We Love Pop-Up Retail
There’s something about retail experiences popping-up in spaces that were previously public thoroughfares that creates an irresistible energy and attraction. The right offer, appearing magically in the path of the right consumer with the right brand proposition and brand identity creates a dissonance for consumers that is both compelling and inspiring. ‘Snackbox’, a shipping container turned modern canteen has recently popped-up in New York’s Times Square.

Montreal-based firms Aedifica and Muvbox teamed up to create ‘Snackbox’, created for restauranteur Jonathan Morr, owner of well respected eateries; Republic and BONDST. Snackbox serves-up iconic New York street food with a gourmet flair. The menu is described as “American street food,” featuring hot dogs, pastries, pretzels, coffee, etc. fare typically found at the ubiquitous food carts around NY. But like all great retail food brands, Snackbox has a specialty – hot dogs. The dogs are all-beef, seasoned and smoked, steamed and then finished on a griddle and served with homemade sauces. Makes my mouth water just typing that.

The bold black and white graphics contrast the colorful environment, while the dimensions of the container are just large enough to work as a food vending station. Twenty feet (six meters) long, the box is movable and entirely self-sufficient. Working off the gird, a fresh and grey water supply tank is embedded into the floor. The power comes from hybrid energy systems, combining electric batteries and a generator. In the winter, the recuperating heat from the generator is used to heat the interior for the staff, optimizing the small space. For the service area, the a section of the wall pivots upward, transforming from a closed entity into a bar with an awning. The quick transformation allows the vendor to open and close in minutes.

all images © cesar nicolescu

Dave Ansett, Brandamentalist
Designer with a Voracious Appetite for Retail Brands
For monthly updates of our thinking, click here to receive our free Brand Newsletter

Masters of Stunning Retail Brand Design
As retail brands go, AESOP have built a formidable reputation on the back of their stunning store designs, and the latest installation on display within Hong Kong’s I.T Hysan One flagship store continues the theme.

The latest remarkable architectural retail space is the work of Hong Kong-based Cheungvogl Architects.

The retail space has been created as a temporary pop-up installation. Cheungvogl were “influenced by a black and white image of hundreds of floating lanterns, for which they created an exhibition space with a delicate luminosity. Eight hundred resin boxes were arranged atop steel rods of varying lengths, creating the sense that each unit was ascending at its own pace, as if being drawn upward by an invisible thread. The overall work is enclosed by a translucent fabric with only one side being open to the street. Lighting is dim, creating an intimate atmosphere, interrupting the street life and landscape of the surrounding retail environment. Now past its temporary installation, the work is being reformed as a permanent counter on the first floor of the I.T Hysan One.”

A challenge for all retail brand design is standing-out in a crowded and very busy environment. In a large retail space such as I.T Hysan One, where the visual landscape is crowded with all manner of shapes and colours – the monochromatic colour scheme of the AESOP installation is as well considered and effective as it is beautiful to look at.

All images courtesy of Cheungvogl.

The Power of a Perfect Image
I’m the first to admit, I’m about as far from a vegetarian as you can be. Sure I haven’t reconciled the issues surrounding animal cruelty and a tasty dinner at my favorite restaurant – but when it comes to an appreciation of powerful visual communication I have absolute clarity. So when I saw these images over the weekend from a recent Meat Out protest in Germany I was moved to applaud the power of their visual communication.

As a brand strategy and design agency we spend much of our lives crafting brand communication for our clients. From brand identity to web site and digital design, from packaging design to annual reports and shareholder communications, we are obsessed with developing brand communication strategies and then honing the perfect visual communication of those messages in order to connect with and engage their audiences. A well-crafted visual message told in a rich brand voice are the perfect recipe for powerful brand storytelling.  So when we come across a powerful example of brand message communication such as these for Meat Out, we simply must take our hats-off to them.

Dave Ansett, Brandamentalist
Designer of Tasty Brand Communication
For monthly updates of our thinking, click here to receive our free Brand Newsletter

Beautiful Retail Brand Design
In one of my favorite creative collaborations for 2011, US retro font designers House Industries have joined forces with iconic, retail fashion brand Hermés to create this magical visual merchandising for their Maison Hermés Ginza, Tokyo store.

Over the last couple of decades, the art of impactful visual merchandising has faded somewhat. There’s no arguing times are tough for retailers the world over. Margin squeeze for retailers has not only compromised marketing and brand building for many, but the effort and budgets invested in store window and in-store display design.

Then like a breath of fresh air we come across a genuinely remarkable visual merchandising installation and are reminded of the customer-pulling power a powerful street presence provides for retailers (a while back we featured another beautiful piece of visual merchandising for Hermés in Tokyo. If you like these Hermés windows, I think you’ll love these designed by Tokujin Yoshioka also).

When any businesses focus turns to price and cost cutting, these activities almost inevitably create compromise to the sales process. Retail brands are no different, and getting the balance right between cost savings, promotions and offers, marketing and brand building is a tough challenge. So as we swing into 2012, I strongly suggest re-tuning your mind to the possibilities of great store window design and it’s ability to cut through the clutter and separate you from the pack.

