Creative Brand Strategy- Task 1: Case Study and Campaign Proposal

on

30/8/2023- 20/9/2023 / Week 1 - Week 4
Chuah Kwai Pin / 0348376
Creative Brand Strategy / Bachelor of Design (Hons) in Creative Media / Taylor's University 
Task 1: Case Study and Campaign Proposal  

INSTRUCTIONS



LECTURES

Week 1: Introduction

Objectives of Creative Brand Strategy:
  • Justify problems and develop the best solution for a particular brand.
  • Study the relationship between the brand and various target audiences.
  • Understand that brand experience includes designing a sensory experience to establish a lasting relationship between the brand and the person.
What is Branding?
  • Process of quantifying the value and authenticity of an organization, product, or service.
  • Contains a clear set of characteristics, benefits, and attributes that define a particular brand.
  • Helps a business to differentiate its products and services from other competitors.
What is Brand Strategy?
  • The rules and guidelines to follow when communicating brand messages (How, what, where, when, and whom)
  • A brilliant brand strategy will strengthen the emotional connection with customers and increase brand equity.
Why do we need Brand Strategy?
  • It provides lucidity about the competitive landscape, market position and customer expectations.
  • Develop effective marketing strategies, and fine-tune marketing messages to build strong brands.
  • Enhances brand's market performance and profitability

Week 2: The Branding Process

The Branding Process

The Basic Brand Development Process:
  • Formulating a brand strategy
    • Critical to determining the direction of the brand
    • Understand the brand audience, and its market and also align with the brand vision
  • Creative execution
    • Creating a look and feel for the brand in the brand development stage
    • Creating the brand language, logo, and name
  • Creative implementation
    • Brand execution in various forms and visible through different platforms
  • Communicating the brand
    • Cover both the employee and external communications execution for the brand
The Brand Experience

What is a Campaign?
  • Continuous attempt to communicate a message to its audience
  • A marketing strategy with an effort to make announcements and create engagement to reach out to its target audience
What is a Concept?
  • An abstract of generic idea, often a thought or notion conceived by the mind.
  • Referencing a subject without acknowledging it fully.
What is a Concept Campaign?
  • A hook or idea that convinces the audience to start taking action
  • With concepts, the audiences can better understand what action they have to take and why.
What is a Cause?
  • An action, phenomenon, or condition that occurred due to a person or thing
  • A principle, aim, or movement to which one is committed and prepared to defend or advocate
What is a Cause Campaign?
  • Marketing that is done by a for-profit business, to seek both profits and to better the society. 
  • These campaigns tend to market a specific idea, cause or goal, rather than a specific product or service directly. 
  • Often promoted in order to improve customer perception, mend brand image, and contribute to brand-relevant social issues.
What is an Event?
  • An occurrence of a noteworthy happening, often planned as a social occasion or public activity
What is an Event Campaign?
  • Also known as experiential marketing
  • Using experiences to teach potential and existing customers about your products, services or business
What is a Launch?
  • To start, to initiate, to gain as much growth and traction as quickly as possible
  • A plan for how to introduce a new product or service to customers
What is a Launch Campaign?
  • Used to complete a specific marketing goal
    • Capturing new customers
    • Increase revenue 
    • Build product awareness
    • Increase interest in existing products
    • Build the brand's reputation
    • Capturing customer feedback
What is a Personality?
  • Enduring characteristics and behavior that comprise a person's unique adjustment to life
  • An individual's distinctive character that is the combination of characteristics or qualities 
What is a Personality Campaign?
  • A plan to take a person's reputation and career from relative obscurity to high visibility
What is Social Media?
  • Platforms such as websites or applications that enable users to create and share content, or participate in social networking
  • About conversations, community, connecting with the audience and building relationships
The Creative Strategy

The Brand Story
  • Stories are created for an audience and it is what makes them powerful
  • It helps to simplify things by defining a single route through endless possibilities.
  • It is the designer who must translate the story into the visual element and execution.
  • The story makes a brand seem more real and it helps people contextualize the brand's existence.
  • Chapters can be created in the form of campaigns.
SWOT

What is SWOT?
  • An analysis tool to help develop a full awareness of all the factors involved in decision-making.
  • Applied to discover recommendations and strategies, focusing on Strengths & Opportunities to overcome Weakness & Threats
Strengths
  • Things that the brand excels in, distinguishes itself from other competitors
  • Identify and analyse the USP
Weaknesses
  • Acknowledged in an honest and realistic way.
  • Focused on the internal factors, take time to examine how and why the competitors are doing better and what the brand is lacking.
Opportunities
  • Chances for something positive to happen, usually from external situations.
  • Can be observed as marketing trends, technology advancement, or changes in social patterns, etc.
Threats
  • External challenges that can have a negative effect (e.g. shifts in market requirements)
  • Make consideration of what competitors are doing, and decide whether changing to meet the challenge is needed.
Customer Journey Map
  • A visual representation of the customer journey (buyer/ user). 
  • Helps to identify customer's experiences with the brand.
  • Consists of customer actions, motives, and experiences.
  • Also includes organizational activities and roles responsible for them
Important requirements when mapping a Customer Journey Map:
  • Focus on customer perspectives and interaction with company
  • Ensure the maps reflect all touchpoints
  • Account for customer segments
Brand Positioning

A conceptual place that the company wants to own in the target audience's mind, making them think of benefits when the brand name is mentioned.

