of having something permanently inked into my skin was, quite frankly, terrifying.

Until I realised I'd been looking at it all wrong.

It wasn't about what the tattoo looked like. It was about what it stood for.

The Wonderment symbol is two curvy letters, a W and an M, merging together. More  like a squidgy marshmallow sweet than a logo. But to me, it's so much more than a logo. It's a symbol of joy, my daily reminder of why I created Wonderment in the first place, what I believe in and, more importantly, who I want to be.

Every day I look at my wrist and it reminds me how I want to show up in the world. To be joyful and to find the wonder in the everyday and never forget to have fun along the way.

And the funny thing is, for someone who has spent over 30 years designing brands, I've finally created something I have absolutely no desire to change.

Because the best things in life aren't always about how they look.

They're about how they make you feel.

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// The joyful brand – AO //

I know what you just did.

You sang it, didn’t you?

“AO – Let’s go!”

And that, my fellow joy seekers, is the strength of joyful branding.

Because AO didn’t reinvent selling washing machines. They reinvented how buying one could feel.

Let’s face it, nobody wakes up on a Saturday morning thinking, “You know what would bring me some joy today? Spending £600 on a new tumble dryer.” Buying household appliances is usually a necessity rather than a pleasure. Your fridge has packed up, your washing machine has flooded the kitchen or your oven has decided it’s had enough of cooking Sunday roasts.

Then along comes AO with three ridiculously simple words, a ridiculously catchy tune and a brand that brings some much-needed energy and optimism to one of the least exciting retail categories imaginable.

But what I love about AO is that the joy goes beyond the advertising. It’s about making the whole experience easier, from choosing the right appliance to getting it delivered, installed and your old one taken away.

Because when your washing machine gives up the ghost, you don’t need someone to make you laugh. You need someone to make the problem go away.

And there’s a very particular kind of joy in that.

The joy of relief.

AO reminds us that joyful branding isn’t always about making something fun. Sometimes it’s about making something frustrating feel surprisingly good.

Because nobody really wants to buy a new washing machine.

They just want their bloody washing machine to work.

That’s the joy of AO. Let’s go!

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// From the archives – Dettol //

Just say the word Dettol and it brings back memories of that unmistakable smell growing up. Funny how a brand can transport you back in time with just one whiff.

This week’s from the archives takes us back to when I spent a wonderful few months working with the talented team at McCann, helping to refresh the wider brand world of Dettol.

The challenge was to build on what made Dettol so recognisable while creating a more consistent and distinctive visual identity across every brand touchpoint.

We took that iconic Dettol green and introduced two new visual assets. A shield to represent protection and a cross to symbolise health and the fight against illness.

The result was a refreshed brand world that felt unmistakably Dettol. Familiar, reassuring and ready for the future.

Sometimes the magic isn’t in reinventing a brand. It’s in making more of what people already know and love.

Want to see some more work? Here you go…

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// Word of the fortnight – Joyconomy //

The joy word I wish I'd made up.

For a good few years now, I've been banging on about joy and its commercial value. And for a while, I thought I was pretty much alone in my joyfulness, until I stumbled across a word that made my heart do a rather large joy somersault.

Joyconomy.

Not only did I realise I was not alone in my quest to create and share more joy, but there were actually consumers out there actively seeking more of it in their lives. And even better, businesses were beginning to take notice.

The word first appeared in Wunderman Thompson's 2023 Age of Enchantment report, identifying the joyconomy as a rising consumer trend. Forbes followed up towards the end of last year, reporting that 2026 was set to be the year of the joyfinder.

"The Joyconomy is here. Why we all need to start taking it more seriously."

That was the title of a talk I gave last week at CreativeMornings in Bristol. With standing room only, I shared my philosophies around Stratejoy™ and Enjoyneering™ and how they align with this growing appetite for joy.

But there's one rather large elephant in the room here. Joy has a serious image problem.

For far too long, joy has been dismissed as childish, frivolous and fluffy. Somewhere along the way, the business world decided that being serious about our work meant looking and sounding serious all the bloody time. But I believe being serious about what you do doesn't mean you have to be emotionally distant while doing it.

And of course you’ll want some proof in all this. Well here you go. Wunderman Thompson found that 49% of people would be more likely to buy from a brand that brings them joy.

So how do brands and brands need embrace the joyconomy? By understanding their audience and consciously deciding how they want people to feel. Not simply adding joy for the sake of it, but creating a specific feeling that makes their experience better.

Work out the feeling. Then Enjoyneer it. Because the biggest opportunity the joyconomy presents isn't simply making more people smile, it's making how people feel a serious part of how we do business.

And seeing as I've spent years banging on about the commercial value of joy, I've decided it's about time I gave myself yet another job title that no-one else in the world has yet.

Joyconomist.

I am someone who believes making people feel good makes good business sense.

The salary's questionable. But the job satisfaction is bloody marvellous.

Fancy a little more joyconomy? You can read my article Why Joy Should Be Your Business's Next Competitive Advantage.

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// The Wonderfuel archive //

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So you missed an episode of Wonderful. Don’t worry joy never bears a grudge. Here is a link in that will allow you read all the past issues in the joynal on the Wonderment Website.

Popcorn at the ready…

Off you go!

Click for the Wonderfuel Archive

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