FMP Launch
We had our FdA Design for Graphic Communication Final Project briefings all day today.
Both the project brief that I’ve chosen and my other temptation (virtual mailers set by Mother London) sound like really, really exciting tasks. Mother’s briefing was at their offices in the Biscuit Building with Ed Warren and Ben Middleton. We giggled at all their ‘greatest hits’ roll and the past MotherMailers (genius) and I was verrrrrrry nearly seduced into their project instead of my initial decision.
However, after a latte and a chat with Sarah Temple (the LCC tutor legendary for guiding students through their Year in industry), I calmly decided that I should go for the option that makes more sense for my portfolio. I’m getting ready to apply for the Diploma in Professional Studies and the 3rd year of LCC’s BA in Graphic Media Design (most probably the Design for Advertising pathway [shock!], a change of heart from my original plan to apply for Info design, to which my current portfolio is typically directed)
Anyway, back to the task in hand.
I’m taking on the Civil Branding project set by Aaron Shields of Brand Instinct. We have 6 weeks starting now.
It’s all about harnessing the power of mass communications and branding for positive social influence and change… a mantra that pretty much matches all my aspirations (for the near future at least). Aaron Shields has written a paper all about CIvil Branding. Read it here. It’s pretty interesting (though a little repetitive at first?) And Aaron’s introduction to the brief was a slightly more relaxed & extended version of the subject.
It works like this:
Brands are Inclusive, Important and Influential.
That means that they can bring people together, are areas worth discussing and have power to change things.
Civil Branding is about groups of people working together for social action and social change. These groups are not under any kind of government control.
In putting Civil Branding into action, you create dialogue, promote progressive ideas and could advance society’s current agenda. (Think about Dove and women’s self esteem, HSBC valuing different perspectives etc)
Civil Branding is the next avenue to pursue to drive customer preference – there’s a consumer demand for depth in meaning and brands have an increasing social role today. It’s something people care about – most people think that brands should care about what they say.
Brands = Values = Social position (we use brands to judge character)
So. Our task is to raise awareness of the Civil Branding Effort. To drive companies towards BrandInstinct.
Our target (example found by Aaron) is ‘Hal’. Check it out:
So we’re targeting the people responsible for brands in order for brands to be responsible for humankind.
Essentially, designing a pitch for Civil Branding.
And in terms of an outcome, it’s concept-focussed. I have to come up with something that does the job, bearing in mind current trends in the industry (Maybe mailers, posters, something virtual. Maybe big budget, but maybe affordable. Maybe hi-tech and glossy, but maybe using traditional media in new ways…)
I could target one company or one group of companies in a particular industry.
To start with, I must work out what their message is currently and then hit it with Civil Branding Awareness. It’s simple at this stage: to raise questions, prompt a company’s self-evaluation and have some sort of communications agenda to suggest how to improve strategies, concepts for campaigns etc..
After the briefing we had a bit of a chat with Sarah T. about the whole situation (I think there’s around 6 of us taking it on). It’s a really big, exciting brief, and with that comes a great deal of responsbility to get into action and be really thorough in order to get a good result (and final grade!).
We discussed how, in a civil/social brief, it feels peculiar to be targeting the businessman, not the human. But I suppose that really emphasises how much power brands have. We are working for the human through the businessman. This also highlights how the give-and-take of business is changing.
We talked about how this all sounds very ‘American’ to us (well, Aaron is Canadian). It’s probably that alot of the strategies employed across the pond just wouldn’t work here, so I have decided that it’s vital to work with a mantra of honesty and transparency. Brands communicate values here in the UK just as they do overseas, but those values change according to culture, so it’s important to direct the project with precision. And also to flatter the chosen company – the objective of Civil Branding is positivity, so I must flatter my chosen target – they are knowledgable but can be made better.
I really want to treat the Civil Branding brief like it really is my own project, and have been thinking about going to find a brand and interview their marketing execs. Do it for real. This is a bit scary though, as many companies who are seen as ‘irresponsible’ have pre-prepared scripts at the ready for inexperienced critics. You’d need to research these and read between the lines. So couple of us are contemplating an element of collaboration at some point in the project.
Phew! Long Post. Big Project. Despite all of that thinking, I do not know where I’m going to start! And the first mid-point assessment is only 9 days away!
K x