Photos courtesy of Satoshi Asakawa and Hermés Japon.

Dave Ansett, Brandamentalist
Retail Brand Designer
For monthly updates of our thinking, click here to receive our free Brand Newsletter

Check the ‘fanwagen T1′ and ‘fanwagen Beetle’
In a great piece of complimentary brand leverage, Volkswagen in the Netherlands have created an integrated marketing campaign by hooking up with the facebook brand. The fanwagens are one-off, facebook-themed vehicles produced by Volkswagen of the Netherlands. This great piece of brand communications was created as part of an integrated advertising campaign undertaken by Volkswagen in the Netherlands. More than 33,000 people got involved in the competition, voting online for which model they wished to be built, and entering to be the lucky winner of the final, limited edition fanwagen vehicle. (More detail and pics after the jump).
Some features of the car have been replicated to reflect uniquely facebook-related functionality. On its dashboard, the ‘fanwagen’ features the ‘feed-o-matic’, a device that prints the last ten posts of a user’s news feed at the push of a button. A small panel beneath the rear license
plate showcases the driver’s relationship status, rotatable via a small scroll wheel. The car will be delivered to the winning participant along with a map already marked with the locations of all of his facebook friends.

Other aspects of the cars are playful reinterpretations of standard features. the horn is replaced by the ‘poke’ button, ‘made to grasp the attention of other drivers’. The door handles of the vehicle are labeled with ‘add friends’, while a bulletin board ‘wall’ on the side doors of either model lets users leave ‘posts’ and even photos using the included instant camera. The ‘inbox’ (glove compartment) offers a way ‘to store all of your private messages’ with the instruction, ‘to remove a message, take it out of the inbox’.

The user’s manual for the ‘T1 fanwagen’ document the three privacy settings of the vehicle: ‘all’ (window shades pulled open), ‘friends only’ (curtains at halfway), and ‘only me’ (pulled completely shut). both cars feature a ‘chat mirror’ (rearview mirror) for ‘live chat with friends in the backseat: look into the chat mirror to see available friends, and select a specific friend by adjusting the angle of the mirror’.

Click here to view the embedded video.

We’re big fans ourselves of complimentary brands leveraging the equity of another to connect with their customers. In this case Volkswagen have captured the spirit of facebook, and in our opinion created as close to the perfect integrated brand communications promotion as you’d ever wish to see.

Dave Ansett, Brandamentalist
Creator of Brands with Fans
For monthly updates of our thinking, click here to receive our free Brand Newsletter

It’s not new news that we are big fans of the Lego brand. As a brand with a relatively limited core product Lego are impressive masters of brand building and capturing the spirit of play. In the past we’ve written about Lego’s augmented reality point of sale innovation, Lego obsessed brand fans, the Lego CEO’s brilliant business card design, and the link between Lego and NASA’s space probe, Juno. So as the festive season approaches, it’s no surprise we find Lego creating more brand magic, this time a 10 meter tall Christmas tree erected in London‘s St Pancras Station.

The Lego Christmas tree is made-up of 600,000 of individual Lego pieces with 170 branches and 1200 Christmas decorations, including some featuring QR codes. The decorations were assembled by hundreds of school kids before being hung from the giant tree – another example of a brand who understands how to engage their target market. The tree took two months to construct, which gave Lego plenty of opportunity to execute an integrated campaign including treasure hunts and other competitions around the tree of children and other visitors to the station.

Images courtesy of the sun and news.com.au

An Inspiring kikki.k Special Offer
Save 1/3 when you Purchase three Books from the Inspiration Range
An offer for our blog readers from our friends at kikki.k; Buy two books from the kikki.K Inspiration Series and receive the third free.* Record your dreams, plan your goals and achieve wellbeing with these gorgeous books. These stunning inspirational notebooks are the perfect place to start working towards achieving your dreams. They also make ideal gifts for loved ones and are perfect for Christmas. Head instore or online today (details below).

“One of my absolute, absolute favorites is probably 101 Dreams. I think dreaming is the first step to actually achieving.” – Kristina Karlsson, founder of kikki.k

For online purchases, enter promocode INSPIRE at the online checkout. For purchases in-store, mention this post.
Promotion ends 11 December 2011. Applies to Goal Book, Gratitude Book, 101 Dreams Book, Wellbeing Book and Inspiration Journal.
* Not valid with any other offer; Free item is of equal of lesser value

You can find your nearest kikki.k store by clicking here.
For online purchases visit the kikki.k site by clicking here.

A festive Design Inspiration
US type foundry and designers of retro inspiration House Industries have provided the perfect Christmas inspiration for brand and graphic designers around the world. Based around the illustration style of legendary type and design icon Alexander Girard, House Industries have added to their collection of Alphabet Blocks and type faces. Perfect Christmas gifts for those hard to please designers and type enthusiasts.

Alexander Girard Nativity Set: $800
Based on an Alexander Girard wood panel illustration, House Industries created this three dimensional tribute to Girard’s fascination with nativities from solid maple and replenishable Michigan-grown basswood. The Alexander Girard Nativity is entirely printed by hand in our Grand Rapids, Michigan shop. Each hand-assembled set represents nearly 100 separate screen pulls.

