BRAND CAMPAIGN: LOCUS
Integrate brand-thinking with the wit of a great advertising campaign to revitalise the brand image of a place
For this group project, we were specifically asked to brand a place; the most interesting thing about this activity was that, this place” could have been everywhere. For this reason, my group and I decided to be brave and brand a mental place: the present.
At the very beginning, we conducted researches alongside with surveys and we found out that people are always stressed out because of something that happened in the past or that will happen in the future. Apparently, people constantly think of everything else but the present. As Tim Lott stated during an interview: “There is no purpose in getting anywhere if, when you get there, all you do is think about getting to some other future moment. Life exists in the present, or nowhere at all, and if you cannot grasp that you are simply living a fantasy”. This statement makes me think about the importance of focusing in the now, but we questioned ourselves: “How can we brand a state of mind?”
We carried out different researches about branding and advertising and I found particularly interesting the seven key principles of influence developed by Robert Cialdini. Such principles helped us to figure out potential campaign concepts. Nowadays, what heavily distracts people from living their present lives is technology and social networks. For this reason I based my campaign proposal on a pragmatic but humorous tone of voice, addressing teenagers and young adults.
However, in a later stage we moved towards another direction and we decided to choose a bold confident approach that required people to truly explore, discover and live in their present moment. This idea was meant to help people to be brave and venture into their present while putting aside worries of the future or guilt from the past. In doing that we created our visual identity being inspired by mapping, Moiré patterns* and topography which is clearly evident in our logo design.
Senses Campaign:
Since our intention was to help people reduce anxiety and become more focused and productive, we had to reflect on what makes people feel that they are in the present. We agreed that one possible solution was to focus on the senses.
• Incorporating the sense heavily into advertising and brand material to root people in their Present moment (the Now).
• Using the voice and visual references of the ADVENTURER archetype to encourage people to explore into their ‘Now’/ their ‘Present’.
• Highly interactive components will be integrated as it reflects the individuality and constant state of change of our conceptual location.
Installation:
Since our intention was to help people reduce anxiety and become more focused and productive, we had to reflect on what makes people feel they’re in their present. We agreed that a possible solution was to focus on the senses and we decide to incorporate them heavily into advertising and brand material to root people in their now. In this case my task was to create an installation which would involve touch, sight and sound. In creating it I have been inspired by the shape that characterise our logo and by the monumental steel sculptures of Richard Serra. The purpose of the intervention was to let people walk through it, take a moment to relax while listening to soft music. In addition I decided to place a luminescent sphere in the middle of the installation which would guided people to the centre of the place as a metaphor of them reaching their present moment.
Interactive Topography Generator
This is another intervention we decides to make. Using this intervention everyone will create a different pattern due to different voices and sounds being present.
Each person’s ‘Present’/’Now’ topography will automatically saved and printed on a card to take with them.
Here I tried to create a glass box where people can enter and be isolated from the environment to feel free to say whatever they want to.
Interactive Textural Posters
These are our interactive posters. They’re made using screen printing and letterpress to highlight the senses of touch and sight. Some of them are digital and animated, others are interactive: somehow “forcing” the audience to stop for a while and read the narrative. They also have a QR code linked to our website.
