Alana Sofia Othman / 0353451 / Bachelof of Design (Hons) in Creative Media
Brand Corporate Identity
LECTURES
Lecture Video 4
Brand Ideals
What Are Brand Values?
- Solid values are able to achieve brand ideals
- They deliver real engagement and direct you towards more powerful bonds
with your target audience
- They can act as the moral compass. It is the part that allows us to build
relationships with our customers
- The best brand values are reflective of customer ideology but still
embrace the passions of the business
- e.g: Nike "just do it" is an ideal from
1988 about motivation, encouraging success and achieving goals. It is
relatable to the mass as it shows the human struggle. This concept put them
on par with their bigger competitors. Their ads have that human POV and
centres around human struggles, which relates with their target audience.
What Are Brand Ideals?
Brand: It is a person's gut feeling about a product, service or company.
They cant control it but they can influence it by communicating the
qualities that make them different
+
Ideal: Connotes the satisfaction of "one's conception of what is perfect
or most suitable"
=
A higher purpose of a brand that goes beyond what they sell/offer. It is
their inspirational reason for existing and explains why the brand exists
as well as the impact is makes in the world
- Brand ideals are based on brand values
- Brands that operate from a higher purpose are more successful because
of:
- They get employees to tap into their
intuition and imagination to keep up with current times
- They create deep relationships with
customers who are yearning for connection, community and participation in
something bigger than themselves as humans are social beings
- It is important for a shared belief to exist amongst the people you work
with/employ. If not, it would be hard to achieve an effective connection
with your target audience.
The Base of Brand Ideals
Brand ideals are essential to a responsible creative process. They are:
vision, meaning, authenticity, differentiation, sustainability, coherence,
flexibility, commitment, value
Vision
- brands require a compelling vision by an effective articulate and
passionate leader
- They need to imagine what others
don't see (e.g. Steve Jobs with Apple, Jeff Bezos with Amazon)
- They value storytelling to build
their culture and brands. People love a good story
- it requires courage and big ideas
- there needs to be a tenacity to deliver the goods
- John F Kennedy had a vision of
the space program and the courage to reach the moon
Meaning
- the best brands stand for something (a big idea, strategic position or
a defined set of values)
- it is rarely immediate and evolves over time
- designers transform meaning into unique visual form and expression as
it needs to be explained so that it can be understood, communicated, and
approved by the community
Authenticity
- it is not possible without the organisation having clarity about its
market, positioning, value proposition and competitive difference
- refers to self knowledge and making decisions that are in harmony
with the self knowledge
- you have to understand and acknowledge the goods and bads of/in the
company. People want honesty
- it allows organisations to know who they are, what they stand for
and start their identity process from a position of strength
- it creates brands that are sustainable and genuine
- brand expression must fit the organisation's unique mission,
history, culture, etc.
- customers identify with personal, memorable and what is perceived as
authentic
Differentiation
- to compete with other brands for attention and loyalty
- it is essentially the answer to “why should i choose this brand over
another?”
