Distinctively
Different.

Built on Meaning.
Focused on Distinction.

At TOTEM, we believe every business has a story worth telling – and that story starts with real meaning. For over twenty years, we’ve helped shape business reputations, across all sectors, by putting customers at the centre – seeing every brand from the outside in.

We get to the heart of what your business truly means to your customers. We define what makes you distinctively different, then bring laser-focus to your positioning – so you’re known for the one thing that matters most to the right people.

Our team combines sharp strategy with genuine creativity, always building on truth, well told. That’s how we help businesses connect, stand out, and grow – authentically.

When the right meaning is understood by the right people, your story becomes your reputation. And we use this to craft your identity into an emblem within your industry – something iconic, something truly totemic.

Who we work with

Steps to success

We help brands to find their meaning. The reason they exist. And we use that clarity to help to propel them to the next level.

Our approach is to get to know you, to listen and learn about you and your customers, their needs, their wants, and how you serve them. To find out what’s unique about your offering.

We then follow these three steps …

Simplify.

Your Brand Strategy.

Be it a briefing call, UX research or facilitated brand workshops – we cut through the confusion, clutter and complexity until you have absolute clarity on what you are doing. And why. We are the simplifiers of messages and believe less is more.

Services

Brand Audit
Brand Positioning
Brand Architecture
Brand Name
Brand Voice
Employer Branding

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Create.

Meaningful Design.

We craft inspiring designs, impactful creative campaigns and innovative digital solutions that will help you attract and connect with your audience. More importantly, we deliver the ‘gut feelings’ that are the hallmark of truly meaningful branding.

Services

Brand Identity
Brand Promise
Brand Design
Web Design
Brand Video and Photography
Motion Branding

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Empower.

Our team is your team.

We equip you, and your team, with the tools you need to consistently reinforce your brand positioning across every touchpoint. This third step in the branding and rebranding process is critical in empowering you to communicate with clarity.

Services

Brand Guidelines
Brand Activation
LinkedIn Growth & Influence
Training
Marketing Strategy and Planning

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Awards

Since 2002, we’ve been honoured to receive national and international recognition for our work.

These awards reflect the calibre and care our team brings to every project, and we’re grateful to be acknowledged by our industry peers as we help our clients shape distinct, meaningful brands.

Turn Research Into Medicines

Transforming Hybrigenics Pharma into Aton, a beacon in life sciences, TOTEM crafted a bold brand strategy, name, brand identity and website. All focused on their new purpose.

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Illuminating Health Paths

Réalta is the new national body for Arts and Health in Ireland. It began as a pilot project in Waterford in 1990 and had grown into a larger national movement. A new structure and strategy was needed.

Explore

Why meaning matters.

What does your product or service MEAN to your customers? What does it say about them if they choose you? We help businesses turn meaning into reputation – so your brand stands out for what it gives to your customers, and what it means to them.

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What our clients say

TOTEM energized something in us. Because we know the story we are in. But they helped us open it up. To see larger, broader and to focus on the vision. And it was very interesting for me. They came with a narrative that forced us to really think about it. To get through the story to the vision. Honestly, we could not achieve this without them.

Léone Atayi. CEO, Aton

Working with TOTEM as our branding agency has been refreshing. We found in Colin and his team a shared passion for doing things right and reappraising the status quo, to do the right things. I'm a firm believer in getting the brand strategy right first, investing time at the outset to get the rebranding process right and then trusting the creatives to deliver the outputs based on these vital inputs. This is working for us at Cork Airport. Our business has literally taken off with TOTEM on board to pilot our brand.

Kevin Cullinane. Group Head of Communications, DAA

I would recommend this branding process with Colin and the team at TOTEM, start to finish. In fact, I already have. TOTEM are already hard at work on a brand development project with a CEO who is a former colleague of mine, and he's thanked me for recommending them to him as his branding agency.

Colm Healy. CEO, Corrata

On this brand development journey, TOTEM helped us articulate what it is about us that makes us unique. Why our clients recommend and refer others to us. The brand strategy gave us a level of clarity we didn't have before. And a huge sense of pride as a team, to see ourselves accurately reflected with a new brand positioning, brand identity, and website we can believe in. That's a great feeling.

John O’Connell. Managing Partner

Working with our TOTEM was collaborative from the start. They really took the time to listen and understand Clann — not just our purpose and what we do, but what we mean to people.
The new identity captures that perfectly. It feels warm, grounded and authentic. It resonated strongly with the Clann team and, most importantly, with our residents.

Laura McDonnell. Head of Communication and Policy, Clúid.

From the outset of the project our TOTEM captured the values of the organisation in a way that connects in a direct and deeply meaningful way with our donors, supporters and stakeholders. Their creativity combined with their authenticity made them the ideal partner to communicate The Mercy Foundation’s story and vision for the future. ‘The Mercy’ is an organisation with deep roots in the community, held in great affection and our new website has articulated the humanity at the core of the Foundation whilst also illustrating reassurance and reliability.

Deirdre Finn. Head of Fundraising, The Mercy Foundation.

The brand has created clarity both internally and externally. Our team members have an identity they can rally behind, and partners see us as an independent entity they can trust. What’s most satisfying is seeing how quickly everyone embraced it – proving that when you get the strategy right, people just get it.
This wasn’t about imposing something new – it was about our TOTEM bringing our existing strengths into sharp focus.

Niamh Grier. Commercial Wholesale Director, Media Connect.

As a new part of a really strong brand, any change can pose problems for some, internally. Certain people with long tenure saw it as a fundamental threat to their own identity. But when we showed them the new visual identity, with its clear narrative and messages – the continuity that led back to the parent brand, you could see the cogs turning. They went from silence, to ‘I really like it’ – it became something safe and understandable, where they could see their purpose.

Aidan D’Arcy. CEO, Media Connect.

Working with TOTEM was a genuinely rewarding experience. They understood our brief immediately and delivered a brand identity and website that captured our vision from their very first presentation. The process was collaborative, reassuring and focused throughout a time-critical project. The attention to detail with an added personal touch helped strengthen our partnership. We’re proud of the brand we’ve built together.

Rebecca Quealy. Owner, The Hatmaker Boutique Hotel

We couldn’t recommend TOTEM highly enough. From the outset, we felt that they really supported us through the whole brand development process of defining our who we are and why we do it: they listened to us, reflected back what they were hearing at each stage, and presented us with potential branding solutions to help us clarify our thinking. We were energised by their branding process because it was clear, logical, creative, and relevant to our needs. Within our organisation, we are really pleased with our new brand positioning, identities, and websites. But the feedback from our stakeholders has also been universally positive.

Claire Meaney. Director