Familiar
A symbol it already knows
The brain trusts what it recognises. We build brands from symbols people already know, so the first encounter feels like the hundredth.
Rooted in: the super-symbol method
Singula · Brand strategy for the subconscious
People buy
before they think.
Customers only see the tip. The real reasons sit below the surface: familiarity, trust, a colour, a feeling. Singula builds Australian brands for the part below the line.
The science
What customers say
isn’t what decided.
Harvard Business School professor Gerald Zaltman estimates that about 95% of purchase decisions happen below conscious awareness.1 Ask customers why they bought, and they give a sensible answer. Usually it was added afterwards.
What they say
- “It was better value.”
- “The reviews were good.”
- “It had the features I needed.”
- “I compared the options.”
What actually decided
- “I’d seen it somewhere before.”
- “That colour jumped out on the shelf.”
- “People like me use it.”
- “The name just stuck.”
The left column is what goes in the survey. The right column is what works at the shelf. Singula designs the right column.
Two ways of thinking
Customers buy with the fast mind.
They explain with the slow one.
Nobel laureate Daniel Kahneman describes two systems of thought.2
milliseconds
System 1 · Subconscious
The fast mind
Automatic, effortless and emotional. It trusts what looks familiar and remembers what is simple. It usually makes the purchase.
AutomaticEmotionalFamiliarDecides
minutes
System 2 · Conscious
The slow mind
Slow, effortful and logical. It compares specifications and prices, but most of the time it is justifying a choice the fast mind already made.
EffortfulLogicalComparesJustifies
Most marketing talks to the slow mind.
Singula’s work is to win the fast one.
Our approach
The subconscious trusts
three things.
We combine Trout’s positioning theory and the super-symbol method into one way of designing brands for the subconscious.
Simple
One word it can store
The subconscious won’t store a paragraph, only a word. We find yours: one customers care about, competitors haven’t claimed, and you can deliver.
Rooted in: Trout’s positioning theory
Repeated
The same cue, everywhere
Memory comes from repetition. When packaging, web, ads and search show the same symbol and line, the brand comes to mind without effort.
Rooted in: memory and brand salience research
Services
At every moment
the subconscious decides.
First we set the word and the symbol. Then we place them wherever customers make up their minds.
Where it starts · In the mind
Brand positioning and rebrand
A monthly partnership. We study how customers’ subconscious sees you, choose the word to own, design the symbol and slogan, and keep improving every touchpoint.
- Customer association research and competitor diagnosis
- Positioning strategy and slogan
- Super symbol and visual system
- Monthly strategy sessions, quarterly reviews
On the shelf
Packaging
Shoppers don’t read at the shelf. We design packs the fast mind recognises from a few steps away and reaches for.
On the screen
Brand website
Research shows people judge a website in about 50 milliseconds.3 We write, design and build sites that answer “why you” in that moment.
In the feed
Ad film and paid media
A 45-second film built to plant one symbol and one line, then placed in front of the right people on Meta, Google, YouTube and TikTok.
In the search results
SEO
The first result feels like the right answer. We make sure customers see you first when they search for the problem. Includes Google Business Profile.
Naming and slogans
A good name is already a word the mind can store. Includes an initial trademark check.
Enquire
Shopfront and signage
Carry the symbol onto signage, vehicles, uniforms and expo stands.
Enquire
Mandarin-speaking market
Reach Chinese-speaking customers, students and visitors on Xiaohongshu and WeChat.
Enquire
How we work
From reading the subconscious
to owning a place in it.
Twelve months, five stages.
Weeks 1–4
01Decode
Customer interviews and association tests reveal what the subconscious links to you today.
Weeks 5–8
02Position
Choose the word to own and the proof that makes it believable.
Weeks 9–14
03Encode
Turn the word into a super symbol, slogan, colour and sound.
Week 15 on
04Broadcast
Put the same cue on packaging, web, film and search.
Every quarter
05Reinforce
Review results and feedback, and deepen the memory over time.
Proven at scale
The method has
worked before.
Singula was founded by Di Tang, formerly a senior brand strategist at Hua&Hua, a product manager at Chi Forest and brand director at Leasun Food.
RMB 70M+sales in a new product’s first full year
2–3×store sales on festival days
+237%profit after a portfolio cut
11countries of store marketing
Four live sites, built in Melbourne
Work led by our founder in previous roles, before Singula. Brand names describe past roles only.
60-second test
Does the customer’s mind
remember you?
Answer six questions to see where your brand stands in customers’ minds, and where the best place to start is.
1 / 6
Ask five regular customers for the first word they think of when they think of you. Would they all say the same word?
2 / 6
Without reading your name, could a new customer recognise your pack, shopfront or ad from three metres away?
3 / 6
Do your packaging, website, ads and shopfront share the same symbol, colour and line?
4 / 6
Have you kept the same slogan and look for more than two years?
5 / 6
When customers say why they chose you, is the reason something other than price?
6 / 6
Do people find you when they search for the problem you solve, not just your name?
Pricing
Clear prices,
stated up front.
Step one
Positioning Diagnostic
A$5,000
2–3 weeks, fully credited within 60 days
See what’s included
Brand Partnership
Growth
A$6,500/ month
Foundation from A$4,500 / month. Six-month minimum
Compare the three tiers
Execution
Web, ads and SEO
FromA$1,500/ month
Websites from A$12,000 · AI video ads from A$6,500 · Ad films from A$15,000
See all pricesAll prices in Australian dollars, plus GST.
Insights
Brand psychology
for Australian owners.
Why customers can’t explain why they bought
Ask customers why they chose you and you’ll get reasons, not causes.
ReadThe one-word test for small businesses
If customers can’t say what you stand for in one word, you don’t have a position yet.
ReadWhy consistency beats creativity
By the time you’re bored of your brand, customers are just starting to remember it.
ReadBe the brand they choose
without thinking.
Start with a free 30-minute consultation. We’ll tell you plainly how customers’ subconscious sees you today, and whether we’re the right fit.