Lesson Task – Acquainting yourself with the work process

Consider the different steps in the work process and answer the following questions in writing:

Conduct research
Write down different means of conducting research (what do you think can be done to collect information and get consumers’ perspective on a proposed idea?)
Surveys, sending out the product to possibly buyers and asking for feedback, asking around, posting in foras on the web. Researching websites on the company/theme/merchandize.

Clarify the strategy
What do you think should be included in a creative brief (as a designer, what would you consider vital information in such a brief?)
Most important is what the client think they need. What are they selling, to whom, what is the product, when do they want to sell it, where will they sell it etc. How do the client see their brand in the future? Do they have a marketing plan?

Design the identity
How would you approach the findings from the research and the clarified strategy (what would your first steps be once you’ve received feedback and a brief?)
Reviewing the information provided by the client and sketching ideas would be a first step for me.

Create touchpoints
What do you think is meant by touchpoints (what, do you think, should be included in the term “touchpoints”? how would you define this term?) Hint: Keep in mind that touchpoints are those things that connect customers to your brand.
I think touchpoints could refer to any situation where the consumer meets the product or a presentation of the product (like a commercial). Touchpoints could be advertisements in the city, on buses, on the internet, on the radio or on tv.

Manage the assets
How would you nurture and grow the brand that you’ve created (you may choose an existing brand or product and describe this according to your chosen item, if that will make it easier for you to explain your ideas)?
Social media is a an important way of reaching a lot of people, and ex. Facebook has a very advanced way for you to make ads to target the people you want to see your product. I would certainly want to look into how ads in social media could help my business.

Lesson Task – Having fun with brand identity

Design strategy takes form in life

Watch the movie “The Greatest Movie Ever Sold” (The official title is “POM wonderful Presents: The Greatest Movie Ever Sold”) and answer the questions that follow.

1. Do you think the movie provides insight or detail into what drives product placement in entertainment?
   If so, what have you learnt from that? If not, how would you change aspects of the movie to reflect insight on this?
   “The Greatest Movie Ever Sold” gives a great inside look at how product placement plays a big role in the movie industry. There are huge amounts of money involved, and all movies needs funding of some sorts. Product placement is understandably a huge possibility and is readily available for the right movies.
   I feel each movie production carries a big responsibility for carrying out the product placement in a good way, both in terms of their responsibilities to the audience, but also to the brand of the movie. If the movie is part of a series, or a larger franchise, like Harry Potter, you do not want to see Harry having dinner at a Burger King, no matter how much visual effects that might pay for. It would break the spell, quite literally.
   
2. What have you observed about presentations of visual strategies/brand identity?
   There were plenty of product placement in the film, naturally. I would say the most tasteful one was the car placement. The car was a natural part of the documentary, and this makes me wonder, how many cars I have seen on TV, on documentaries, in shows, are advertisement? All of them? Some are obvious, but certainly not all are.
   
3. Let’s consider this movie as a form of research. In other words, it was done to see what the effect of branded entertainment would be, a case study of sorts. What are your findings? What have you learnt? What has changed your pre-conceived ideas? Do you think there’s relevance in this case study? How could you apply your observations in real life?
   By now, most people know that product placement takes place all around us, even in Norway where we I think we have been spared to some extent for quite a while. Things have changes. I know I will be looking out for product placement in a different way from now on.
   Marketing is a huge industry and there is a lot to learn. You need a lot of guts and a strong will to work in this business, there will be a lot of no’s before there comes a yes around.
   
4. From the findings above (question 3) imagine that the international coffee brand, Starbucks, is your client. Give one complete strategy for a small activation campaign to advertise Starbucks on aeroplanes. Give one idea of how you would do this, by following the 5 steps of the work process. To guide you, follow the points below and do a write-up of your idea as well as the steps you followed:
   Conduct research – you can visit the website http://www.starbucks.com as part of your research. Also think of quick research methods, such as surveys done on family and friends.
   Clarify the strategy – Once you’ve conducted quick research, do a write-up of your findings and create your own brief.
   Design the identity – Here you do not need to go into lengthy design, but create sketches of your ideas and remember to think about the movie for inspiration.
   Create touchpoints – As this is a focused campaign, you may have one touchpoint only; describe how you would activate your campaign using this touchpoint. If you need to, you may do sketches that would aid your communication.
   Manage the assets – As this is not a prolonged campaign, briefly describe how you would use the possible outcome of your campaign for future use. Also state what your follow-up steps would be to strengthen your message. For example, you’ve done research and decided to give free vouchers along with every boarding pass handed out. How would you collect feedback from consumers or how would you communicate to them at the airport, on the flight, etc. to support your campaign?

Starbucks is a well-known company in many parts of the world. For many people they need no introduction, “everyone” knows they are the biggest coffee-store brand in the world. “Everyone” also knows that there is a Starbucks found at almost every larger airport in the world. Taking advantage of this in simple way would be my goal in this task.

QR-codes are simple and easy to access for anyone with a smart phone these days, and easily lead the consumer to either a location on the web or an app. By having QR-codes with special offers, such as a discount on certain types of coffees or baked goods, would lead to a larger customer base at the airports. Even if the consumer ends up not using the discount, they may have noticed the company and associates it with a positive vibe.

QR-codes might be found on stickers on the back of a plane seat, or in a short commercial played before information on the small screens on every seat. It could be printed on the folder holding the tickets and boarding passes, or on napkins handed out during the flight. There are many opportunities and it is a rather simple approach with the possibility of reaching a lot of customers.