- brands need to demonstrate clearly what makes them different (by
visuals)
Sustainability
- ability to have longevity in an unstable and unpredictable
environment (times are constantly changing)
- brands need to sustain their life as they are messengers of trust
because nothing else stays the same
- our institutions, tech, science, lifestyles and vocab are in a state
of continuous flux, consumers are reassured by recognizable and
familiar trademarks
- it is achieved through a commitment to the central idea over time
- it has the capacity to transcend change
Coherence
- whenever a customer experiences a brand, it must feel familiar and
have the desired effect, whether the customer is using a product or
talking to a service rep
- it is the quality that ensures that all the pieces hold together in
a way that feels ideal to the customer
- it is to build trust, loyalty and please the customer
- brand identity system is unified visually and structurally, building
on the cohesiveness of a brand
- the visuals advance recognition of the company and supports brand
attributes across various media
Flexibility
- An effective brand identity positions a company for change and
growth in the future. it supports an evolving strategy as everything
evolves
- innovations requires brands to be flexibility
- brand ideals need space to grow, open to change and seize new
opportunities in the marketplace
- brand identity toolbox encourages creativity within parameters that
always keep the brand immediately recognizable
- a carefully designed balance between control and creativity makes it
possible to adhere to the identity standards
Commitment
- organisations need to ensure all people working with/for with the
brand have complete motivation and dedication
- a brand is an asset that we have to protect, preserve and nurture
- for a brand to work, it needs top down mandate and a bottom up
understanding of why it is important
- building, protecting and enhancing the brand requires desire and a
disciplined approach to ensure its integrity and relevance
- the mantra is to keep moving as it is crucial to success
Value
- measurable results need to be created that promote and sustain the
brand
- creating value is the biggest goal of most organisation
- the quest for sustainability has expanded the value conversations
with consumers
- being socially responsible, environmentally conscious and profitable
is the new business model because people today are looking in that
direction
- people expect their brands to always be ethically and morally
conscious
- a brand is an intangible asset/gut feeling and the brand identity
includes all tangible expressions from packaging to websites should
uphold that value
Lecture Video 5
Positioning
What is Positioning?
- Determining your location and destination of your brand in the mind of your customers
- Once you sucessfully establish your position, its near impossible to reposition (e.g. volvo being a safe car for families)
- Relates to differentiation
Styles of Positioning
Willis (2017) puts forward 4 different styles of positioning strategies
Arm Wrestling
- You try to take on a market leader and beat them at their own game
- E.g. Coke and Pepsi
Big Fish, smaller pond
- Focus on a niche market that is underserved
- Your product pin points on a smaller thing than what the larger market sells, however, its the same product, just very specialized
- Faces problems as the bigger company can just copy your idea and you lose out
- E.g. Grab and smaller companies (Maxim, Food panda, etc.)
Reframe the market
- Turning the highlighted benefits made by previous market leaders seem irrelevant or boring
- Works if the product/service features innovation or if there is a change in expectations
Change the game
- There is no clear market category for what to do
- There is a need and youre just filling it. You are the first of your kind
- E.g. Grab and Uber
Positioning vs Differentiation
Positioning
- A strategic process that marketers use to determine the place an offering should occupy
- Used to identify the distictive place they want to hold in the minds of the people
- Can be subtle and hard to tell
Differentiation
- Process of making them stand out from competitors
Important Questions in Branding
Creating a brand
- Who are you?
- What do you do?
- Why does it matter
Clarify your positioning
- Determind how your brand is currently positioning itself
- Identify your direct competitors
- Understand how each competitor is positioning itself
- Compare your positioning to your competitors to identify your uniqueness
- Develop a distinct and value based positioning idea
- Craft a brand positioning statement
- Test the effectiveness of your brand positioning statement
Writing a Positioning Statement
- Target Customer: behavioural, demographic, psychographic
- Market Definition: what category do you compete in and why is it relevant to customers
- Brand Promise: Most competting benefit to your customers that relates to your competitors
- Reason to Believe: The most compelling evidence your brand delivers on its brand promise
INSTRUCTIONS
Task 3: Positioning & Identity
Planning
Brand Framework & Items
Attachment 1.1. Planning of Brand Framework & Items, Week 6 (3rd - 10th
May 2023)
As beginning this assignment was an overlap with the deadline of Task 2, we
only needed to come up with the Brand Framework and have ideas for our Brand
Items, as seen in Attachment 1.1. above.
Progress
Brand Framework & Moodboarding
Attachment 2.1. Positioning Slides, Week 7 (10th - 17th May 2023)
Preparing for final submission, the Brand Framework was transferred into
Positioning Slides, Attachment 2.1., in preparation for final submission. As
for visual references, I collected images from Pinterest and Behance. I also
added any visual references into my existing brand Pinterest board
here.
