Brand Corporate Identity / Task 1: Breaking Brand

30.08.2022 - 06.08.2022 (Week 01 - Week 02)

Adeline Wong Chyn Nee / 0344017 / Tai Li Lian & Mr. Vinod

Brand Corporate Identity

Task 1 / Breaking Brand

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LECTURES

Notes

Week 01 Lectures: Introduction

• Brand Corporate Identity

In the first lecture class by Mr. Vinod, we were first introduced to how Brand Corporate Identity correlates to graphic design as it focuses on the visual integrity of a brand. From the first slide, we get to know the importance and purpose of this module and that is to introduce the students to the basics of identity design and the effective use of symbols as a form of visual communication.

As many can recognize the main form of brand identity, a logo but it can also be in the form of an emblem, token, sign, mark, letter, ideogram, badge, trademark, and many more.

Fig. 1.1 Example of Brand Identity (source: BCI lecture)

In this example shown, Mr. Vinod explained how a logo or a symbol of a company can be transformed into a word mark which would then become a larger identity such as posters, letters, and websites. To practice this exercise is branding and this module can train our eyes and skills to create an identity.

MIB and task briefing

Next, we were introduced to the learning outcome of this module and the projects we will be carrying out in the semester. Mr. Vinod then explained how we should avoid chasing grades, and instead focus on the work we are doing such as improving from the feedback during feedback sessions, as the works we do are what gets us hired, employed, etc.

Fig. 1.2 Module timeline (source: BCI lecture)

We were introduced to the project timeline where we get to know each of the projects’ timelines and the deadline for them, when one project dues, the next one will be introduced, and so on.

Fig. 1.3 Eportfolio timeline (source: BCI lecture)

For the E-portfolio submission, there would be 2 submissions the second one acts as a revision submission after our feedback.

Advise from Mr. Vinod

We were then advised to complete the tasks in this module earlier so we can have time for the other modules’ work. So we have to manage our time properly, “keep the ball rolling” and “keep your boyfriends and girlfriends aside for this semester” is what Mr. Vinod said as he advise us in order to keep up with this semester. We have to have a new sense of responsibility as senior students in our second year, we need to dissect what we have done, review them, and use that to learn and put them into practice.

Fig. 1.4 Quote by Paul Rand (source: BCI lecture)

Lastly, Mr. Vinod ended the lecture with a quote by Paul Rand that says “Design can be art. Design can be aesthetics. Design can be simple, that’s why it is so complicated.”

Week 02 Lectures: Brand

    - What is a Brand?

Brand refers to the practice of branding livestock which dates back to 4000 years ago at the Indus Valley such as between Pakistan and India, as well as Egypt. Branding haas since evolved from farmers claiming their property, and artists claiming their work. 

Fig. 2.1 Cattle branding (source: BCI lecture)

In the lecture, we were shown an image of a cow being “branded” by having a hot pole stamped onto the cow’s face. As a vegan, I was taken aback by the fact that animals were branded and still are to this day.

Fig. 2.2 Human branding back in the days (source: BCI lecture)

This act of branding was also taken place on humans back in the days, it was a dark time. An example of the iron replica used on African slaves is shown, that history of branding has changed, however, branding now is still about taking ownership. It is more than creating a visual identity, it is owning up to your company’s shortcomings and earning customers’ trust through words, actions, and stories.

According to Marty Neumeier, A brand is a person’s gut feeling about a product, service, or company, while companies can't control this process, they can influence it by communicating the qualities that make this product different from another.

He also stated, "When enough people arrive at the same gut feeling, a company can be said to

have a brand. In other words, a brand is not what you say it is. It's what they say it is." It is a mental construct shared by society about a product, service, organization, or even a person.

Examples

Fig. 2.3 & 2.4 Najib and the word 'Apple' as examples of branding (source: BCI lecture)

Next, we were shown an image of Najib Razak, as any Malaysian, we would know what his image is currently, but if we were to say 2 years ago, then it is a different story. We were then shown the word ‘Apple’, and immediately the brand technology brand ‘Apple’. The brand name had integrated deep into our minds so much that even without the mention of the brand logo can allow people to think of the brand. 

Fig. 2.5 Brand has many different parts (source: BCI lecture)

In the next part, we were told that brand “is an approximate—yet very distinct—understanding of a product, service, company, or person. So, a brand basically is an amalgamation of many different parts which constitute together to make a brand.

    - What is a Brand identity?

