Task 1 - Case Study & Campaign Proposal (Creative Brand Strategy)

4 April 2023 - 26 April 2023 ( WEEK 01 - WEEK 04)
CHIN ZHI XIAN / 0344352
BACHELOR OF DESIGN (HONS) CREATIVE MEDIA / Creative Brand Strategy
Task 1 - Case Study & Campaign Proposal

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Lecture Notes

Week 1

In the first week, Ms Lilian briefed the MIB on us, what to expect in this module and the timeline for the tasks.

To understand brand strategy, first must understand branding.

In simple terms, branding is the process of quantifying the value and authenticity of an organization, product, or service.

It is a clear set of characteristics, benefits, and attributes that define a particular brand.

Branding is one of the most critical aspects of business strategy and provides a sustainable competitive advantage.

Branding allows a business to differentiate its products and services from those of its competitors.

The digital economy has made it easier for small businesses to gain access to branding experts and leverage branding in a meaningful way.

In contrast, brand strategy defines rules and guidelines on HOW, WHAT, WHERE, WHEN and to WHOM you communicate your brand messages.

A well-defined and executed brand strategy leads to a consistent brand message, a strong emotional connection with customers and higher brand equity.

Why you need a  Brand Strategy

We live in a world that is driven by perception and brands represent customers’ opinion of a company’s credibility, products, reputation and customer experience.

A brand strategy is essential because it provides clarity about the competitive landscape, market position and customer expectations.

This information is critical to developing effective marketing strategies and fine-tuning marketing messages to maximize your competitiveness and build strong brands.

Branding significantly enhances the brand’s market performance and profitability by improving name recognition, building credibility and trust, increasing advertising effectiveness and inspiring employees.

Week 2

The Branding Process

Branding is not simply about creating a logo, strapline and graphic to ‘paste’ onto a company, country or person. A ‘rebrand’ will not instantly change the way an organization or entity is perceived or behaves. A brand encompasses the perception of it and its reputation, as well as it is tangible ‘look and feel’. It relates to the behaviour of a company as well as to the customer experience of it. Successful brands are those that are dynamic and adaptable, that are able to evolve as markets change and audiences segment

Basic brand development process

Develop a brand strategy

Determining brand direction is important. The strategy should detail the understanding of the brand's audience, the market, etc., and should also be integrated with the brand's aspirations.

Creative Execution

The strategy will move into the brand development phase, which includes creating the look and feel for the brand, creating the brand language, and the logo and name.

Creative Execution

Brand execution will take many forms and be visible through various platforms. A complete brand implementation from concept to development requires the design to create a brand identity.

Brand Communications

This should cover the brand's staff and external communications execution.

The Brand Experience

Brand experience is about engaging people with a brand in a way that captures the senses of the audience. Brand building is now entering a stage where a brand needs to demonstrate its ability to deliver as well as emphasize its value.

What is a Campaign?

A continuous attempt to communicate a message to its audience usually stays for a longer period of time. A marketing strategy that reaches out to its target audience with a singular (unified) effort to make announcements and create engagement.

What is Social Media?

Websites and applications that enable users to create and share content or to participate in social networking. By design, social media is Internet-based and gives users quick electronic communication of content. Social media is about conversations, community, connecting with the audience and building relationships 

The Creative Strategy

The brand story is a cohesive narrative that encompasses the facts and feelings that are created by your brand

SWOT

Strengths

An integral part of a brand, makes the brand does particularly well or distinguishes itself from the competitors. 

Weaknesses

Inherent features of a brand, a section where need to take time to examine how and why the competitors are doing better and what the brand is lacking.

Opportunities

The chances for something positive to happen, they usually arise from external situations

Threats

Including external challenges that can have negative impacts, is critical to anticipating threats and taking action to address them before they become victims.

Brand Positioning

The conceptual place you want to own in the target audience’s mind—the benefits you want them to think of your brand.

Customer Journey Map

A visual representation of the customer journey helps identify customers’ experiences with the brand across all touchpoints in all stages.