Brand Items - Week 9
|
| Figure 1.1. Designing Menu Frame Process, Week 8 (17th - 24th May 2023) |
|
| Figure 1.2. Designing Coasters Process, Week 8 (17th - 24th May 2023) |
Attachment 3.1. Brand Items Compilation, Week 8 & 9 (17th - 31st May
2023)
During Independent Learning Week (Week 8), I moved onto designing the Brand
Items. I started with designing the simpler items, such as the letterhead,
invoice & purchase order, menu and coasters. I decided to make a
purchase order sheet along with the invoice as it made more sense for my
brand. As a club, I would not be using an invoice as much as a purchase
order.
For my menu, I was inspired by two images from my visual references, you can
refer to
1st inspiration and
2nd inspiration by
clicking the links. I wanted to carry the idea of movement, rhythm and flow
into my designs to bring emphasis to it. The first menu set was a failed
idea as I couldn't fit menu content nicely. I then moved on to the second
set where I had to constantly adapt and change the menu width, height and
wave bumps to be just right visually and fit enough content, see Figure 1.1.
above.
As for my coasters, I started off with the simple patterns as my first set
as that was the idea I had since week 6. However, I worked on this after
designing the menu, where I was able to carry forward the idea of movement,
which is something I wanted to be able to do with my coasters as well. I was
struggling to come up with something flowy in AI, so I decided to take it to
paper and I eventually got somewhere, as seen in Figure 1.2. above. I
attempted to replicate the flow of my logo symbol but make it patterns
instead of solid fill stroke. However, when I moved back into AI, I felt it
was just a little odd. I then realised I was going about it wrong as I can
just use my logo symbol, thus Coasters Set 2 came about.
Once I got those items done, I moved onto everything else. It was a slightly
easier and faster process after the coasters as I had a grasp of what all
the designs should look and feel like. Designing the postcards were a little
different than the others as they were not 100% only my brand, I need it to
represent the specific theme night. So, I drew inspiration from
illustrations of the individual themes (Arabian Nights and Barbie) and
created my own simple illustrations with my brand colours, allowing it to
fit in with the brand. I chose to not be strict and restrain myself on the
colours too much as it would not look the best for my illustrations.
Brand Items - Week 10
Attachment 4.1. Brand Items Compilation, Week 10 (31st May - 7th June 2023)
After feedback, I made the necessary changes to the items that needed
adjustments and put them into mockups for final artwork compilation. I also
made adjustments to the logomark based on feedback from Task 2 and changed
it across all my brand items.
I completed the Instagram Profile and added more items for Environmental
Graphics as I felt it was lacking variations. For Envionmental Graphics, I
came up with some brand awareness ads to put around public transport stops,
billboards, and sidewalks. These were the obvious choices of locations as it
would be where my target audience would pass by on a usual basis, heading to
work or university. When designing these, I came up with an entire ad
campaign "Clearly you've never been to Stripes" to create more interesting
content to advertise. The ads would ask a rhetorical question and always
answer with "Clearly you've never been to Stripes", in a fun, boastful and
cocky tone (as what I imagine it to be). The campaign is a playful,
show-off-y, and young approach, much like my target audience's personality
(a.k.a. me).