Brand Positioning Statement:

To (Target Audience)
(brand) Is the only (frame of reference)
That (benefits delivered)
Because (proof points)

Week 3: The Creative Brief

Frame of Reference
  • Brand Positioning Statement includes
    • Target Customer
    • Market Definition
    • Brand Promise
    • Reason to Believe
  • The competitive frame of reference- identifies competitor brands, and which should be the focus of analysis and study
Big Idea

A message that underpins all elements of a campaign to resonate with the target audience. It should be a concept that can stretch across all media so that it is not limited to one platform for execution.

Besides just examining a company's current business strategy, take a look at a big picture by studying the economic, sociopolitical, global or social trends that will affect the brand in the future

Understanding
  • Looking into the brand values, vision & mission, target market, marketing strategy, competition, SWOT, etc.
Clarifying
  • Stage of unifying idea from research and analysis
  • Solidified idea about brand core values, target markets, brand attributes, competitive advantage and project goals
Positioning
  • Developing and refining a positioning strategy
  • Use of Perceptual Mapping to brainstorm
Brand Essence
  • Looking at the competitive advantage, core values, SWOT analysis to answer questions
Big Idea
  • Expressed in one sentence, sometimes a tagline.
  • Must carry enough ambiguity to allow for future developments that cannot be predicted
Week 4: Touchpoints

Brand Touchpoints
  • The interactions and exposures that a consumer can have with a brand.
  • Plays a role in overall customer experience and brand's perception.
Three-step process:
  • Step 1: Make a complete list of Brand Marketing activities and touchpoints along the phases in Customer Journey Map.

  • Step 2: Prioritise touchpoints based on potential impact and ease of implementation.

  • Step 3: Add your prioritised Brand Marketing activities and touchpoints, map them along customer experience journey.
          TASKS

          Task 1A: Case Study 

          In the first week of class, we were given a brief of our Creative Brand Strategy module and what tasks we were expected to finish for the weeks. We then discussed our first task due in Week 2, where we had to do a case study on an existing City Branding.

          Fig 1.1 City Branding Examples

          For this task, I did my research by watching a few YouTube videos on some of the best city branding examples. Some of them included cities like New York City, Melbourne, Paris, Amsterdam and Oslo.

          After gathering some insights through that YouTube video, I then went onto Google to search for other well-known city branding as well. I came across this website and there was a whole list of city branding examples that looked very interesting. What intrigued me was Porto's city branding as it looked so complex yet so fascinating to analyze. I was really curious about the story behind the city branding, so I chose Porto, Portugal for my case study.

          1. Research

          I went on different websites to search for information about Porto's City Branding and also quoted some of designer Eduardo Aires' ideas behind the whole design system. I also looked for photos to see how the city branding is applied.

          Fig. 1.3 Progression- Google Docs (PDF)

          2. Compilation

          Based on the research done, I then pick out information that I need and paraphrase them where necessary. There are 3 sections that we have to cover, including the Brand Strategy, Brand Experience and Key Visuals & Applications.

          Fig. 1.4 Case Study Slides- First Draft

          During the class in Week 2, we were told to review our current case study and look for areas to improve, especially in Brand Experience and Key Visuals & Applications.

          Brand Strategy
          • Identify the concept behind the branding
          Brand Experience
          • Give examples on how the brand has been experiences
          • E.g. Posters on the street, subway stations, promotional videos, etc.
          Key Visuals & How it's Applied
          • Dissect the graphic elements
          • Include their typography, colour palette, visual style, etc.
          • Dissect the key components, show examples on how it has been applied.
          After the general feedback, I went back to refine my slides and add more descriptions to justify my findings.
          Fig. 1.5 Case Study Slides- Final (Slides View)

          Fig. 1.6 Case Study Slides- Final (PDF)


          Task 1B: Campaign Proposal 

          For our next task, we are to choose a city and propose a city branding campaign for it. The city that I have chosen is Venice, and from there, I begin my research about the unique traits of Venice that I can focus on in my campaign proposal. In week 2, I started my research with basic information about Venice and came up with a possible direction to brand the city. 

          My first idea was to brand Venice as a city of colours, based on the buildings in Burano and glass products in Murano. However, the idea was not interesting and strong enough, so I was advised to look into one of Venice's famous culture, its carnival. In Week 3, I researched all about the carnival including its history, the parties held, the significance of wearing masks and more.