Week 3

Frame of Reference

In branding, a frame of reference refers to the category or context in which a brand is positioned in the minds of consumers. It is the mental box or set of associations that consumers have about a particular brand, based on the products, services, benefits, and experiences that the brand offers.

A brand's frame of reference is influenced by a variety of factors such as the brand's history, its target audience, its competitors, and its unique selling proposition (USP). For example, when consumers think of Nike, their frame of reference might be athletic shoes, sports apparel, and performance gear. Similarly, when consumers think of Coca-Cola, their frame of reference might be soft drinks, refreshments, and happiness.

A brand's frame of reference is important because it helps to position the brand in the minds of consumers, differentiate it from competitors, and create a unique identity that resonates with its target audience. It can also influence consumer perception, purchase decisions, and loyalty towards the brand. Therefore, brands often invest a lot of resources in defining and communicating their frame of reference to consumers through marketing, advertising, and other brand-building activities.

What is a Big Idea?

A campaign’s big idea is the overarching message that underpins all elements of a campaign in order to resonate with the target audience.

Developing the big idea

• Understanding: starts with the definition of the challenge and the creation of a clear brief for everyone involved
• Clarifying:  all the learnings from the research and analysis are distilled into a unifying idea
• Positioning: the development and refinement of a positioning strategy. Perceptual mapping (aka frame of reference) is a technique often used in brand storm positioning strategies
• Brand essence: find the uncovered brand essence and list out the competitive advantage, core values, SWOT analysis

Week 4

Touch Point

Brand Touchpoints can be defined as the interactions and exposures that a consumer can have with a brand.

The three-step process to prioritize your brand marketing activities and brand touchpoints:

1. create Customer User Map by indicating what will customers experience and how to engage with customers
2. prioritize your touchpoints based on the potential for impact AND the degree of ease for implementation. It can help to determine where to best focus your time, money, and energy.
3.  add your prioritized Brand Marketing activities and touchpoints and map them along the consumer journey map

Moodboard

A mood board is a succinct collection of visual assets that represents a brand’s visual identity. It supports the designer to be inspired and directs the artistic style, tone & manner through which the brand communicates.

A valuable tool for :

• Inspiration.

In the process of developing a brand identity, a mood board helps bring things into focus, like company attributes, vision, or emotions which the brand conveys. 

• Affirmation. 

A mood board will affirm and support the brand identity by translating concepts like brand values into tangible visuals. 

• Guidance. 

It helps on guiding the art direction to more accurately reflects the brand. 

• Communication.

 It eases the communication between the director, designer, and client for early decision-making. 

Design Direction

Articulate the art & design direction by developing a set of mood boards comprised of: 

Campaign Logo: Wordmark 

Color Palette:  Primary & Secondary (color meaning & symbolism) 

Typography: Headline, sub-headline, body text 

Visual Style: Illustration / Pattern / Graphic Element / Photography

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Instruction

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Task 1A - Case Study
Week 1 (04 April 2023)

I started researching what topic I do for Task 1A after Ms LiLian briefed us on Task 1A and Task 1B. 

For Task 1A, we are required to conduct a case study on a personal brand campaign. This involves identifying the brand strategy, including the brand story, objectives and purposes, brand values, vision and mission, target audience/market, and positioning. We must also understand the brand experience, including its features and activities, and review its key visuals and applications across various platforms.

In my case study, I have chosen to focus on the personal brand campaign of the Nintendo Switch. I gathered information from various websites and interviews and used it to write about the brand story, campaign description, objectives and purposes, brand values, vision and mission, and positioning. Once I compiled this information, I designed slides that accurately reflect the brand's personality.

Progression

Figure 1.1 

Drafted Nintendo Switch Research (PDF)

Figure 1.2

 Nintendo Switch Slide Progression (JPG)

Submission

Figure 1.3 

Case Study Nintendo Switch Presentation Slide (PDF)

Task 1B - Campaign Proposal

Week 2 (11 April 2023)

Task 1B requires us to propose a personal brand campaign for a classmate. In my case, I have been assigned to create a campaign proposal for MUJI. The proposal should include a campaign description, as well as the brand story, objectives/purpose, brand values, vision and mission, target audience/market, and organizers. Additionally, we need to identify the SWOTs and positioning of the campaign.

