Audi - A new take on Brand Architecture?

Those of us who brave the M4 on our daily commute into London everyday have watched with interest over the past months as West London Audi have built their new flagship £30m building quite literally a stone’s throw from the edge of the elevated section of the motorway.

We have wondered why it was built so high, what all of the glass was for and how they could possibly manage to utilise all of the space that the seven storeys gave them. Well now we know – the building has been built as a huge advertising hoarding. The floor level with the motorway houses all of the latest models and the top floor a number of iconic Audi cars from its incredible motoring heritage. Both of these floors are directly visible for motorists driving into and out of London.

The outcome of this, as any commuter who drives into London can attest, is that traffic quite literally now slows to a virtual standstill as it passes the new beacon of the Audi brand and drivers of various other marques gaze longingly at the shiny new Q7s, R8s and S4s before attaining normal road speed as the building disappears in their rear view mirror and they wonder what they are doing in their aged and not so shiny Fords and Vauxhalls.

A clever way to communicate and advertise the Audi brand or an unanticipated by-product of placing a seven storey car show room next to one of the busiest motorway stretches in the UK? Whichever it is and I am sure that Audi will plump for the former, the impact on the traffic in West London has been incredible.

It also serves as a great illustration of how to place a brand into the everyday lives of thousands of people and how it can effectively become part of the fabric of society. It is in marked contrast to the traditional DM and advertising approaches used by so many others and could mark a change in the definition of ‘brand architecture’.

As with all of these things there are always pretenders and I notice that Mercedes are building a new showroom right next to the new Audi temple. The only problem is that if they want to have the same impact and compete with their German rivals then someone needs to tell them that they need to put a couple of extra storeys on it. It won’t be me though, I can’t cope with another 30 minutes added to an already extended journey time.

Abu Dhabi Tourism Authority | Travellers Welcome

A couple of years ago, I remember the ''Travellers Welcome'' identity being launched by Abu Dhabi and thinking how original and different it was compared to the more artificial nation brands being promoted by other countries in the Middle East. Whereas other identities seemed to be all about ''logic''- shopping, leisure, hotels, lifestyle - here was an identity that was pure ' 'magic'', evoking the heritage and nostalgia of Arabia. While Dubai has raced from 0-60 in terms of its brand reputation internationally, and is now arguably paying a price for a loss of credibility, Abu Dhabi has proceeded in a far more understated way. It comes across as the antithesis of its louder neighbour. The challenge now is how this brand will evolve.

A couple of weeks ago, coming through Abu Dhabi International Airport I was greeted by the ''Travellers Welcome'' sign in the arrivals hall. It struck me that this powerful message and its romantic imagery needed to move on. I found its message a little one-dimensional and not broad and interesting enough to accommodate all the exciting aspects of the most powerful Emirate. To keep saying the same thing doesn't do justice to the potential of this identity and the brand now needs a framework to allow it to grow and develop.

It needs to clarify its target visitor and identify what makes them tick. Comprehensive consumer insight was the foundation stone for all our work with Wales. It needs to create a clear and ownable verbal identity that can give Abu Dhabi a distinctive and original voice in the world; the brand identity and communications needs a framework that allows it to grow. It feels a little stifled right now.

A nation brand that we are very involved with is Wales. We've worked with the Welsh Assembly Government since 2004 developing a core proposition for the nation brand and then, beneath that, brands for tourism, culture, inward investment and education. We created the idea of ''originality'' for the Wales brand, communicating the thought that this is a nation that does things differently and which is the home of original thinking. When the world zigs, Wales 'zags'.

The single most important asset of the Wales brand we created is its 'verbal identity' or brand language. While photographic and typographic style plays a significant part in communications, the way the brand speaks is what truly differentiates it. Wales has a confident, knowing and understated tone of voice that engages a like-minded consumer. Visit Wales talks about 'unpackaged holidays' and celebrates the lack of Starbucks outlets it has; Sport Wales welcomes the Australian cricket team by saying 'G'Dai'; International Business Wales encourages businesses to relocate for a better quality of life; Wales the True Taste invites consumers to remember what good, honest food tastes like. Abu Dhabi Tourism, like the nation it represents, has an incredible wealth of potential in the world travel market. To realise this, it needs some help.