The term branding refers to the marketing practice of actively shaping a distinctive brand. The brand is the perception of the company in the eyes of the world.

There are 2 aspects related to brand identity:

1. Gut feeling aspect
2. Visual Identity

The first aspect of brand identity is the “gut feeling” or “gut instinct”. It is what they think about the image or message that is associated with the product, service, organization, and person. The gut feeling is not wrong but only a feeling one gets upon viewing that identity.

The second aspect is the visual identity, this helps to manage the message or gut feeling. Brand identity is the collection of all elements that a company creates to portray the right image to its consumer. It is different from the brand image which most of the time is thought to be interchangeable with the brand identity.

- What is Branding?

Branding is the process of giving meaning to a specific organization, company, product, or service by creating and shaping a brand in consumers’ minds. Branding is a strategy designed by the organization to help people quickly identify and experience their brand, giving them a reason to choose them over their competitors, because effective branding demolishes its competitors

Brading for “stupidity”

Fig. 2.6 Diesel edgy branding (source: BCI lecture)

Diesel, an apparel brand clearly differentiates from its competitors for having this edgy image, telling the consumers to “break the rules, and follow your heart.”

“UNHATE” Campaign by Benetton

Fig. 2.7 “UNHATE” Campaign by Benetton (source: BCI lecture)

This campaign takes the values and social route in keeping with the brand’s image since the 80s. They have a less whimsical and more socially weighted message. They are both similar in a way however the “UNHATE” campaign takes a more social route with the same shocking value as the Diesel branding.

In a nutshell, branding for Diesel and the “UNHATE” campaign is the process of hijacking and shaping the image in a consumer’s mind and in doing so, creating a distinct mark and association, that makes them memorable.

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In this next part, we learned about the ways to achieve branding, firstly, knowing the brand’s definition such as the purpose, values, and promise. Next, knowing the brand’s positioning statement like what the brand does, who is the target consumer, and the benefits of the brand. Following that, the brand’s identity needs to be discussed, things such as the name, the tone of voice, visual identity design like logo design, color palette, and typographies. This part constitutes the identity section however it is apart of the advertisement.

What are the benefits of branding?

• A distinctive brand helps to make them stand out in a saturated market.

• Branding gives it credibility, as consumers would rather buy a product with branding than one with none.

• With a clear brand, the brand can charge what it’s worth because the value increases

• This also means leading to more customer loyalty which means more returning customers & referrals

• Having a good brand design program means having consistency, this way it’ll help the brand to attract the ideal clients.

• Consistent good branding also helps save time and money

• Branding will give them confidence in the business.

• Established branding makes it easier to introduce new products/services, it helps give them a clear strategy for moving forward

- Our Role as a Designer

Design program: the immediate goal of a design program is to control an important part of the company's visual identity. Underpinning that goal is the identification and communication of company aspirations (internal and external)

Fig. 2.8 Differentiation, Collaboration, Innovation, Validation, and Cultivation (source: BCI lecture)

The design program is a crucial endeavor in every large and medium enterprise for branding to be effective and consistent. Our role as a designer is to develop, envision, and create a visual identity that is distinct, memorable, consistent, value-based, profit-based, gives confidence, increases market-share, endears itself to the audience, and wins the trust and loyalty of its audience. All this is through good research and understanding and the development of an effective visual identity program.

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Conclusion

In conclusion, we were told that for many centuries, many companies have found themselves trapped in a virtuous circle of R&D investments, price-cutting, and competitive pressure until commoditization forced them out of the market. However, to end the cycle is to build effective and consistent branding, that way, a company can ignite a chain reaction that leads to differentiation to collaboration to innovation to validation, and finally cultivation.

Lastly, we were suggested to read a book by Marty Neumeier called The Brand Gap. It is a concise book on branding, and it’s a really good book for designers according to Mr. Vinod.

Fig. 2.9 The Brand Gap by Marty Neumeier

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INSTRUCTIONS

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Task 1 / Breaking Brand

Week 01- Week 02

In the very first task for Brand Corporate Identity, we are required to group up for a collaborative project where we "break" a brand by dissecting and deconstructing a brand, preferably a large brand that has a regional or international presence for the purpose of analysis.

In the MIB, we are provided a task outline/ framework to help us get started. The task is split into 2 sections, firstly the brand profile section, and secondly the expanded brand profile section.