To help guide our proposal, we will produce a customer journey map that identifies the brand touchpoints. This will help us understand the interactions that customers have with the brand, and how we can create a campaign that effectively engages with them at each touchpoint.

By considering all of these elements, we will be able to create a comprehensive personal brand campaign proposal that effectively conveys the unique attributes and values of MUJI, while also resonating with our target audience.

Progression

The proposal idea

1. MUJI has always emphasized simplicity, nature, practicality and environmental protection, and advocated healthy recipes in line with these values. So I think it's a suitable use in a branding campaign.

2. I think promoting healthy recipes can help people develop healthy eating habits, prevent diseases and improve their health. In the current social background, more and more people realize the importance of health, which is also a very attractive topic and also suit the brand concept of simplicity and eco-friendly of MUJI.

3. Activities to promote healthy recipes can include lectures, cooking classes, food exhibitions, etc. These events allow people to understand the importance of healthy eating, learn how to cook healthy food and taste fresh and healthy food.

4. MUJI is a well-known brand with strong influence and brand loyalty. By promoting healthy recipes, MUJI can further expand its brand influence, attract more consumers and increase brand loyalty.

In terms of challenges, here is what I think will encounter

1. Promoting healthy recipes requires some professional knowledge and skills, as well as careful planning and implementation. This may require some specialized knowledge and resources.

2. Advocating healthy recipes may cause some controversy, for example, some people may disagree with certain recipes or diet views. Therefore, careful consideration and preparation are required for how to deal with these responses and controversies.

3. Advocating healthy recipes may only attract the attention and participation of some people, which may affect the effect and influence of the activity.

Figure 1.4

MUJI Nourish Proposal draft (PDF)

After I did the Proposal, I go make a Customer Journey Map.

Figure 1.5

MUJI Nourish Customer Journey Map (PDF)

After I take the feedback from Ms LiLian, I start to  build my presentation slide

Figure 1.6

MUJI Nourish Presentation Slide Progression (JPG)

Submission

Figure 1.7

MUJI Nourish Presentation Slide (PDF)

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Feedback

Week 1

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Week 2

• The font for the slide (Nintendo Case Study) task 1A is too thin and hard to see, please make sure the font is easy to see it.
• The information on the slide (Nintendo Case Study) needs to add more. Write what you learn at Brand Corporate Identity.

Week 3

• Please come out with a campaign name, the name MUJI healthy food is too normal.
• Ms LiLian thinks the target audience is not only cook lovers or healthy lover consumers, do need to do more research.
• For the brand value, Ms LiLian say she doesn't think healthy food got any function, this part also needs to consider some brand value.
• The Customer Journey Map is clear and understanding but for the touchpoint, I still need to consider adding more.
• Ms LiLian says I work very well but Ms LiLian suggest I make a slide when I have done the draft.

Week 4

• Ms LiLian says my work needs arrange, and my ideation already has but is still not clear, need to do more. Besides that, Ms LiLian says my art direction is also the same with ideation, so she suggests I follow what I write at the touchpoint (Customer Journey Map).

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Reflection

Experience:

Completing this assignment has been a valuable experience for me. In Task 1A, I had the opportunity to observe how companies promote and brand their products, and in Task 1B, I developed my proposal-making skills for personal branding. At the beginning of Task 1B, I felt uncertain about what was expected of me and how to start, but with the guidance of our instructor, Ms Lilian, I gained a clearer understanding of the assignment's requirements.

Observation:

Through Task 1A, I was able to observe firsthand how companies advertise and market their products. This module provided me with a better understanding of how branding strategies are developed and executed. In Task 1B, I observed how personal branding strategies are developed and how they differ from corporate branding.

Finding:

One of the key findings of this assignment is that developing a brand strategy requires a deep understanding of the target audience, brand values, and objectives. In Task 1A, I learned that a company's brand personality is conveyed through its brand story, values, and visual identity. Task 1B helped me to develop my skills in creating a personal brand campaign, which is a distinct process from corporate branding. Overall, this assignment has helped me to gain valuable insights into the world of branding and personal branding.