The passion of innocence vs. the authority of experience

We are constantly learning new things. As humans we thrive on building a huge bank of knowledge. As we get older, the more we practice something, the better at it we get. We look up to our elders and learn from our parents and see experience as aspirational. But just as experience brings with it rewards of knowledge, the innocence of youth brings imagination wrapped up in the inquisitiveness of the quest to learn. So, in an industry of ideas and creativity - should we be driven by the passion of innocence or the authority of experience?

Experience is a fantastic thing. And there have been some brilliant leaders in this industry, who with age, have matured into advertising royalty, for example, Stanley Pollitt's pioneering the account planning discipline and Bill Bernbach bringing together art directors and copywriters to name but a few. They have moulded and shaped the industry that we work in today and without them, the landscape would be decidedly different.

According to the IPA, advertising is a young person's game, with 80 per cent of the 14,000 people working in the industry being under 40. But we must remember that our business is ideas. Creating. Innovating. Disrupting - whatever you choose to call it. And ideas, opinion and great thinking can come from anywhere and anyone. Young people are capable of great things - Mark Zuckerberg (Facebook) and Alex Tew (Million Dollar Homepage) are excellent examples of how fresh passion and a lack of worldly experience should never prove a hindrance to having a great idea. Yet it is also the case that experience can prove equally as iconic. Bill Bernbach wrote 'We Try Harder' for Avis in his virtual twilight years by today's standards (in 1962 - aged 51). This campaign has proved to be one of the best pieces of brand planning of all time, a campaign which set Avis up as the quintessential challenger brand - a campaign which is at the heart and soul of Avis to this very day.

Merry Baskin, founder of strategic consultancy Baskin Shark has suggested that junior planners 'are more of a liability than an asset'. Speaking from a research perspective, Merry may be right in suggesting that experience is paramount to craft and hone these specific experiential skill sets. We only learn that fire burns by burning ourselves, like we only learn how to devise great survey methodologies by doing them. But from a creative perspective, a much more intuitive ball game, it doesn't necessarily follow that you need experience in having great ideas to go on to have great ideas.

Ken Robinson's book The Element starts with a wonderful story of a schoolgirl drawing a picture of god. When the teacher suggested that no one knows what god looks like, the girl replied 'They will in a minute'. From a creative perspective, this innocent spirit of imagination is blinding and we should cherish the strength and conviction young people can have in their thinking. Whether right or wrong, it's the bold strength of the idea that should be applauded.

Winston Churchill was elected prime minister twice during his lifetime, the second in 1951 following his wartime premiership, where he proved himself to be a confident, supportive orator and celebrated leader amongst the British population, during a time of great global upheaval. A younger, less experienced politician, might not have been given this opportunity. Yet, Tony Blair was the youngest prime minister since Lord Liverpool (1812). In 1997, the nation was craving a fresh approach to politics. Tony Blair packaged a new political outlook and delivered it with youthful enthusiasm. An older, more experienced politician might not have had the same impact.

Maybe the key to the dilemma of innocence vs. experience is to see them as complementary, not mutually exclusive. After all, experienced people can display passion and imagination, just as much as young people can display wisdom beyond their years. Advertising royalty is something to aim at, through the passion, enthusiasm and openness of creativity - which can be displayed throughout our lifetime, not just when we're young - as Bill Bernbach proved for Avis. If young graduates and senior directors share the same passions, they can be amongst the same sounding board - ultimately, innocence and experience can and should co-exist.

Twitter: pure insight or sheer self-indulgence?

''I think in a few years we'll point to Twitter as a seismic point where the tide really changed toward building brands'' says Akira Morita on BrandChannel. Hmm. A microblogging site as the future of branding? Can a page that enhances our lives with such enticing updates as 'bit bored going to shops lol!' and 'omg! timbaland remix tinyurl.com/br488x' really spearhead a step-change in the development of brands? It's not such a crazy suggestion. For the first time, people's thoughts, whims, stories, interests and chatter are all being published in real-time on a site that's accessible to us all. Is Twitter an opportunity for agencies to develop brands that come from the consumer's thoughts rather than from those of the planning department?

