Brand Corporate Identity / Task 1 Breaking Brands

on
23 / 09 / 2024 — 14 / 10 / 2024 (Week 01 — Week 04)

Kim Seoyoon / 0357755

MKT 62404 / Brand Corporate Identity / Bachelor of Design (Hons) in Creative Media / Taylor's University

Task 1 / Breaking Brands 

TABLE OF CONTENT

LECTURES

INSTRUCTIONS

TASK 1   

FEEDBACK 

FURTHER READING

REFLECTION

LECTURES

Week 01 (23/09/2024) : Introduction 
Week 02 (30/09/2024) : Brand
Week 03 (7/10/2024) : Types of Marks
Week 04 (14/10/2024) : Brand Ideals

Lecture 01: Introduction 

Brand Corporate Identity is an integral part of graphic design discipline as it focuses on the visual integrity of a brand. 

"A symbol is a mark, sign, or word that indicates, signifies, or is understood as representing an idea, object or relationship."


Lecture 02: Brand

What is a brand?

Fig 1.1 Map of Indus Vally Civilization, Week 2(30/09/2024)

1. History of the term 'Brand/ Branding'
The term 'brand/ branding' derives from the Old Norse word 'brandr' or "to burn" referring to the practice of branding livestock during the times of Indus Valley Civilization. 

Examples of branding in the past and modern times:
  • Past 
    • Cattle Branding
    • Human Branding
  • Present
    • Owning what your company values and represents, up to your shortcomings.
    • Earning customer trust and loyalty through your words, actions, and stories.
2. Definition
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 differently.

A brand isn't what you say it is, it is what they say it is; a mental construct shared by society about a product, service, organization or even a person. 

What is brand identity?
"Brand identity is the collection of all elements that a company creates to portray the right image to its customer. It is different from "brand image" and "branding", although these terms are sometimes treated as interchangeable," (DeBara, 20217).

What is branding?
"Branding is the process of giving a meaning to specific organization, company, products or services by creating and shaping a brand in consumers' minds. This is a strategy designed by the organizations to help people to identify and experience their brand quickly, and give them a reason to choose their products over the competition," (Marion, 2015).

Examples of branding campaigns that share the shock value of visual communication:

Fig 1.2 "Be Stupid" and "UNHATE" campaigns, Week 2(30/09/2024)

Branding is the process of hijacking and shaping an image in the consumer's minds and in doing so, creating an indelible and distinct mark and association. 

Branding can be achieved through:
  • Brand definition (Purpose, values, promise)
  • Brand positioning statement (What your brand does, target market, benefits)
  • Brand identity (Name, tone of voice, visual identity design)
  • Advertising and communications (TV, radio, magazines, outdoor ads, websites etc)
  • Product design
  • Sponsoring and partnerships
  • In-store experience
  • Workspace experience and management style
  • Customer service
  • Pricing strategy
What are the benefits of branding?
  • Helps to stand out in a saturated market
  • Credibility
  • Customer loyalty / returning customers & referrals
  • Branding = Consistency
  • Attract ideal clients
  • Save money & time
  • Confidence in business
What is a designer's role in branding?
The designer's role in branding is to give form to the content, strategy and messaging– research (history of client and product, understanding the target market and more) and development of a trademark. 

Conclusion
Fig 1.3 Brand cycle, Week 2(30/09/2024)

By combining logic and magic, a company can ignite a chain reaction that leads from differentiation to collaboration to innovation to validation and cultivation. 

Lecture 03: Types of Marks

Terms
1. Logo 
Short for logotype, a design speak for a trademark made from a custom-lettered word. The general term 'logo' refers to all marks that represent a brand. 

Fig 1.4 Examples of logotype, logomark, and signature, Week 3(7/10/2024)

  • Logotype: A logo centred around a company name or initials. 
  • Logomark: A logo centred around a symbolic image or icon. 
  • Signature: when a word and a symbol are combined– also known by its other term "combination mark". 

2. Monogram
Fig 1.5 Examples of monogram, Week 3(7/10/2024)

It is a motif made by overlapping or combining two or more letters or other graphemes to form one symbol. Often made by combining the initials of an individual company, used as recognizable 'symbols' or 'logos'. 

3. Heraldry
Fig 1.6 Heraldry, Week 3(7/10/2024)

Heraldry encompasses the design, display and study of armorial bearings (armoury), together with the study of ceremony, rank, and pedigree. 
  • Crest: Distinctive device representing a family or corporate body, borne above the shield of a coat of arms.
  • Coat of Arms: Distinctive heraldic bearings or shield of a person, family, corporation or country. 
  • Insignia: Distinguishing badge or 'emblem' of military rank, office, or membership of an organization.
4. Mark
An impression made on something; paper, wall, wood, etc. When combined with another word, i.e. trademark, watermark, earmarks, etc. These marks signify ownership or identification. It represents the quality, ability and skill levels of its creator and with that comes a promise of excellence. 

5. Trademark
Symbol, word, or words legally registered or established by use as representing a company or product. The function of a trademark is identification. It is also used as legal protection against intellectual property infringement or theft. 

A registered trademark symbol (®) is a typographic symbol that provides notice that the preceding word or symbol has been successfully registered with a national trademark office. 


Lecture 04: Brand Ideals

A brand ideal is a higher purpose of a brand or organization that goes beyond the product/ service they sell. 

The motto is a value, an ideal the company originally aspired to live by but some believe has long stopped doing so.

