IDI Creative Axis - Institute of Designers in Ireland

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20 EVENTSBranding The ExperienceAndy Milligan, executive director of Interbrand, talked about ‘Branding the Experience’to a packed audience of (mainly) designers in Dublin in February.Marion Hancock reports.Guess the brands:1) Magic, Family, Entertainment.2) Sport, Winning, Attitude.(Answers below).You probably got them in seconds, as did theaudience that came to hear Andy Milligan talk.Such is the pervasiveness of branding today.But Milligan was also here to tell us thattoday’s mighty oaks were acorns once – and wewere duly amused by pictures of sorry-lookingBMWs in even sorrier showrooms of 30 yearsago. In the intervening years, has brandinggone too far?Milligan was invited to speak in Dublin bythe Institute of Designers in Ireland (IDI)together with Gaelite. He has a new book out,See Feel Think Do, which suggests that ‘bywatching the way real people act in real life inreal time in real situations, we can developideas that solve their real needs’. His previoustwo books (Brand It Like Beckham andUncommon Practice) are bestsellers, andreviewers praise his ‘refreshingly simple’approach to a subject others have made tootheoretical. That simple approach camethrough in his breezy analysis of why brandsare a good thing: if they didn’t exist, there’djust be ‘stuff,’ and undifferentiated stuff isn’tgood for society – look what happened in theSoviet Union!He defined a brand as ‘not a trademark buta central organising principle,’ and this wasnicely demonstrated by an appreciative tour ofwitty American brand Geek Squad. GeekSquad’s workforce of bespectacledcomputerfixers cruise the streets inreconditioned police cars, flash importantlookingmetal badges, stick ‘crime scene’ tapearound ailing computers and depart leaving‘Geek Squad’ footprints cast by the soles oftheir specially engraved shoes. This, Milliganobserved, was ‘beautiful thinking through thedesign’, and good evidence that quirky can bemainstream – Geek Squad is the biggestsupplier of computer support in the US.So far, so good. And is there anything thatcan’t be branded? No, according to Milligan –calling to mind Yo! Sushi founder SimonWoodroffe’s answer to the same question: heproposed Yo! I’m Dead! as a funeral brand.`(Dublin’s brand consultants feel there mightbe just a little unbrandable territory left –‘perhaps love’, according to Pat Kinsley ofNeworld, ‘although Hallmark has done a prettygood job on it’; ‘a walk in the park,’ offersAndrew Bradley of Bradley McGurk, and ‘God’,suggests Martin Gaffney of Designworks,‘because nobody has ever returned from theclient presentation with feedback.’)But while Geek Squad may exemplify alovable brand most people might agree is aGood Thing, there was clear apprehension inthe audience that many big brands are ugly,uncaring, unethical or all three. Questionswere asked about Coca Cola’s unionproblems, Nike’s sweatshop scandals,McDonalds’ health issues – surely a backlashis coming? Milligan thought not. The fussabout labour exploitation ‘did not affect Nikesales one bit,’ he said – Nike claimed not toknow that its policy against child labour hadbeen flouted, and resolved to be more rigorousin future. Shoppers carried on regardless.People do care about (alleged) iniquities, butthey also suit themselves when it comes tomaking their own consumer decisions.Among Ireland’s brand practitioners,though, there was some expectation ofbacklash against an overheated and underthoughtthrough proliferation of brands.Indeed Andrew Bradley thinks it has alreadystarted, especially in convenience foodretailing. ‘People do want brandedexperiences, but they want to experience themon their own terms’, he says.‘In the past ten years Ireland’s gone fromone extreme to another’, agrees Pat Kinsley,‘and now people are jamming stuff down ourthroats all the time’. So there will be areckoning? ‘I always say that a good brand isan honest brand’, says Kinsley. ‘The brandsleft standing will be those with real messagesthat relate to the Irish people’.This doesn’t mean a return to theunbranded local shop, he thinks. ‘We’ll sit andcomplain about Joe’s business going under –we all like to say hello to Joe – but that’s notgoing to save his business. We as consumersare going to go to SPAR. The only way a cornershop is going to survive is if it can offercleanliness, value and personality – then itwouldn’t be wiped away because it would havea good business’.This fits perfectly with Milligan’s assertionthat branding should ‘unlock the source ofpride in a company’. It’s an idea most of uscan get behind, so it’s perhaps mysterious thatclients