Final Outcome
Positioning Slides
Final Artwork Compilation Slides
Final Artwork
FEEDBACK
Week 7
Progress
Brand Framework & Moodboarding
- Apply what I learnt in Task 1 market segmentation into my targeted
audience
- I can have multiple USP's (e.g. promotes the art form of stripping
more than the sexualization of the human form)
- Look at references for invoices
- For digital presence, can consider expanding social media posts and
look at how the profile will be designed to give the right look and feel
- Some other ideas for environmental graphics can include but are not
limited to: advertising on buses, mrt stations, bus stops, digital
signage/billboard, etc
- Develop sketches for each of the applications and proceed to design
them
Week 9
Progress
Brand Items - Week 9
- Final mockup of letterhead will have 2 versions: 1 with letter to
someone, 1 without
- Letterhead set 1 looks better as it shows more of my brand's identity,
Set 2 is just simple patterns
- Wavy edged namecards look better than the curved edges. It's also more
fun and inline with brand
- Having the patterns at the back of the namecard is an interesting idea
and can be carried forward to be the club's business card, just bring
the logo to the front with the information
- The second set of personal namecard is decent
- Envelope information font should be smaller
- I can keep both coaster sets as a club would use many of them
- The grid alignment in first set of coasters is a little boring, not
needed as there are two others of the same pattern
- Try have a version of the diamond patterned coaster with a white or
light pink background to even the designs out
- 2nd menu is better and brings back to the namecard designs
- Using just the wordmark with the patterns work well and fits my brand
identity
- 1st shirt design set is straight forward and inline with brand
identity
- 4th shirt design is clear as it has wordmark and type
- I can keep both shirt designs as options for my staff
- I need to do 9 Instagram posts as it would be the Instagram profile
- Using stock images are ok, just credit them later on
- Website design is good with the use of just the wordmark ontop and
logomark below
- Toilet signs set 1 is better and fits brand identity
- 3rd 3D indoor wall design looks better than the other 2
- The front of envelopes need space to write recipient's name and
address as well as a space to stick the stamp in the top right corner
Week 10
Progress
Brand Items - Week 10
- Picture credits for everything in the last slide
- In Undecided Works, 2nd set of outdoor signs (just wordmark) looks nice
- I can keep both of the outdoor sign set (one with word mark and one with logo mark)
- 3rd set of the poster campaign ads feel more of a complete circle as it introduces the brand then talks about it and ends with about the brand again.
REFLECTION
Experience
This task was both fun and boring at the same time. As I worked on it
throughout Independent Learning Week and mostly looked at it non stop,
it got very boring very quickly. I got quite tired from just looking
at it for so long. However, once I took a break and had more of the
items down, designing all the different things were quite fun and
exciting once I reached an outcome I was happy with.
Observations
The task was definitely an interesting one and has created a love-hate relationship with me and branding. Although I am pretty happy with the outcome of my sweat and tears, there was a moment where I did hate doing it. I do think that my work on the social media presence could use more work as it was mostly repetitive and boring. I was not exactly sure of what the content should be and when I researched other bar's/club's social media presence, they were not exactly the best examples to follow. I also do feel my environmental graphics could have had more interesting items like stage design, chair designs, etc. The approach I took with environmental graphics was extremely simple when it had the opportunity to be more out of the box ideas. However, with time constraints, I do not regret my choice.
Findings
I realised that the work I did here was not too far off from the work I did for the Self Branding Task I did in Adv Typography. From that assignment, I began to realise I had a style when designing and interestingly enough, I noticed that it appeared here aswell. From this assignment (and others) I am realising that I like working with bright colours and carrying my loud and slightly snarky personality into my works.
FURTHER READING
Adobe (n.d.) A Quick Guide To A Purchase Order Form [Online]
Available at: https://www.adobe.com/sign/hub/document-types/quick-guide-to-purchase-order-forms.html#:~:text=A%20purchase%20order%20form%20is,standardize%20the%20business'%20procurement%20process.
Atlassian (n.d.) Mission vs. Vision Statements: Definitions
& Examples [Online] Available at: https://www.atlassian.com/work-management/strategic-planning/mission-and-vision
Law, T. J. (2022) 17 Seriously Inspiring Mission and Vision
Statement Examples [Online] Oberlo. Available at: https://www.oberlo.com/blog/inspiring-mission-vision-statement-examples#:~:text=Mission%20statement%3A%20We%20strive%20to,might%20want%20to%20buy%20online.
Murphy, M. (2022) 12 Positioning Statement Examples and How
to Write Your Own [Online] Zendesk Blog. Available at: https://www.zendesk.com/in/blog/positioning-statement-examples/#:~:text=What%20is%20a%20positioning%20statement,sure%20all%20communication%20is%20consistent.
Zoho (n.d.) What is an Invoice: Find All That You Need to Know
About Invoices [Online] Available at: https://www.zoho.com/invoice/what-is-invoice/
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