Brand—Space

2
SECTION ONE
Introduction
1,2
Anon. (2013) Brand
spaces: branded
archaitecture and the
future of retail design.
Berlin: Gestalten.
Spaces, brands and places and what these words
mean to people are all linked and all influence
each other to shape consumers’ perceptions
about somewhere, or about a brand.
With the birth of consumerism came the,
now traditional high street. Local businesses
soon turned into multinational companies along
with the department store and eventually the
supermarket and shopping centre. This wasn’t
just a change in branding but a change in space,
how spaces were developed and how brands
applied branding to create places.
This study will explore the importance of
branding in physical space and the impact that
brands have on it, including the relationship
between consumers and space. How brands
are changing their approach and attitude in an
ever increasing online landscape to increase
footfall, build and share experiences and create
engaging and interactive environments. In our
digital world a logo doesn’t cut it. People crave
not for virtual reality, but for reality. Brands have
identified the importance of space, and finding
their own space in which to brand their own.
Having an online presence is not enough
to survive in such a heavily saturated market.
Brands and branding are not the same thing.
A brand is what you perceive, whilst branding
is the means by which a brand communicates
to you, shaping your perception of it. Brand spaces
are continually evolving, in line with branding
techniques. Impacting all businesses alike,
as outlined by Sofia Borges (2013, p.3), ‘this
increased attention to physical branding and
its influence over the public sphere challenges
our commercial sector to inspire us by rethinking
retail’s status quo.’ 1
Featuring examples in section six, this essay
will highlight some of this leading thinking in
the retail sector and beyond. It’s this shift in
consumer behaviour and attitude to wanting
to develop the discovery process with a brand,
interacting with it and being treated as an
individual. People do not want to be treated
as mass market and so it’s a personable and
intimate approach brands are taking to ask
the important questions – which is exactly it,
they’re asking. It’s this idea that Borges (2013, p.3)
believes is the marketing tool that’s becoming an
integral part to new branding, ‘The impact of the
question mark as an effective marketing tool and
visual vocabulary is quickly surpassing the need
for branding’s usual exclamation point approach.’ 2