• 13 Pieces
• Solid Maple Pieces
• Stable is replenishable Michigan-grown, kiln-dried basswood
• Non-toxic, child-safe inks
• Made in the USA!
• Pieces 1″ (2.5 cm) to 7.75″ (19.5 cm) tall
• Stable 11.75″ x 4″ x 8.75″ (30 cm x 10 cm x 22 cm)
• Special reusable storage box

We’ve got a set of the blocks ourselves.

Brand Differentiation by Design
One of my all-time favorite brands is Australian stationery retailer kikki.k. As brand developers with a passion for retail, here at Truly Deeply we love brands that clearly and confidently differentiate themselves from the competitive marketplace. Even more impressive are those brands we call ‘Category Creators’, whose vision and innovation see them create a whole new segment of the market in which they dominate. It was Jerry Garci of the psychedelic rock band Grateful Dead who summed-it-up best when he said: You do not merely want to be considered just the best of the best. You want to be considered the only ones who do what you do. But the highest of all praise goes to those brands who achieve all this through the power of design – and kikki.k is one of those brands.

In a truly special offer from Kristina and the guys at kikki.k, we can offer you a great deal on their Inspiration Series of books.
Buy two books from the kikki.k Inspiration Series and receive the third free (that’s a grand saving of $39.95).* Record your dreams, plan your goals and achieve wellbeing with these gorgeous books. These stunning inspirational notebooks are the perfect place to start working towards achieving your dreams. They also make ideal gifts for loved ones and are perfect for Christmas.
*See details below…

Designing a Brand New Category
When kikki.k launched in Australia in 2001, there was no specialist, design stationery category. Stationery was a commodity purchase made on the grounds of cost and functionality. In-fact many people told the founder Kristina Karlsson that there was no demand for beautifully designed stationery – why would anyone spend $10 on a ring binder when you could buy one just as good from Office Works for $3.50? they questioned. Ten years and 80 stores later, Kristina and her partner Paul Lacey have proven the doubters well and truly wrong as they continue to build their wonderful retail brand upon the mission of bringing order and beauty to the world with their unique blend of  Swedish inspired design.

Their new range of 2012 diaries shows-off the brand’s visual style…

Crafted and Authentic Brand Storytelling
The rich and unique brand personality of kikki.k flows through all the brand does from retail store experience to online and the constant tide of new product development. Flipping through a kikki.k brand catalogue recently I was reminded of just how consistently the brand philosophy, spirit and visual language is communicated to their band of loyal brand fans.

The brand storytelling flows through their marketing communications like a well-told fable, in the voice of  kikki.k founder Kristina. A quote from their brand catalogue:

“It may sound ridiculous, but I love storage boxes. Not only are they the perfect representation of Swedish design – form and function achieved through simple, clean lines – but they convey the possibility of being organised and in control. I can’t get enough. In fact, the kikki.k white storage box was one of the first products I designed. You could even say it all started with a box. Today we have a storage box for all occasions – so what do you keep in yours?”

“Being organised is about having more time for the enjoyable things in life… and the freedom that brings.”

Click here to view the embedded video.

Beautiful, Evocative Brand Visual Language
The current retail campaign features beautiful photographic imagery combining the style of kikki.k with a range of stunning Swedish locations, providing a charming blend of aesthetic and product whilst continuing to build on the rich visual language of brand cues. Some of the images from their current campaign are below…

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A truly special offer from our friends at kikki.k.

“One of my absolute, absolute favorites is probably 101 Dreams. I think dreaming is the first step to actually achieving.”
Kristina Karlsson, founder of kikki.k

Our Inspiring kikki.k Special Offer – Save 1/3 when you Purchase three Books from the Inspiration Range
Buy two books from the kikki.K Inspiration Series and receive the third free.* Record your dreams, plan your goals and achieve wellbeing with these gorgeous books. These stunning inspirational notebooks are the perfect place to start working towards achieving your dreams. They also make ideal gifts for loved ones and are perfect for Christmas. Head instore or online today. For online purchases, enter promocode INSPIRE at the online checkout. For purchases in-store, mention this post.
Promotion ends 11 December 2011. Applies to Goal Book, Gratitude Book, 101 Dreams Book, Wellbeing Book and Inspiration Journal.

* Not valid with any other offer; Free item is of equal of lesser value

You can find your nearest kikki.k store by clicking here.
For online purchases visit the kikki.k site by clicking here.

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Dave Ansett, Brandamentalist
Designer of Beautiful Brands
For monthly updates of our thinking, click here to receive our free Brand Newsletter

Australian Marketing & Design Industry Mag B&T features our recent rebrand project for the Jean Hailes Foundation
Melbourne-based brand agency Truly Deeply recently created a new corporate identity for not-for-profit women’s organisation The Jean Hailes Foundation. The organisation which is devoted to improving the health and wellbeing of women has a new tagline -‘evidence inspired positive action’…

To read the article on B&T click here.
To read our case study click here.
To visit the Jean Hailes website click here.