For the answer to this question, we might turn to Martin Lindstrom's book, buyology, which argues that humans are rather poor reporters of our own beliefs. Whether or not you agree with Lindstrom that in the future we'll be developing brands at the bedside of patients undergoing MRI scans, his argument that we can't rely on people's self-assessments is pretty convincing. In effect, he suggests that, in market-research situations, people say what they believe others want to hear, rather than what they actually think.

Twitter is a very public environment. Its users may be encouraged to say what they are thinking but I'd argue that, in reality, they'll be writing what they think others want to hear. Peer pressure and the desire to conform don't magically disappear online: if anything, the permanence of a person's web presence makes the need to say the 'right thing' even more pressing. In that respect, the idea that Twitter provides us with a vast database of consumer's ideas - the planner's ultimate resource - stands on shaky ground.

That's not to say we should dismiss the potential opportunities that Twitter provides us with. Responsive brands will take the service and run with it, exploiting its reach and appeal to their advantage. But I think that to see its introduction as a 'seismic point' in brand conception is misguided.

A Fable of four rooms in the House of Creativity

I HAVE A QUESTION said the Seeker, 'and would find an answer in the House - if indeed there is an answer for me anywhere!' 'If that is the case', replied the Guide, 'I will show you around the House myself, for few have seen as many come and go as I. The world has been grateful for a few works that have been made here - while many have filled the dustbins and created the deserts of the world.'

AND SO SAYING he took the Seeker by the hand across the threshold and into a huge room where men and women each followed their own way. Some worked alone in silence while others gathered in bright and chattering groups, some were earnest, some were gay - but withal an air of intent spread about the room. 'This' said the Guide, with a smile that might or might not have been kind, 'is the Room of Great Works. All work done here seeks to win the greatest acclaim and to be given the greatest awards.' It is often based on the magnificent work of others and so looks brilliant. Those are my ideals' replied the Seeker, 'for my Question deserves the greatest talents and the keenest minds.' 'That is not quite what I said' returned the Guide, 'but even so I must warn you that the Room of Great Works is not without its disadvantages.' 'Disadvantages? What possible disadvantages could attach to the seeking for the highest goals?' exclaimed the Seeker, querulously. 'If you seek for the highest goals you are right' said the Guide, 'but those that look for honour and awards are often inclined to take but those as their goals. Having once made a beautiful thing and been honoured for it, a certain hunger haunts their mind. Evermore they are condemned to repeat their best work, imitating themselves and others over and over, painting in ever paler shadows ideas that once lived in shining colour. Your Question is not interesting to them - it is only their own answer that fills their time. 'No, no', said the Guide I would not advise you to linger here too long' and he hurried the Seeker through into the Second Room.

'AND THIS' said the Guide, with a flourish of his arm that might or might not have been ironic, 'is the Room of Great Reason.' Within the room the noise was low and earnest as small groups worked in conference to explore and analyse the questions of the world. Some made models from numbers that whirred like clocks while others fitted concepts together with the fine mastery of cabinet makers. 'This surely is my ideal' said the Seeker, 'for how can one produce great works if one has no understanding of the task?' 'That is very true, perhaps,' replied the Guide, 'but even here there may be pitfalls?' 'There can be no pitfall in Reason', said the Seeker confidently, 'for in knowledge, surely, lies the key to life?' 'I wonder how you came to life in the beginning, after all' said the Guide behind his hand, 'for you surely knew nothing of it - but' - as he turned once more to his companion, 'the pitfall of Reason is that it is so very reasonable.' 'To a reasonable mind one idea is much like another, all can be analysed, prescribed and if some, perhaps, lack a little life, well, be reasonable, is that so bad a thing? Your Question is of great interest to these but the answer is merely an answer. We shall not linger here!' - and he propelled the Seeker before him into the Third Room.

