EMS 30I
Branding Assignment
Branding is what a company does to create an identity. It can be a product
identity or a corporate identity. A company has to define it’s product brand or
corporate brand before it markets that brand to consumers like you and me.
Branding is the process of creating a unique, positive and recognizable identity
for a product or service. You can see the difference between a corporate brand
and a retail brand here: Pepsi v. Pepsico
Branding involves determining the characteristics your product needs in order to
appeal to your target audience. Branding sets the core message you want to
communicate about your product. Brand designers consider colors, typography,
logos, and slogans when creating a brand identity.
Your Task: Create an Atypical Brand
Think of a brand, any brand. If you study that brand, especially if it’s a smaller,
niche brand, you will begin to detect the subtle things marketers do appeal to the
brands target audience. It’s almost as if marketers create brands that have the
personality characteristics that appeal to the target audience. Below is a
comparative list of characteristics brands may try to emulate:
conservative v. liberal
reserved v. wild
safe v. dangerous
muted v. colourful
indoors v. outdoors
subdued v. energetic
still v. action-oriented
feminine v. masculine
light v. dark
religious v. secular
sophisticated v. childish
deep v. superficial
predictable v. spontaneous
local v. global
thoughtful v. flighty
all-American v. foreign
Popular, mainstream brands (ie. Target, McDonalds) are going to develop more
generic corporate brands. It’s harder to put big corporate brands into a
category.
Smaller, niche brands try to appeal to their target audience with branding that is
edgier and more focused (Monster Energy, Hot Topic). Young, small companies
that succeed put a lot of thought and time into developing their image or brand.
Selling ice-cubes to Eskimos
Your next task is to take create a brand that tries to make a product appealing to
an audience that would not normally buy it. This is done by understanding what
appeals to your target audience and then crafting the brand to include what
appeals to your target audience.
Freshly Dead Flowers is an example of a product (fresh flowers – fresh,
outdoors, colorful) not usually associated with a group (goths – often wear black,
not colorful) but with a message that targets the audience in a way that would
appeal to them. (the flowers are freshly dead, watch them wither and die before
your eyes).
Another example is selling purses to farmers. How would you describe a
stereotypical farmer? Maybe you’d say a typical farmer seems hard working,
dirty, calloused, manly and simple. A purse brand that appeals to farmer would
have to be rugged, simple and include features that somehow make his life
easier.
Here are some examples of target audiences and products you can use
Target Market Profiles
Products
-taking
ther Loafers (dress shoes)
Disposable Income
Laziness
Obsessive about Cleanliness
– 7 Year Olds with Pets
t
Required:
2 full sized (8.5×11 or 8.5×14) printable magazine-type ads that includes:
- a unique logo
- a slogan
- an integrated product image and background
- detailed product information; write with your target audience in mind. Minimum
of 80 words
- text with various formats (fonts, headings, subheadings, etc)
Be sure to include:
Current Target Market
Who currently buys this product? What are they like? What appeals to them?
What films/ television programs do they watch? What do they do with their spare
time? What do they buy with disposable income? What is their age range?
Where do they go on vacation? What is a typical occupation they might have?
New Target Market
Who currently buys this product? What are they like? What appeals to them?
What films/ television programs do they watch? What do they do with their spare
time? What do they buy with disposable income? What is their age range?
Where do they go on vacation? What is a typical occupation they might have?
How does your logo, slogan, layout appeal to this new target market?