need so much instruction, persuasionand handholding to go down this road. ‘Iwish I had brought all my clients along to thistalk’, said Kinsley. ‘The fact that even powerbrands like BMW had to start somewhere was agreat point of reassurance. Among my clientsMartin Gaffney, Arthur Duff, Andy Milligan February 2006I’d say that there’s about 15% understandingand 85% non-understanding of what we’re onabout. We’re sitting with all these beginners –our clients – and on average it takes about ayear for them to say OK, let’s go for it. Butonce they’ve made the decision to take thatstep, they’re halfway there.’According to Andrew Bradley it’s not justclients who struggle to see the big picturewhen it comes to branding. ‘My sense is thatdesigners don’t get the brand thing’, he says.‘Designers are very visually driven and they’renot very good at seeing things from the userpoint of view because they’re not educated toit. I’m not sure they’re that interested insomething once it’s left their desk’. By thisreckoning it’s up to the marketing fraternity toshow the way. In the Christmasissue of IMJ Seamus Bagnall posed thequestion whether communicationsexcellence in Ireland was ‘masking how wellthe consumer is actually being served’. It’s agood question. Everyone would like to seebrands that are beacons of quality andintegrity, not veneers of cohesion applied toindifferent (or worse) products and services.Ireland has no shortage of ideas, intelligentindividuals or promising startups, but it can doa lot better at crafting the kind of brandedexperiences that will still be in demand in30 years.Answers:1) Disney.2) Nike.This article first appeared in Irish Marketing Journal.
EVENTS21Report on Intellectual Property Rights,Copyright and Trademark seminarOn September 7th 2006, the IDI held an Intellectual Property Rights,Copyright and Trademark seminar, in Griffith College.This seminar came about through professedinterest among members in learning moreabout the changing face of legislationpertinent to design.Hugh Kearns, Creative Strategist, writerand designer, Andrew Parkes of Tomkins andAileen Eglington of the BSA gave a greatseminar to designers regarding IntellectualProperty Rights, Copyright and Trademarks,licensing software.Hugh Kearns spoke about the differentrights of a designer in terms of copyright – thepaternity right and the integrity right, addingthat many clients were unaware of the latterright – the right not to have your workinterfered with or presented in a way thatmight undermine your standing in theprofessional community. He stressed the needto be aware of, and to protect your rights, and,if necessary, to be prepared to go to count todefend them.Hugh also generated interest by speaking ofa recent case taken by designers against aclient, where the designers’ work had beenreproduced, reconstructed and reused by theclient against the wishes of the originalcreators. Despite offers of settlement, he hadadvised his clients to insist that the caseshould be heard in court in order to havedesign rights enshrined clearly in case law, inorder to set a precedent for others to follow.Andrew Parkes of Tomkins spoke next,clearly defined the laws around copyright andpatenting, using visual examples of how youcan trademark everything from packaging tocolour combinations. He also explained theregistration process involved with trademarks.Andrew described how EU law governedapplications to register designs.A truly successful conference also needs tocourt controversy as the final speaker did.Aileen Eglington of the Business SoftwareAlliance spoke of the importance of licensingsoftware, the laws regarding illegal softwareand the issues regarding designers usingsoftware. Her rationale that creative personsshould respect the copyright of other creativesdesigning software was contested by membersof the audience who cited high softwarelicense prices as a deterrent.During the question time that followed,questions were asked about software, internetprotection, web design, various trademarkingqueries and more questions about the pricingof software licenses for students, graduatesand emerging companies, whichChairman Cameron Ross, speakers AndrewParkes, Aileen Eglington and Hugh KearnsAileen Eglington offered to look into.The IDI would like to thank the panelists –Hugh, Andrew and Aileen – for makingthemselves available to speak and to answeraudience questions. Special thanks also go toGriffith College and IDI member DeirdreDoherty who arranged and facilitated thevenue, refreshments and equipment.The seminar (capacity 40 persons) wasbooked out, with a waiting list of applicants.Due to the popularity of the event amongmembers, and