A Knock-Out Brand Canvas
We’ve written many times before about the failure of most retail brands to leverage the window space of new stores whilst they’re preparing to open. “What a ripper of a brand canvas to leave blank!” we shout in frustration. “Why wouldn’t you fill those newspaper-covered frames with some fancy brand statement to delight and create anticipation for your upcoming store opening?”

Well thank the Lord we’ve been heard – and by the savvy branders at food franchise Mad Mex no-less. These guys have cooked-up a feast of brand personality, seasoned with bold and unique visual language rich in brand story telling. Check-out the eye popping windows of their soon to be opened Chapel Street store in Melbourne, Australia:

Every Business has a Bunch of Blank Canvases
Every business, no matter what location, size or market has blank canvases that are unique. The trick is to spot them.

I recommend setting aside an hour to list each and every brand touch point for your business, whether that be where your brand touches your clients or customers, your staff or your suppliers. Examples of brand touch points include: Your web site, delivery truck, brochures, ads, store interior, signage, office interior, staff uniforms, etc. etc. and etc. These are all the places where your brand touches the people who are responsible for your businesses success.

Once you have your list, look at the way you deliver each of the brand touches:
• Are there different places you could advertise where your target market can find you and where your competition is not?
• Is your delivery van or staff car a driving billboard?
• Does your office or store have any physical opportunities to promote what you do?
• Have you introduced your product or services to influential media, bloggers or locals for them to fall in love with?

Some business people are wired to identify the blank canvases for their brands. It’s as if they see the world through brand canvas tinted glasses. Carolyn Cresswell from Carmen’s Fine Foods, Kristina Karlsen from Kikki-K, Naomi Simson from Red Balloon Days, and Virgin’s Richard Branson are all naturals when it comes to spotting and leveraging blank brand canvases.

Your challenge is to learn how to see the blank canvases for your business and its brand so that you’re ready and able to spot the opportunities whenever and wherever they arise.

If you’d like to come have a chat with us about identifying your brand’s the blank canvases, why not get in touch? We’d love to show you how it’s done.

David Ansett, Brandamentalist
If you’d like daily updates of our brand thinking, you can follow me on Twitter here.
Graphic Design Melbourne

The Mystery of the Blocked-out Store Window
I was on my Sunday run the other morning, looking for any distraction from the headache of the night before, when I came across a familiar urban retail sight; the empty store with windows blocked-out by newspapers. Almost universally it seems, once a retailer takes a lease, before they even begin their fit-out, the first thing they do is cover the windows – often with old newspaper.

This particular shop is part of a small retail/residential development that has been in progress for the last 12 months, and is located on the corner of a high traffic intersection. No doubt many other locals and passers-by have the same level of curiosity as I do to see what shop will be opening in this newly built retail space. As I stumbled past at a slow slog it occurred to me that a great brand communication opportunity was going begging right there on that street corner.

Missing the Opportunity to Make an Impression
With all of the car, pedestrian and tram traffic passing this corner store every day, what a wonderful opportunity the new tenants have to cover the windows with a great big ad. The windows are as large as a billboard and well illuminated. For a fraction of the cost of the store fit-out, the mysterious retailer-to-be could be actively marketing themselves and their brand to their future customers. In fact if I were in the new tenant’s shoes, I would have had a go at getting the land-lord to cover the cost of the window ad as part of the lease agreement.

This is what we call a Blank Canvas.
We spend much of our lives working with big brands; defining their reason for being – their competitive market position, and providing clarity around how to bring those brands to life to achieve the objectives of the business. Many of the strategies employed by the large and experienced brands translate across to small and medium sized businesses; some work even better for smaller enterprises. Blank Canvases are one of those strategies that are just as effective, if-not more-so for the smaller guys.

A Blank Canvas is any opportunity or channel available to communicate your brand that is currently not being used by the competition. As long as a Blank Canvas is appropriate for your brand and relevant to your market, it will usually deliver a much higher ROI than traditional marketing activities thanks to increased ‘cut through’.

Recently we worked with a local home building company called Nava Homes.
Initially we developed their differentiated market proposition and defined their brand, but the real high value work was in the transformation of their marketing strategy from traditional channels to Blank Canvases. As a home builder, Nava had a number of display homes located in display villages around Melbourne. The vast majority of Nava’s marketing budget was spent on traditional newspaper ads, aimed at driving traffic to the display villages their display homes were located-in. The problem was that as a smaller player, Nava’s ads were buried deep in the real estate section of the local newspapers. The first pages were filled with double-page spread, full colour ads from the bigger home builders who’s ads were aimed at guess what… driving traffic to those very same display villages.

There was no way with our clients marketing budget that Nava could ever own the newspaper advertising space – that was a brand canvas crowded with big players. What we identified as a Blank Canvas was the opportunity to own the car parks at the display villages. Our strategy was – ‘Let the big brands drive home buyers to the display villages, but once they arrive, let’s disproportionately attract their attention and direct them to our Italian Family Living Nava Homes.’ Whilst Nava’s marketing budget would never be enough to stand-out in the newpapers, it was ample to make a big splash at the display village carparks – which were relatively Blank Canvases.

A Strategy from the Big Brands for Brands of Every Size
All brands; B2B, B2C, retail, manufacturing, professional services, not-for-profit, multinational, small or medium sized, have the potential to unlock the power of their own Blank Canvases, and increase the ROI for their marketing and brand communications. If you’d like some help identifying the Blank Canvases for your brand, let us know – we’d be only too happy to be of assistance.

David Ansett, Brandamentalist.
If you’d like daily updates of our brand thinking, you can follow me on Twitter here.