Battlefront - row over similar branding erupts

Sonya Blackwell says a local group has used branding very similar to her company's. Photo / Harrison Christian

A Havelock North businesswoman claims a charitable group is causing "confusion" by using the same name as her company, with the same hot pink colour, to promote its op shops.

Sonya Blackwell said she had run her home presentation and cleaning business, Redefine, for 18 years.

When signs sprang up in local op shops advertising an event that shared the name and hot-pink coloured font of her branding, she feared it would undermine her business.

Run by Presbyterian Support East Coast, the event, called Redefine, is a competition for people who have creatively altered op shop items.

The signs could be seen in the group's head office just a couple of hundred metres from Ms Blackwell's house.

While the sign outside her gate features a blue font, the font on her uniform, car's sign-writing and business cards is hot pink.

Presbyterian Support East Coast marketing and fundraising manager Shirley Collins said the event would not be changing its branding.

"We are a charity. This is for charitable causes to promote our op shops."

Ms Blackwell said she had received calls from a "couple of friends" who said 'Sonya, have you sold your business? Have you gone into the op shop business?'

"When I see someone 200-300m away and they have adopted the same name, and the same colour, I feel the marketing people haven't done their homework.

"My clients will get confused. It will cause enormous confusion in the community."

She said she had met the group's marketing manager and was initially assured the event's name would be changed but communication had since broken down.

Ms Collins said that before launching Redefine, she had seen the sign outside Ms Blackwell's house but no other promotional material.

"We did a huge amount of research online. We knew of a Redefine company in Havelock North whose branding is blue, green and white.

"[Ms Blackwell] doesn't own a domain name, she doesn't have a social media page. She wasn't very visible."

The event would be rolled out nationally this year, after being piloted in Hawke's Bay this year.