citizenbay

Welcome to the Sound of Fonts

When we describe the business value of Sonic Branding to clients, inevitably conversation gets round to comparing our approach to creating the sonic identity of a brand to the work involved in creating the VISUAL identity of a brand.

There is nothing more visual in the visual identity of a brand than the font. And I love fonts.

Be they the classics like:

ones used on album covers:

even a musician’s own hand-writing:

(found here if you want to contact them Morrissey) 

I recently came across this fantastic offering by those clever people at typeradio, a radio channel on type and design, based out of Den Haag. I recently listened to a insightful discussion they had with Phil Baines. Typeradio’s position is simple:

Type is speech on paper. Typeradio is speech on type.

The Sound of fonts. lovely. 

curious thought

Font, like marketing generally, is primarily filtered through the visual sense. How much of the marketing is filtered through the other senses?

A Lesson from Urban Planners for Brands and Agencies - Sensory Branding

I lived many years ago in Barcelona and was a huge fan of the city's commitment to urban planning. From the support of the Modernisme movement of Gaudí, Domènech i Montaner & Puig i Cadafalch to the structures for the Olympics, Barcelona always seems to be braver than most cities.

Whilst on a much smaller scale, I came across this fantastic example of how the city gets things right. It is a bus stop that is designed to help Blind and partially sighted people find a bus stop.The special path provides a tactile signal to blind folk that they have reached a bus stop, and helps direct them to the seats.

Saw this from the always excellent psfk site...

The sense of TOUCH is a powerful marketing tool. By considering the tactile strategy for a brand, companies and agencies alike might find powerfully engaging ideas that communities want.

The Best LIFT in the world: How a lift (elevator) can reflect your brand

Right. You get in a lift. A confined space. With people you don't know. You choose the floor. Someone might even ask you to push the button for another floor too. You look up at nothing. You look sideways or to the floor for no apparent reason. This really is time in your day where joy rarely features.

In thousands of offices every day, employees, clients, customers and suppliers all travel a few floors in the metal box. Some suffer from claustrophobia, others from bad body odour, while others just struggle with standing next to the 'crazy one'.

Occasionally, someone decides to share personal information (we try not to listen, but we just can't help it can we?)

However, a few smart cookies have been making the 'lift experience' into something other than entering the void, Star Trek style.

Some years ago, I came across IKEA getting clever in a lift. They transformed a lift into a cosy room, where people could sit comfortably and enjoy the ride. Perfectly on brand.

Meanwhile, in Stockholm, Hotel Lydnar was a cool little hotel before it re-opened into a less rock n roll version. I stayed there a few times and loved their lift. A lift that had a panel of buttons that allowed you to select the type of music you wanted for the journey ('Can I have the 3rd floor and some reggae please?'). A perfect way to travel...

So, what lift gets the award for the Best Lift in the World?

Any suggestions please share...

citizensound speaks at the OMD Creative Masterclass in Dubai

Well, I have just finished my piece on brands and music. More of this on the citizensound blog over here.

So while you click, here is a piccie of a Dubai building site...

The perfect retail experience?

I think I have discovered retail heaven.

The place is called You Don't Bring Me Flowers and it is found in south London right near to Hither Green train station.

I had to meet my friend Gauti Sigthorssen to discuss our on-going research project on the rise of DIY culture in music (you can find more on this over at the citizensound blog).

He insisted I made the trip to Hither Green ('where?' was my first response).

The place is fabulous. Flowers on sales outside.

Inside the walls covered in an eclectic mix of fair trade jewellery and interesting objects. They serve all sorts of tea, coffee and cakes. Cups and saucers don't match. Chairs and tables are a stunning mix of tastes and eras.

For me though the icing on the retail cake so to speak is the 1950's dansette on top of the old fridge. With a rack of LPs to choose from (Ella, Nina Simone amongst others) you can just go ahead, choose a record, and put it on the dansette yourself. I sat back and enjoyed my tea and toast listening to Ella Live in Berlin.

Oh and no wifi.

If you live in London, please make the trek there. It is truly an oasis.

citizenleaf

Found this leaf on holiday.

Close to my logo colouring, so thought I would put it up. Looks nice.

Double chocolate truffle please

Hugues Despres, New Business Development Director of Mars, shared the story of ethel's, the premium chocolate.

I liked the positioning of the brand as 'Everyday Premium' chocolate. Not so premium that seems distant and overly exclusive, yet exclusive enough to encourage consumers to indulge on a more regular basis. Tricky balancing act though.

Made even more so by the decision to open up ethel's chocolate lounges. The brand positioning is embodied in the store, where the staff are not cold or overly formal, yet the store itself suggests more than a box of choccies.
It encourages the private enjoyment of chocolate (for yourself or as a gift) yet also provides the opportunity for chocolate as a shared moment. A place where people can sit and enjoy the chocolate with friends and a cup of tea sounds a great idea.

Will this be the chocolate Starbucks or is will this inevitably fail as people look for something other than chocolate with their tea? One thing is for sure, the experience in other chocolate stores is either not special enough or too pompous for my liking. The thinking behind ethel's seems risky and brave, yet right. It will be very interesting to see how this brand develops.

innocently Simple...

Simple & innocent, zagging when everyone else zigs...you get the idea...

Loyalty beyond Reason

Kevin Roberts said that brands should strive to build Loyalty Beyond Reason. Absolutely right.

Here is a favourite of mine. The Crayola crayons. Packaging, colour, product, childhood memories, and that famous smell...

Brands want to be loved...

Kevin Roberts, CEO Worldwide of Saatchi & Saatchi, and auther of Lovemarks opened up the summit with a highly entertaining and empassioned speech on how the power of mystery, intimacy and sensuality can turn respected brands into respected & loved brands. Kevin stated that marketing needs to get to grips with the attraction economy:
Where engagement, connection, inspirational consumers, intimate gestures dominate;
Where Return on Investment becomes Return on Involvment;
Where consumers lay out what they want, not what brands think they need;
Where imaginative ideas win over a world of procurement;
Where the brand is not a marketer's brand, but the consumer's brand.
Where aTouch (point) is not enough, brands need to embrace.

So far so good.

He referenced a number of brands that should be considered as 'lovemarks' (hence the books!).
He also encouraged all not to accept the incremental, but the transforming idea.

Again, no-one can fault his compelling arguments.

He entertained the audience with some strong ads which he aimed to demonstrate the stength of mystery, the intimacy or the power of the senses in creating Lovemarks.

His premise that TV is going to be the most important medium did lead initially to a little confusion. Most understand TV as entertainment in a box in the corner of the room, whilst marketers see it as a medium that is showing signs of losing its importance with young people. His version of TV is more as an audio visual experience via a screen attached to something (phone, laptop, black box, handheld gaming, or rolled up in your pocket). By just showing lots of TV ads at the conference, it seemed to suggest that the consumer is crying out for more 30 second spots.

However, his last example confirmed his definition of TV as a screen to engage consumers with. This had User Generated Content, connectability, engagement, fun, and lots of love. The Rubbish Film Festival in New Zealand was run by Telecom T3G Mobile, encouraging people to send in the 'most rubbishy film' made on their mobile. Have a look at the winners here