THE ROOM that lay before them was rich and elegant and spacious and the men and women there had the steady stare of confidence. 'So see' said the Guide, in a quiet voice that might or might not have been reverent, 'this is the Room of Great Experience' and advancing towards a corpulent man whose ruddy cheeks and pursed smile told of great wealth he asked 'dear Sir, would you be so kind as to explain the advantages of Experience to my friend?' 'I would have thought' said the man, 'that there was little necessity to explain the advantages of Experience for they are so very self-evident but, since you ask me - and it is a question I have been asked before - I will answer you thus. There is no-one more expert than the expert. There is no way to become an expert except through practice. And what is practice except another name for Experience?' 'How True!' exclaimed the Seeker. 'Why should one risk all on mere originality? What can Reason really produce? Expertise is all' and looking around the room once more he added to himself 'and it seems to pay well, too.' 'I do not want to deter you from the work of Practice' said the Guide, 'but I must in all fairness warn you, that Experience may not be the whole picture. For Experience is also based on repetition and rigidity and often the box it comes in is but a box and empty within. Here, they will answer your Question as if it were one they have answered before and they will only, in the end, give you the same answer that they gave to others.' And before the Seeker could resist him, he ushered them both in the Fourth Room.

ALTHOUGH SIMPLE and sparce, the Fourth Room was not without its sense of style and purpose but it was quiet and those there, though friendly enough, looked enquiringly at the pair who had just that minute walked in. 'Good afternoon', said the Guide, 'I have come to introduce this Seeker who is looking for his way in the wide world.' 'Then let us discuss it' said one of those who was there, 'for few questions could be more interesting and it is a subject on which we know nothing.' The Guide turned to the Seeker and, with a voice that was only straightforward said 'And welcome to the Room of Great Unknowing.' 'Unknowing!' cried the Seeker leaping as if bitten by an asp, 'How now! Am I so dim and dumb that finally I am put among the ignorant? 'Give me prizes! Give me Logic! Give me Expertise! - or tell me, if you can, what Fools are these that refuse Glory, Reason and Riches and huddle here in their Room of Great Unknowing.' The Guide looked steadily at the Seeker. 'These Fools, as you call them, are those that have lived long in this House and seen, as I have, many come and go. They too enjoyed the applause in Room One and tired of it. In Room Two they understood Reason's power but saw its failure to light fires in the mind. They have seen in Room Three, that Experience, though of great value, all too often fails to change the world. 'If I were you' continued the Guide as he settled among his friends, 'I should ask your Question here. For here alone, I feel, they will listen, and fashion an answer that is yours alone. Here they are not fooled by fashion, tamed by reason or trapped by experience, but choose to work in the Fourth Room which is the only place where true answers can be found.'

Based on a fable by Michael Wolff. Terence Griffin 1999

Inspired : Adrian Miles 1958 - 2009

Adrian Miles was an inspiration to me. An example of how to be gentlemanly in business, to remember that what goes around comes around, to play the long game with client relationships and not to chase the fast buck, to mix pleasure with business and, most of all, not to take life, or work, too seriously.

These were the principles he followed as Managing Director of Clinic and from which he didn't waiver in the fifteen years I was privileged to know him.

He firmly believed that, in commerce, there was no challenge that could not be overcome by some good old-fashioned “discourse”, as he put it in his inimitable way, and that too often people hid behind technology when a simple conversation could be so much more effective at solving a problem or coming to resolution.

Adrian died suddenly on Friday 15 May and I will miss him immensely. He was far too selfless to think of himself as a source of inspiration to others but the impact he had on me is just one small part of his wonderful legacy.

Richard Sunderland, Managing Director

Branding London

There's a saying at Heavenly that 'the brand is what the brand does': no matter how much you talk about brand positioning and brand values, it's what you do with them that counts. As we approach one of the biggest years in London's recent history, it's not clear to me that London has either a clear proposition as a city or a way of manifesting it.

London can learn a lot from New York: distinctively-associated with entrepreneurship and creativity, the symbols of the city (taxis, subway, etc) are marked by the distinctive ''nyc'' badge, creating a visible symbol of civic pride.

In my view, we need to:

Step 1: Define the London brand. In my view, our capital's core proposition is ''influential''. London has huge impact on what happens around the world, from culture and sport, to entrepreneurship and politics. Let's not apologize for London's association with financial services, let's embrace it - the City is one of our greatest assets.

