Buster and Punch: Pulling no punches
Handles and lighting aren’t often thought of as being “rock and roll”, but Buster and Punch is known for ripping up the rulebook with its iconic metal products. According to founder Massimo Minale (left) and CEO Martin Preen (right), it’s all a matter of branding…
Interview: Rebecca Nottingham | Words: George Dean
Massimo, the brand has been described as a fusion of your passions – motorbikes, interiors and architecture – how did Buster & Punch get here today?
Massimo: My dad was always big into motorbikes, and my brother was a street racer in Rome so that essence was running through the family. It all began about 11 years ago. I’m an architect by trade, and I was working in London but that was quite a slow paced. I think Butter and Punch was really a natural extension of all those things I loved. Essentially, I was making metal things for the architecture practice. I had this feeling that there was a massive opportunity for these types of products among the trade, but consumers had no idea they existed. It wasn’t like I sat down and meticulously thought I want to do this style, or use this metal – it just happened.
Buster + Punch is a distinct company, with a distinct look and feel, but do you personally have a defined philosophy?
Massimo: From a very early stage, I knew that the brand itself was the emotional part. So if we could get people to understand what we’re about, how much love we put into this stuff, then they’re emotionally going to be triggered to buy this thing. You’ve got to remember that we were the first here – this was our lane that we had to create. I think today, brands are built on seeing what works, and then copying the next person. But I think that the reason why we are popular is because we did have that jump on everyone.
Martin, how did you come to be CEO of such an iconic brand?
Martin: I used to be in investment banking. I got bored, left, and bought a manufacturing company. I hired a young whippersnapper designer, Ian Daly (??) and that guy was the chief engineer who went on to work with Massimo. He called me one day and told me about the company, then I flew out to meet Max in Sweden and we had a few glasses of wine. There was something about the company. I could see this creativity and this talent was great. And the products, even in the early stages, were Apple-esque. They were so cool.
The brand has developed strong pop culture links with high profile celebrity collabs. Why do you think it’s become such a style icon?
Massimo: In the early days, we never spent on marketing. Every celebrity we’ve collaborated with has always been a customer first. The same goes for Travis (Barker), same goes for Professor Green, same goes for Tom Sellers. I’ve been looking for validation from peers and all these important people. But really, you know you made it when Jason Oppenheim on Selling Sunset goes, “these are Buster + Punch lightswitches”. They call up Miele, they call up Gaggenau, they call up Sub-Zero and Wolf. Now, we’re starting to become part of that crowd, especially in America. That’s amazing.
You know you’ve made it when Jason Oppenheim on Selling Sunset goes, “these are Buster and Punch switches”
What’s something you’ve noticed about the UK KBB industry in general?
Martin: There is probably a lack of uniqueness in terms of designs for kitchens. People normally will revert to trust, whereas I think the future of kitchens will be uniqueness. And freestanding kitchens, they’re a big thing in Scandinavia. They’re not in the UK. This is all very new for people in the UK. I think the kitchen world needs a bit of a shake-up in today. Probably more from a marketing unique designs standpoint. But as we’ve learned, when you go unique, there are a lot of technical engineering challenges.
What exactly sets Buster + Punch apart from the competition, and why would an independent KBB studio choose you over others?
Massimo: The one drum that I always beat is we’ve got to be different, we’ve got to be unique, we’ve got to hold true to that in whatever we do. The dilemma we had is, how can we get the consumer that loves to buy handbags, that loves their Nike trainers, that loves to go to their favourite restaurant, to fall in love with a light switch and part with the best part of 80 pounds? The only way to do that is emotionally. We’re successful now because Buster + Punch is a mix of our products and our branding, and a lot of that brand is mixed in with coolness. What we successfully did was change the entire way people think, and it’s worked out so well for us.