          Fig. 1.7 Research on Venice - Google Docs (PDF)

          From this research, I then begin crafting my campaign proposal based on the 10 criteria that we have to cover including:
          • Campaign Description
          • Brand Story
          • Objective & Purpose
          • Brand Values
          • Vision & Mission
          • Target Audience
          • Organisers
          • SWOT Analysis
          • Brand Positioning
          • Customer Journey Map
          I found that the Venetian Carnival is quite a famous event held every year, with people dressing up and attending the parties during the day and night. However, not a lot of people know about the significance of dressing up and wearing a mask. The purpose of the mask actually allows for anonymity, where people are encouraged to let go of their social classes and origins and just take the chance to mingle with strangers. It is also a comfortable way of experiencing Venetian culture, especially for tourists around the globe who are afraid of discrimination against foreigners and not being able to fit in.

          With that thought, I wanted to position Venice as a safe place for anyone and everyone to mingle around while staying anonymous, and freely experiencing the unique culture of Venice, the Carnival of Venice.
          Fig. 1.8 Campaign Proposal Slides- Final (Slides View)

          Fig. 1.9 Campaign Proposal Slides- Final (PDF)


          FINAL OUTCOMES

          Task 1A: Case Study 

          Fig. 1.10 Task 1A: Case Study Slides- Final (PDF)

          Task 1B: Campaign Proposal 

          Fig. 1.11 Task 1B: Campaign Proposal Slides- Final (PDF)

          FEEDBACK

          Task 1A- Case Study

          Week 2
          Brand Experience should include examples of how the brand has been experienced, such as seeing it on street posters, billboards, promotional videos, etc. Include the applications in Key Visuals & Applications as well, and then dissect the key components of the graphic elements and show how it has been applied.

          Week 3

          Look at brand values; it should reflect the campaign, not the city’s characteristics. Brand experience content is more suited to be placed in context of key visual and its applications. Good break down of its key visuals and how it is applied. Somewhat lacking in brand experience reflecting slight weakness in analysing where content fits into framework of case study. Limited research on case study, could have looked at website and social media of city branding. In addition, more key visual can be studied, ie photography style.


          Task 1B- Campaign Proposal

          Week 2
          The idea of looking into other islands in Venice may not work very well as there are too many islands to consider. Try to conceptualise, look into the drama and carnival festivals that they have in Venice.

          Week 3

          Brand values should be the embodiment of the brand campaign itself, not the city. SWOT Analysis should be for the campaign, not for the city. Customer Journey Map, figure out what your brand provides in Loyalty. Think about it based on the opportunity for design. Robbery and crime are more towards a weakness instead of a threat. Brand Positioning is currently too general- safe space to participate in a famous Venetian culture, and remain anonymous so there is less social disparity. Touchpoints, rethink about news and articles, it should be graphic-centric. Consider ideas such as providing links to hotels. Include environmental graphics placed in other cities to promote the event.


          Week 5

          Do include reference and resources in proposal for better support. Perhaps requires a closer look at brand values where suggested keywords may be contradicting to one another. In addition, mission statement has room for improvement in the detailed outline of how vision can be achieved (currently, it is somewhat repetitive). Considering nature of proposed campaign, need to look closer at the demographic perspective where all ages may not be applicable (mayhap children are only secondary consideration). Able to map out the customer’s journey at a satisfactory level.
          REFLECTION

          Experience
          While doing Task 1A: Case Study, I was met with a lot of confusion and challenges as it was not easy researching the city branding for Porto. I spent a lot of time going through all the websites regarding their city branding but found that most websites have similar content to the official website. I was worried that there was too little information for my case study, so I focused mostly on the key visuals and applications. As for Task 1B: Campaign Proposal, I was concerned about the direction of my city branding campaign as well. However, after doing the case study for Porto, I felt that I was able to understand better what I had to do for my campaign proposal. 

          Observation
          Although I have always seen city branding in cities like New York City and Melbourne, it never occurred to me how much planning and thinking process it takes to actually brand a city. While doing my campaign proposal, I had to wreck my brain to think about what I wanted my chosen city to be positioned as. There were many times when I kept straying off to focus on the idea of the Venetian Carnival, but I had to tell myself that I was branding Venice, and not the campaign itself.

          Findings
          I find that these 2 tasks really require a lot of thinking and conceptualising. Even just doing a case study itself took a lot of time to research and analyse. At first, it seemed like 1 week was plenty of time, but when I started researching, I just could not see the end of it. There were still a lot of improvements to be made and areas to be studied and analyzed. 

          FURTHER READING

          As I was doing the SWOT analysis for my Task 1B: Campaign Proposal, I found it difficult to clearly differentiate between Strengths and Opportunities and also Weaknesses and Threats.

          Fig. 2.1 SWOT Analysis Matrix

          I referred to this Matrix to help me identify the SWOTs for my campaign by asking myself the questions that have been stated under each category. 

          The purpose of a SWOT Analysis is to help challenge risky assumptions and uncover dangerous blind spots in the campaign. It can also help to deliver new insights and help to develop the right strategy for any situation. By figuring out the weaknesses of the campaign, we can also find an opportunity that has been overlooked if we go through the analysis systematically.

          References:
          MindTools. (n.d.). SWOT Analysis. https://www.mindtools.com/amtbj63/swot-analysis

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