interest from other legal anddesign bodies in getting involved, the IDI willbe following up this seminar by makingavailable to members the content of papersdelivered at this session, and by organisinganother debate on the same broad theme. Thefocus of this second session is expected towiden out the debate by focusing on Europeanand International legislation and bodies.For more information on this and other upcoming events,please check the web-site on a regular basis athttp://www.idi-design.ie/. If you are interested in assistingin organizing this or other informational sessions formembers, please contact Rina Whyte at idi@indigo.ie.Sponsorships –it’s not about signing a cheque!If the definition of a sponsorship is: where abrand enters a commercial agreement with anentity e.g. Ryder Cup, to build deepconnections with their audience and so gainattention, generate awareness, drivepositioning, enhance image, grow loyalty andultimately increase adoption through theassociation; how does the brand undertakingthe sponsorship deliver on all this?Global sponsorships in 2005 reached$30billion growing to approximately$34billion in 2006. Ireland remains ahead ofthe curve in sponsorship growth reaching anestimated ?92million in 2006. The increasingattractiveness of sponsorship for brands todeliver on all of the above is driven by anumber of factors:1. Uniqueness in creating emotionalconnections with audience – it is themost emotional and personally relevant ofall media;2. Strategic role – major brands usesponsorship as a lead strategy to deliverbrand / business objectives;3. Benefits over ‘traditional’ media throughassociation in addition to exclusiveexposure to a targeted audience;4. Most effective as part of / lead brandvehicle in an integrated campaign;5. Improved measurability;6. Increased professionalism.The key to the success of a sponsorship isactivation – which is owning and leveragingthe association to maximize the return on yourinvestment by activating the sponsorshipbeyond simply the placement of a logo onposters or having a stand at an event – orhanding over a cheque! But let’s start with thekey assumption that the association is a strongfit for a brand. If not, no level of activation willdeliver on the above definition. With the brandfit a given, what is activation?An example: Gyro was tasked withpositioning ACCBank uniquely amongst aniche high net worth audience as the marketleader in delivering customer value to thebusiness / agri-business sectors. Sponsorshipof the Punchestown Festival was targeted dueto exposure to a highly targeted audience andunique brand fit; specifically sponsorship ofthe Champion Hurdle – most prestigiousGrade1 two mile hurdle race in Ireland.To take ownership of and leverage thesponsorship to the maximum effect in acohesive, clever and complimentary way, thefirst step was to design a logo which capturedthe tone and expression of the sponsorship todeliver unique ownership of the association.Using the corporate colours, a highly stylizedhorse head mark holds the brand name withthe brand trefold subtly conveying a horsebridle. More than a logo, the identity is anexpression of intent to the target audience.Furthermore, the logo behaved as a consistentanchor across all communications indelivering a powerful activation plan whichconsisted of national and local radio and presswith a high incidence of the target audience.Direct Mail to top customers driving retentionand repeat business, and a focused signagestrategy in Punchestown including road,entrance, parade ring, track and the winningpost.A general global industry rule is theactivation plan should be at least double thecost of the sponsorship rights. A particularglobal soft drinks brand spends a ratio of 6:1on activation – little wonder it is no.1.Marc SheridanGyro Ireland Integrated Brand Communicationsp: +353 1 635 9119e: marc.sheridan@gyrointernational.com
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Page 9 and 10: EDUCATION7Shaping Perceptions -Oppo
Page 11 and 12: REGIONALNEWS9Students who successfu
Page 13 and 14: PAST PRESISDENTS11takes us into a s
Page 15 and 16: FRANK RYAN13through the foundation
Page 17 and 18: EVENTS15father of thematic exhibiti
Page 19 and 20: RICHARDSEYMOUR17do’. To demonstra
Page 21: EVENTS19Is Rome burning? Are design
Page 25 and 26: DESIGNINNOVATION23grow, the researc
Page 27 and 28: EYE25however, is that they have a v
Page 29 and 30: CANDY27Oliver Jeffers and many many
Page 31 and 32: DESIGNWEEK29The Morrison for Koewei
Page 33 and 34: Hook and I;an exhibition by IDI mem

IDI Creative Axis - Institute of Designers in Ireland

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