Challenge

Maersk required a centralised platform for employees worldwide to easily order a wide range of branded items for home, office, sports, and children, ensuring brand consistency and operational efficiency.

This solution facilitates the online procurement of Maersk branded merchandise. Additionally, the selection process emphasizes sustainability, underscoring the company’s dedication to eco-friendly practices.

Solution

We developed a dynamic online Brand store for Maersk to streamline the ordering of branded merchandise worldwide, ensuring brand consistency and operational efficiency. This centralised platform not only simplifies the procurement process but also showcases Maersk’s commitment to sustainability by selecting eco-friendly products.

The store continually refreshes its inventory with new items to maintain interest and urgency, replacing sold-out products with new ones and updating designs on popular items like notebooks and socks to keep the selection fresh and appealing. This strategy enhances user engagement and reinforces Maersk’s eco-conscious image.

Having produced the assets for the National Apprenticeship Week for over three years via Print Marketplace. We were delighted to secure responsibility for delivering the National Apprenticeship Week for 2026.

The Challenge

The client needed a unified and cohesive set of design themes for multiple skills and apprenticeship related celebration events, which historically had lacked consistency.

Think

The Department for Education sought to enhance the prestige associated with government-led celebration programs and introduce a clear visual hierarchy that would distinguish the purpose of each event.

We needed to ensure that assets were more accessible, consistent, and user-friendly for internal departments, partners, employers, training providers, and wider stakeholders.

Create

We defined the brand architecture, improved accessibility, the visual relationships between events, and created a scalable design system that future‑proofed the events.

Our work spanned creative concepting, brand development, asset creation, toolkit creation and support across design, digital, and print channels.

Deliver

We delivered a comprehensive suite of assets within a tight timeframe, from refreshed logos and toolkits to countdown animations, social badges, and graduation materials. Together, these elements created a more consistent identity and strengthened recognition of the NAW brand across every channel.

After successful launches in the US and LATAM, the much-loved streaming service that has delivered countless iconic series and films will now be available to a European audience for the first time, as of 21st May 2024. We’re thrilled to have partnered with Warner Bros. Discovery on this exciting launch by providing a full end-to-end service for Branded Merchandise products.

From sourcing, compiling and fulfilment, our team delivered large quantities of 39 product types, to 19 different countries to support the launch events.

Darina Cisneros, Marketing Manager at WBD, says: “Working with APS Group has been great – the team are creative and innovative and are very responsive to any queries. They were able to provide exactly what we needed, and the products delighted our audience across all launch activities. Thank you to the team and all involved in making this launch run smoothly.”

Anne-Marie O’Hara, Category Director for Branded Merchandise at APS Group added, “We’re very proud to have supported the European launch for HBO Max and helping them to engage with their new audience! Our partnership demonstrates the ability and expertise of our team to deliver amazing branded merchandise for large-scale events, and we’re very excited to see the partnership with HBO Max continue to grow.”

Our partnership with Isle of Harris began in 2014, and for our latest project, we were involved in developing the packaging for the inaugural launch of their Hearach Whisky. The brief was to create a distinctive, premium bottle and packaging solution that authentically represented the Isle of Harris, encapsulating the spirit of its people and location. Uniqueness, material efficiency and the ability to communicate the brand story were asked for, together with the packaging allowing the bottle to be clearly visible. 

The essence of the Isle of Harris Hearach Whisky is deeply rooted in its island origin and the remarkable individuals who craft it. The packaging showcases generations of Hearach individuals who have grown up amidst the island’s elemental landscape, using debossing and photography of the local islanders. The theme of intertwining people and place runs throughout the brand DNA of The Hearach.

The name, ‘The Hearach,’ is the Scottish Gaelic word for ‘a native of Harris.’ References to the Scottish Gaelic language are continued on the packaging to reflect the strong heritage and culture of the Isle of Harris. Additionally, the packaging subtly features the texture of Harris Tweed weaving, a historic island textile protected by a unique act of parliament, adding a tactile element and elevating the premium nature of the product.  

The glass patterns and label design evoke the concept of intertwining people and place, while the organic and weathered shape of the bottle further reflects the island’s essence. 

The postal outer, sleeve, and supporting brochure, which tells the brand story, are all made from fully recyclable materials, using biodegradable glues, foils, and environmentally friendly inks. 

The online launch on 22 September 2023 had an overwhelming response, with over 25,000 customers queuing online which led to a sell out in four and a half hours! Plus, over 1,000 customers travelled from as far away as Canada to line up outside the distillery to ensure they received a ‘first-release’ bottle. Slàinte mhath! 

Delighted to share that this project won Gold at the Scottish Design Awards for Packaging Design, was shortlisted for a D&AD Award for Limited Edition Packaging Design and won Best Branding Project and highly commended in the Best Packaging of a New Product at the UK Packaging Awards 2024.