Fresh out of the test labs, Project Magazine have released this demo of the iPad version of their culture/tech/design online zine, and what they’ve created is simply captivating.

As a designer of brand communication, I’ve gotta say this demo blows wide-open the potential to create engaging, targeted communications for the iPad demographic. As a channel for brand produced content, this format is a ripper, and who-else to capture the potential for their brand than Richard Branson. Project magazine is in fact a brand gesture for Virgin – another great example of an engaging and valued brand communication where the brand link is secondary to the task of adding richness and interest to the lives of their target market. It provides a wonderful canvas for brand story telling and brand personality expression.

Released two days ago, Project has quickly become the top free app in the iPad App Store and another successful brand expression for Virgin.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Dave Ansett, Brandamentalist
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iPad Obsessive Brand Designer

Spotted on the Emotivator blog.

Related articles

• Project Magazine for iPad Gets Hands-on, Takes a Swing at The Daily (slashgear.com)
• Video: Virgin’s iPad Mag ‘Project’ Gets Animated, Coming Tuesday (paidcontent.org)
• Richard Branson’s iPad-Only Mag May Launch Tomorrow With Tron Cover Goodness [Video] (gizmodo.com)
• Richard Branson Talks Project Mag for iPad, The Daily, Dinner with Jobs (macstories.net)

Melbourne has the hype of the Grand Prix this weekend, when petrol heads from around the country descend on our fair town for some thrills and spills. The event is a highly subsidised marketing program designed to build the profile of Melbourne internationally and, along the way, inject some dollars into the local economy. There is always heated debate about the merits of hosting this event. The suggested cumulative $622m cost to tax payers since the circus began in the mid 90’s in Melbourne means that the event represents a huge ‘opportunity cost’ to the communities of Victoria what ever way you cut it.

But the cost to stage the Grand Prix is really a discussion for another time. Instead let’s explore the challenges associated with creating on-brand experiences when it comes to sponsorship. In the last few days we have just witnessed the unveiling of new outfits for the ‘grid girls’. Importantly from a brand perspective we have seen how sponsor Qantas has had a shot at making the somewhat raunchy presence of grid girls into an acceptable advertising medium for their brand. An interesting challenge, but one clearly understood by designer Kit Willow who designed the new uniforms:

”Qantas … wanted style and elegance for the grid girls,” she said. ”But, then, there’s the grand prix,
and, um, I had to keep sympathy with, um, its tradition of, um, well OK, tits and arse. That was
the challenge.’’

The question is has Kit and Qantas succeeded in maintaining the tradition of the grid girls but also provided an on-brand canvass on which to broadcast the Qantas brand. Certainly some media comments suggest they have fallen short. In fact one fashion commentator called it a politically correct step in the wrong direction. Another using a pun about the runway to give it the thumbs down….’but when it really comes down to it, high fashion looks are best left to the runway, not the highway.’

You be the judge as to whether you like the Kit Willow design, but from a brand perspective it is a great reminder of the need to align your sponsorships with activities that positively connect with your brand. The more you have to force-fit the activity to suit your brand suggests that perhaps you are exploring the wrong opportunities. But having said that it is the very fact that Qantas has to work at making the grid girls an acceptable brand expression that has given it some potency. The mere fact that they have shifted the grid girl outfits away from the bare-it all format has said something positive about how the Qantas brand views the world. If they had simply stuck their logo on the traditional attire of the grid girls,  they would have been out of whack with their conservative corporate positioning. The re-design it self has already generated huge media exposure with its unveiling, and all that is before race day where their logo will be strutting the grid for world wide audiences to see. Hate or love the new designs perhaps this is one force-fit sponsorship that delivers acceptable returns to the brand.

Having said all that, please let me leave you with this thought, imagine the re-design if Virgin Blue had been the sponsor. If you are picturing a totally different image then you are probably understanding the different personalities of these competing brands… in fact wouldn’t it be interesting to observe a Richard Branson led design of the grid girl’s outfits. I am sure there would be a chorus of approval from our petrol head audience.

Peter Singline
Brand Scientist

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

We Love a Good Blank Canvas
As a brand agency, there’s not much we love more than a great blank brand canvas that’s been spotted and transformed into a glowing gesture of brand communication. When we talk to our clients (and anyone else who’ll listen) about sharpening their brand strategy,  we are always big-on identifying the blank canvases that provide the opportunity to leverage your brand in remarkable ways.

We Love a Good Delivery Truck
Whilst there’s nothing new about well branded delivery trucks, there are still few examples of these moving billboards being used as canvases for brand expression. The cost to transform even a single delivery truck for a small business into a bold brand gesture is minimal, yet the investment in creative brand expression has the potential for grand pay-off.

The Phoenix is Rising
Driving to a meeting this morning I passed the Phoenix Organics‘ delivery truck. Actually I passed many delivery trucks, multiple fleet cars, and numerous company vans  – but the point is I only noticed one – and the pointiest bit of the point is I only remembered one. And that of course was the Phoenix Organics‘ delivery truck. Phoenix is a brand with personality and the confidence to express themselves – their bottle caps cheekily chirp ‘Think Before You Drink’. Most importantly, Phoenix is not a brand trying to be many things to many people, and in brand communication, this focus and clarity provides great advantage in the marketplace.

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.