Step 2: Create a strong visual identity. We need a symbol for our city, as iconic as itself. Given the controversy resulting from the 2012 logo, Londoners should vote on that symbol from a short-list. This will build some consensus and, more importantly, allow the people of London to take ownership of their brand.

Step 3. Bring the brand to life. Where are the signs that say you are now entering London as you approach on the M1? Where are the signs on Regent Street that remind passers-by that they are in this fantastic street? Where is the badge of London on its iconic transport networks?

We should stop taking our city for granted and start celebrating it. Location branding can have a wonderful effect on bringing people together and reminding them why they live in this fantastic city.

The future's bright. The future's Obama.

The promise of change is an easy position for an opposing politician to take, especially against an unpopular incumbent of the presidency. Barack Obama fought most of his campaign under the banner ''change is coming'' which at most stated the obvious: ''W'' was on the way out, so change was coming, either in the form of Obama or McCain.

The Obama brand may, in part, be about change and the bringing about of it, but change is just the effect. We need to identify the cause to get to the heart of the Obama brand.

What Barack is trying to give the American people is the sense of optimism that a change to his leadership will bring about. He promises to lead the US out of the darkness into the light, to deploy modern thinking on the health, jobs, the environment and so on to make his country and, given its international status, the world, a better place.

Considering Obama as a brand, I'd put Optimism at the heart of it. This is the idea he wants to own in the consumer's mind and the hope he wants to give them. The future's bright.. reminiscent of another brand beginning with O that promised optimism in its category.

The Heavenly brand model uses three values to describe the product being sold and three values to describe its personality.

We believe that the Obama brand map would look like this:

Obama's product values:

Intelligence: compared to his predecessor, enough said. This is the Professor-President, the multi-book author and erudite commentator and orator.

Innovation: he promises to blaze a trail and create a culture of enterprise and innovation and 'firsts' in America, driven by his own historic success at achieving the highest office in world politics.

Democracy: a democrat with a small 'd' as well as a big one, he is pioneering a collaborative approach to decision-making, witnessed by the expertise of the team he has built around himself.

Obama's personality values:

Bravery: in many ways, he is the ultimate 'challenger brand', embodied by the fearless determination he has shown to win against the odds.

Visionary: a true visionary, with the conviction that he's making history every day.

Human: a man of the people, the antithesis of the more withdrawn nature of the incumbent administration. He wants to make the presidency accessible to the people, to engage with them at their level and take on board what they have to say.

The Daughter of Necessity

The media have coined a few phrases to describe the state we're in right now. These phrases become 'brands' that we can identify with and buy into: credit crunch, austerity chic, January blues, global financial crisis. Every day, the media are full of news of the gloom that surrounds us. If we believe that we are all doomed, that it is futile to try and prevent the inevitable, then we might as well lock ourselves in our basements and throw away the key (to be discovered by the repossession people later).

The way out of this is through collective confidence and positivity.

I'm not an economist, but the country must have been in a similar state at the end of the Second World War. The key difference between then and now is the sense of positivity created among the British people having united to triumph over evil and succeeded. There was a real sense of tribalism and a common, collective view that the only way was up.

It's often said that there's only so much bad news that you can report and my perspective is that the media are growing tired of the negativity of telling us all how dreadful everything is. For one thing, it doesn't help sell newspapers. Circulations are down -8% year-on-year as readers shun the printed word and discover that ignorance is bliss.

In the business world, it's sad to see the back of some of the retailers who have recently gone into administration but it reminds us that this really is about survival of the fittest. It's also about reinvention and evolution. Some of our greatest ideas have come about during austere times, driven by necessity under pressure. Canned food to sustain Napoleon's army on the long march to Russia; during WWII, Percy Spencer cooked up the idea of the microwave oven; aerosols, jet engines, rockets and radar are some of the many others that spring to mind.

Imbuing Britain with some of that ingenuity and positivity is what we need to get the economy back on its feet. It's great to see some green shoots being written up in the press, proving the point that every cloud, however big, black and cold it is, has a silver lining. We are simply in a state of collective shock and adjusting to the new world - as well as identifying opportunities that it presents - is something we've all been slow to comprehend. It's good to know that invention is still necessity's daughter as witnessed by some of the budding businesses that are thriving in the downturn.

