Building a Brand for the Future: Crema’s 75-Year Journey
For 75 years, Crema has been building Melbourne.
What began with Gilberto “Beppi” Crema in 1951 has grown into a third-generation, family-run construction company delivering large-scale residential, commercial, mixed-use and industrial projects across Melbourne.
But while the scale of the business has changed dramatically over seven and a half decades, the fundamentals behind Crema have remained remarkably consistent: quality, hard work, strong relationships and pride in the work they deliver.
As Crema celebrates its 75th year, it’s an opportunity to look beyond the buildings themselves and consider another important part of the business’s evolution — its brand.
For approximately the past 10 years, Crema has worked with Brandwell, a Melbourne branding company, as the business has continued to grow, evolve and strengthen the way it presents itself to clients, partners, employees and the broader construction industry.
The relationship is a useful example of how an established business can evolve its brand without losing the qualities that have helped build its reputation in the first place.
A business built on strong foundations
Crema’s story began in Melbourne in 1951, when founder Gilberto “Beppi” Crema established the foundations of what would become a multi-generational construction business. Over the decades, the company expanded into larger building and development projects, introduced specialist divisions and developed the capabilities to deliver increasingly complex projects.
Today, Crema operates across the entire building process, with capabilities spanning preconstruction and design, construction, logistics, concrete, precast and other specialist building services. The business says its vertically integrated structure is designed to provide greater control, efficiency and quality across its projects.
Yet despite that growth, Crema continues to describe itself as a family business, with relationships, collaboration, integrity and hard work remaining central to its approach.
That balance between heritage and progress is also central to the way the brand has evolved.
When a brand needs to grow with the business
A brand that was created decades ago isn’t necessarily designed to communicate the complexity of the business that exists today.
As organisations grow, their audiences change. Their capabilities expand. Their market position develops. New employees and generations enter the business. New technologies influence the way they operate.
The brand needs to be capable of keeping up.
For Crema, this has meant evolving the way the business communicates while retaining the characteristics that people have come to associate with the company.
The challenge isn’t simply to make an established brand look more contemporary. It’s about understanding what makes the business distinctive and finding ways to express those qualities consistently across every touchpoint.
That is where long-term brand thinking becomes particularly valuable.
A decade of working together
Over approximately 10 years, Brandwell and Crema have worked together across the ongoing development of the brand.
Rather than treating branding as a one-off exercise, the relationship has allowed the brand to evolve alongside the business.
That distinction is important.
A construction company’s brand needs to work across far more than a logo or corporate stationery. It needs to communicate effectively across project presentations, proposals, digital channels, corporate communications, project marketing, signage, photography, social media and the many other places prospective clients and partners encounter the business.
As Crema has continued to expand its capabilities and take on projects of increasing scale and complexity, maintaining a coherent brand across those touchpoints has become increasingly important.
Protecting heritage while embracing change
One of the biggest challenges for established businesses is knowing what to change and what to protect.
Crema’s history is a significant part of its identity. The business has spent 75 years building relationships, delivering projects and developing a reputation within Melbourne’s construction industry. That heritage shouldn’t be treated as something to move away from — it can be one of the brand’s greatest assets.
At the same time, a business looking towards the future needs a brand that feels current.
Crema itself describes this balance in its 75-year reflection, noting that its responsibility is not to change what has made the company successful, but to build upon it. The business is continuing to embrace innovation, technology and more sustainable ways of delivering projects while remaining grounded in the values that have guided it for decades.
The same principle can be applied to brand evolution.
A strong brand strategy provides a framework for protecting the recognisable elements of a business while creating room for the brand to develop as the organisation changes.
Building consistency across a complex business
Construction is a relationship-driven industry.
A project might involve developers, architects, consultants, engineers, subcontractors, suppliers and many other stakeholders, often working together over an extended period.
For a company operating at Crema’s scale, the brand needs to communicate consistently with all of these audiences.
That means having clarity around what the business stands for, how it presents itself and the experience people should expect when working with the company.
Crema itself places significant emphasis on collaboration and long-term relationships, describing those relationships as one of the most important parts of its approach.
A clearly defined brand helps reinforce those ideas consistently — from the first proposal through to project completion.
Looking towards the next 75 years
Crema’s 75th anniversary is obviously a moment to reflect on the past, but the business has been clear that it is equally focused on what comes next.
Its current brand positioning talks about being “75 years on” while being “just getting started”, reflecting a business that sees its history as a foundation rather than a destination.
That mindset is important for any legacy business.
The brands that remain relevant over generations aren’t necessarily the ones that stay exactly the same. They are the ones that understand which parts of their identity are fundamental and which parts need to evolve with the world around them.
Crema’s journey from a small family business established in 1951 to a major Melbourne construction company is evidence of that evolution.
Its brand has needed to grow alongside the business, while continuing to reflect the family values, relationships and commitment to quality that have remained at its core.
Crema. Est. 1951. Evolving a Legacy Construction Brand