Brand values deliver real engagement and direct you towards more powerful bonds with your target audience. 

Ideals are essential to a responsible creative process, regardless of the size of a company or the nature of a business:

Fig 1.7 Brand Ideals, Week 4(15/10/2024)

Vision: "A compelling vision by an effective, articulate, and passionate leader is the foundation for the best brands." (Baber, 2008)

Meaning: The best brands stand for something– a big idea, a strategic position or a defined set of values.

Authenticity: This isn't possible without an organization having clarity about its market, positioning, value positioning, value proposition and competitive difference. 

Differentiation: Brands always compete with each other within their business category–at some level, compete with all brands that want our attention, focus, and loyalty.

Sustainability: Sustainability is the ability to have longevity in an environment in contract flux and characterized by future permutations that no one can predict. It is achieved through a commitment to the equity of a central idea over time. 

Coherence: Whenever a customer experiences a brand it must feel familiar and have the desired effect. It is the quality that ensures that all the prices hold together in a way that feels ideal to the customer.

Flexibility: An effective brand identity positions a company for change and growth in the future, supporting evolving strategy. 

Commitment: Organizations ensure all people engaged with the brand have complete motivation and dedication in order for it to succeed. Building, protecting, and enhancing the brand requires desire and a disciplined approach to ensure its integrity and relevance. 

Value: Measurable results need to be created that promote and sustain the brand. 

Conclusion
Brands that operate from a higher purpose are successful for at least two reasons:
  • Better equip their employees to tap into their deepest reservoirs of intuition and imagination to address the changing reality as it unfolds.
  • They create deep relationships with customers who are yearning for connection, community, and participation in something bigger than themselves.
Connect, unite and inspire. 

INSTRUCTIONS 

Module Information Booklet

Task 1–Breaking Brands (20% Group & Individual)
Timeframe: Week 01 – Week 02 (Deadline Week 03)

Select an existing brand, preferably a large brand with a regional or international presence for analysis. Create individual presentation slides based on the collected research information on the chosen brand. 

TASK 1 – BREAKING BRANDS

Week 1 / Brand Research
In the first week of this module, we were instructed to form a group for brand research from a selected large brand of choice and our group has selected Disney for our research topic. We distributed our tasks into smaller sections according to the outline provided on MIB:

Fig 2.1 Task 1 Research Outline, Week 1 (23/09/2024)

I was in charge of researching information and data on sections 4A (Unique Selling Proposition) and 4-6B (Competitive Differentiation, Pricing, and Distribution). Parts of section 3B (Target Market / Audience) were done together as a pair with discussions. 

Below is our group's final research information on the brand Disney:

Fig 2.2 Research on the brand 'Disney', Week 1 (25/09/2024)

Week 2 / Creating Presentation Slides
In the following week, we were instructed to create a presentation slide based on the collected data from the research that we carried out on week 1. 

Fig 2.3 Individual presentation slides for Task 1, Week 2 (6/10/2024)

FEEDBACK

TO WEEKLY FEEDBACK LIST: CLICK HERE

Week 2
In the second week, I checked with Ms Lilian to see whether our group research was going in the right direction to proceed with presentation slides. Ms commented that it looks good but the last framework (brand communication strategy) needs some visual examples (ie, mentioned teaser campaigns on social media). 


Week 3 (Post Submission Feedback)
Groupwork Feedback:
We were commented we could look deeper into the 'Benefits' section on both brand profiles in terms of looking from the angle of the customer as well as employees. The rest of the research study is almost accurate based on the given framework. 

Individual Feedback: 
I received feedback that my presentation lacked visual examples to illustrate the brand's communication strategy framework, and more paraphrasing and summary are needed when putting down information on the slides as the submitted presentation heavily relied on research information.


FURTHER READING

Fig 3.1 Oppelt's article on The Branding Journal

What Is a Visual Identity and Why Does It Play a Crucial Role in Branding? by Julian Oppelt 
For further reading, I selected to read an article by Julian Oppelt from a website called The Branding Journal. The article talked about the role of visual identity in branding with its importance, and how to build a unique one. 

"A brand’s visual identity is a combination of graphic elements that represent and identify it, including its logo, colour palette, typography, imagery, and other design elements."

Why is it important? 
  • Brand recognition
  • Differentiation
  • Trust and credibility
  • Reinforcement
  • Emotional connection
Elements of Visual Identity:
1. Colour Palette
2. Logo
3. Typeface/ fonts
4. Imagery and photography style
5. Graphic design layouts
6. Product and packaging design

A solid visual identity creates brand recognition, differentiates your brand from competitors, establishes consistency and trust with customers, and creates an emotional connection with your audience.

REFLECTION

Experience 
Analyzing Disney's brand profile and researching their aspects of branding allowed me to gain wider insights into the brand approach of Disney and how they have been building their brand value year by year throughout the century. 

Observation
Working in a group with discussions provided me to learn further on the topic of market segmentation and how these strategies take part in the growth of a business– including looking into the definitions of terminologies and how real-life examples are applied from Disney in their effort of brand expansion. 

Findings
Two steps of brand profile analysis allowed me to learn about the brand itself beginning from a greater point of view to deeper details on the brand 'Disney'. Upon receiving the feedback regarding the submission, I acknowledged that it is important to provide sufficient visual examples so that the research information becomes more relevant. 


                                                                                                                                      TO TASK 2 →

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