Secondhand bookshops are growing in popularity as readers think twice before committing cash to new copies. The category has had the stamp of approval from Amazon who recently acquired AbeBooks.

Fractional ownership is also on the up. Why own the whole of a second home when it might be smarter to own it just for the time you want to use it? The same applies to aviation. Corporates are realizing that pay-as-you-fly is far more economical than having private jets sitting around unused. As a result, companies like Netjets and Jet Republic are thriving.

In a depreciating climate, renting is also increasingly seen as a far smarter option than buying for the consumer that greater flexibility. And not just in the property market. Brands like Fashionhire.co.uk will let you hire a handbag instead of buying it which is proving very popular with the fashionista brigade.

It's great to see businesses like Aldi, Poundland and Lidl growing their customer bases as people think twice before spending. Even more extreme is the increasing popularity of businesses like Approved Food which sells food which has passed its sell-by date to consumers online.

The truth is that we're all adjusting to life in the current climate and it's time for our faux-shock and self-pitying to end. We should put up or shut up and, in putting up, start to rediscover some of the ingenuity and optimism that has seen so many of our previous generations through similar hardships. In the words of Warren Buffett, we need to be greedy when others are fearful and, in doing so recognize that this is a time of opportunity. It's just not the type of opportunity that we've been used to in the previous decade.

The world has changed, and brands must change with it

The challenges we face are real. They are serious and they are many. They will not be met easily or in a short span of time.

On this day, we gather because we have chosen hope over fear, unity of purpose over conflict and discord. All are equal, all are free, and all deserve a chance to pursue their full measure of happiness. We understand that greatness is never a given. It must be earned.

Our journey has never been one of short-cuts or settling for less. It has been the risk-takers, the doers, the makers of things, who have carried us up the long, rugged path towards prosperity and freedom.

Our workers are no less productive than when this crisis began. Our minds are no less inventive, our goods and services no less needed than they were last week or last month or last year.

Starting today, we must pick ourselves up, dust ourselves off, and begin again. The state of the economy calls for action, bold and swift. What free men and women can achieve when imagination is joined to common purpose, and necessity to courage. The success of our economy has always depended not just on the size of our gross domestic product, but on the reach of our prosperity; on the ability to extend opportunity to every willing heart - not out of charity, but because it is the surest route to our common good.

We know that our patchwork heritage is a strength, not a weakness. That as the world grows smaller, our common humanity shall reveal itself. We seek a new way forward, based on mutual interest and mutual respect. Know that your people will judge you on what you can build, not what you destroy. To those who cling to power through corruption and deceit and the silencing of dissent, know that you are on the wrong side of history. We say we can no longer afford indifference to suffering outside our borders; nor can we consume the world's resources without regard to effect. For the world has changed, and we must change with it.

Our challenges may be new. The instruments with which we meet them may be new. But those values upon which our success depends - honesty and hard work, courage and fair play, tolerance and curiosity, loyalty and patriotism - these things are old. These things are true. They have been the quiet force of progress throughout our history. What is required of us now is a new era of responsibility. Let it be said by our children's children that when we were tested we refused to let this journey end, that we did not turn back nor did we falter; and with eyes fixed on the horizon and God's grace upon us, we carried forth that great gift of freedom and delivered it safely to future generations.

This is an abridged extract of Barack Obamas inauguration speech given on the 20th January 2009. If brands are to be successful in the 21st century, we believe they need to reflect if not lead the new political landscape. How does your brand fare when put through the Obama filter?

The Great Post Modern Sales Fatigue.

Retailers are wearing their fear on their sleeves.

Britain's been at the sales for nearly two months now.

Window displays are permanently red and white.

A whole new retail language has been invented, better than half price, price crunch, 70% off all items...

The consumer has forgotten what he/she was shopping for in the first place.

The act of shopping is losing its meaning.

Now is the time to put the product back in the spotlight instead of the sale.

Now is the time to reiterate a fair price for a fair product.

Now is the time to offer things to buy.

Now is the time to stop selling.