This is what's provided for us, all we had to do is research:

Fig. 4.1 Task outline (source: BCI MIB)

Sitting at a round table during f2f class with me are Adena and Maisarah, we have just got acquainted and decided to form a group for this task. On the spot, we each thought of an idea for the brand we should deconstruct, we all voted for Pixar as we all think it is the best choice for this task. We also created a group chat for any further discussions.

Fig. 4.2 Pixar logo (source: creativebloq.com)

In a collaborative Google doc, we wrote down all the task outlines and assigned ourselves to each of the topics to research. This is how we did it:

First, we chose a color to assign which topics to choose, we used the highlighter function for that.

Fig. 4.3 Team members (highlighted)

Next, we spun the wheel to decide who gets to choose first, this was followed by the next person decided by the wheel, and then the third person chooses, and so on. We took turns and made sure the process was done fairly, so no one ends up getting topics they won't like researching.

Fig. 4.4 Assigned tasks (highlighted)

I have chosen a total of 10 sub-topics to research for this task:

- Brand Value

- Retailer's Perspective

- Customer's Perspective

- Unique Selling Perspective

- Location

- etc.

- Benefits

- Target Market/ Audience

- Pricing

- Brand's Communication Strategy

Research Process:

Fig. 4.5 Screenshot of research progress #1

Fig. 4.6 Screenshot of research progress #2

Fig. 4.7 Screenshot of research progress #3

We were provided a Google Drive link to upload our final submissions.

Fig. 4.8 & 4.9 Screenshots of the Google drive folder provided

FINAL SUBMISSION

Fig. 4.10 Final submission of 'Breaking Brand' Task 1 (PDF)

Fig. 4.11 Final submission of individual 'Breaking Brand' Task 1 (PDF)

Fig. 4.12 Final slides submission of 'Breaking Brand' Task 1 (embed slides)

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FEEDBACK

Week 01:

In class, we were told by Ms. Lilian that Pixar is a good choice and that we should proceed with our task. During the task, we worked on our research collaboratively and corrected each other when we see any missing parts on the research Google doc (such as referencing).

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REFLECTION

Experience

This task has been an interesting one for me, it was for a design course but one that touches one brand identity which is an important aspect of graphic design as well. Working in a group as our first task was not a difficult one because of the accumulated experience from previous semesters, I can use the skills I learned over here. The task itself which we worked on "breaking" a brand, was very insightful as I did not know how in-depth a brand's identity could go, so through this task, I have learned that. I feel that Pixar is a great choice for this task and we really learned a lot about the history of the brand, and how they work. 

Observations

Through task 1, I realized the levels of target market we could write for just one brand. For our task, we were required to write 2 for the brand profile, and 2 for the expanded brand profile. As we went along with the research, the information that we gathered is to be used to write the following target market. That is something interesting I have observed and learned from this task.

Findings

From creating the slides for this task, I have found the importance of paraphrasing to be very crucial, and that not paraphrasing could mean failing of plagiarism. That is because, by paraphrasing, we are showing that we understand what we are researching, when we put the information into our own words, we show that we have interpreted the findings of our research.

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FURTHER READING

Fig. 5.1 The Brand Gap by Marty Neumeier

In pages 37 to 55, Marty talks about the first discipline anyone can use to make even their own brand charismatic. There are 5 total disciplines of brand-building, the first discipline he talks about is differentiation.

Fig. 5.2 & 5.3 Differentiate (source: The Brand Gap by Marty Neumeier)

In the book, it is said that our brains act as filters to protect us from too much information, so creating focus and being different can help us notice what's different, like the first discipline, differentiation.

Fig. 5.4 Solution: Be Different (source: The Brand Gap by Marty Neumeier)

A solution for this is to be different. Over the years from the year 1900 to 2000, the focus has changed from what the brand is to who you are, basically an identification of the brand so the consumers can relate to it.

Fig. 5.5 & 5.6 The Focus Test (source: The Brand Gap by Marty Neumeier)

On pages 45 to 47, we see the three most important words in differentiating your brand: Focus.

The focus test helps to create focus for the brand by asking 3 questions:

1. Who are you?

2. What do you do?

3. Why does it matter?

Unless we have compelling answers to these questions, the focus is needed. 

Fig. 5.7 Common reason for loss of focus (source: The Brand Gap by Marty Neumeier)

Good brand extensions grow the value of a brand by reinforcing its focus.

Example of focused branding:

Porshe = Sports cars

Bad brand extensions are those that chase short-term profits at the expense of long-term brand value.

Example of unfocused branding:

Porshe = Sports cars + SUVs