Amy Forbes: 0207680Critical and Contextual Studies05/10/2018

Amy Forbes: 0207680Critical and Contextual Studies05/10/2018

Amy Forbes

Design for Industry 2

Contextual and Critical Studies

December 2003

Quotation:

...Orange has established itself as the largest mobile phone provider in Britain. Its appeal is emotional as well as rational focussing on people and their need to communicate in a clear and straightforward way but, brand consultants Wolff Olins argue, also allowing the company “to own a colour” that expresses “warmth, friendliness and energy”...

Q1. Choose either a local, national or global brand and discuss how a particular product is branded.

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Amy Forbes: 0207680Critical and Contextual Studies05/10/2018

“Branding is principally the process of attaching a name and a reputation to something or someone.

The most recognisable feature of a brand is a name, logo, symbol or trademark that denotes a product’s origin.”[1]

To think of the branding process in this way is, however, too simplistic. The process of branding a product involves not only assigning it a trademark, but also developing an image to be attached to the brand and therefore the product. As more and more new products appear on the shelves, brands become an easy way for consumers to choose between them. When confused by too much choice, we will choose the brand with the best reputation.

In ‘On Brand’, Wally Olins says that all successful businesses are made up of three strands, technical, financial and ability to sell (or seduction). Branding is about seducing and manipulating people into buying products or services and so would be included in this third strand. One company that does this very well is Virgin. It has a cool, non-conformist image and is strongly associated with youth culture. It is this image that they use to seduce the consumer into buying their products.

There is a common feeling that we are defined, at least in part, by the products we buy.

“We are encouraged by advertisers and the media to see the acquisition of goods as a means to constructing a social persona”[2]

Thus people will buy Virgin products as they make them feel young and fashionable and they want to buy into this lifestyle. More and more companies sell us a packaged lifestyle and in some ways Virgin does this. All its products are branded in the same way, although usually they are promoted separately, as they are too diverse to be so closely linked.

Recent times have seen a trend for brands to expand their ranges to include new types of product. For example, it is now very common for clothing brands to release scents promoted under the same brand name as their clothes. However, there are few brands, if any, whose range of products is as diverse as Virgin’s. Virgin began as a mail-order music company in 1969, but after only a couple of years, Branson had opened a record store. As his music business thrived, he took any chance he saw to branch out into new fields. Now the range of Virgin products includes music, transport, cola, cosmetics, mobile phones and financial services, amongst others. It may even be easier to list the products Virgin is not involved in. Although Virgin’s products are often totally unrelated in function, almost all of them are linked by being branded with the same name and logo, see Fig1. Our attitude toward Virgin Atlantic (Virgin’s airline) is surprisingly similar to how we feel about Virgin cola. For example, we associate both products with the same young fun-loving image.

Figure 1: Virgin Logo Advertising Various Products

Virgin’s image is closely related to the personality and lifestyle of its founder, Richard Branson. Although Branson is probably Britain’s best-known entrepreneur[3], his fame derives less from his business activities than from a series of publicity stunts.

“The brand image, or brand value, results from the ‘dialogue’ that takes place between producer or brand owner and the consumer or user”[4]

Branson obviously understands very well the importance of just such a dialogue. By making public appearances, he distinguishes his ‘friendly’ company from faceless multinationals. Branson is seen as a loveable, fun-loving, friendly millionaire in touch with the public. He is known for his sense of fun, often dressing up to attract more attention to his stunts and therefore his company. He also promotes himself as an intrepid adventurer. He is a keen balloonist and in 1986 he broke the Atlantic sea speed record (on his second attempt) in Challenger II. He even persuaded the then Prime Minister, Margaret Thatcher to join him on his lap of honour, see Fig2.

Figure 2: Richard Branson and Margaret Thatcher in Challenger II

“One of his party pieces was to upturn attractive women”[5]

Figure 3: Richard Branson and Ivana Trump

His own wedding even became a publicity stunt and a comment on the power of advertising when he parachuted in to the ceremony carrying a box of Milk Tray chocolates.[6]

Branson is also well known for making charitable gestures. When he made a bid to control the national lottery, he said he would give the profits to charity and when he launched a new range of condoms, he gave the profits to the Healthcare Foundation. It is interesting to note that in this case the Virgin officials stopped Branson from using the Virgin name for these condoms. This is one of the few products owned by Virgin that is not branded under the Virgin name.

This public persona is well considered and conceals his ruthlessly business-like side. The way he promotes himself as friendly, caring and socially aware is an excellent way of promoting the Virgin brand. When we think of the brand Virgin, Richard Branson always comes to mind, even after he has sold on that particular sector. Few brands are as closely related to the persona of their founder as this. One example, however, is Chanel. During her lifetime, the Chanel brand was associated very much with the personality of Coco Chanel as she often appeared publicly to promote her products. In my opinion, Virgin’s logo also stresses this very personal approach. The font is in a hand written style, like a signature, as though Branson himself may even have written it. See Fig4.

Figure 4: The Virgin Logo

Unusually, when sectors of Virgin’s business have, in the past, made mistakes (for example Virgin trains proved to be unreliable), the rest of the Virgin empire has remained unaffected. Normally when one branch of a company fails it proves detrimental to the brand as a whole. This suggests to me that the personality of the Virgin brand is strong enough that we trust the whole company, and so, are willing to overlook flaws in individual branches.

To conclude, I believe the strength of Virgin’s personality is due to the willingness of Branson to appear in public. He promotes himself as the British small businessman (relative to the big multinationals) and appeals to the public because of his charitable work and his reputation as a bit of an intrepid adventurer. His willingness to be involved in public events means we feel closer to him, which, in turn makes us feel closer to Virgin. Our impression of and feelings towards Virgin are inextricably linked to our feelings towards Richard Branson. We trust Branson, so we trust Virgin.

Bibliography

Books

BERGER W., Advertising Today, London, Phaidon Press Ltd., 2001, ISBN 07148 3923X, p422, p427, p442

BUCHHOLZ A. & WORDEMANN W., What Makes Winning Brands Different, West Sussex, John Wiley and Sons Ltd., 2000, ISBN 0 471 72025 9

DICKINSON P., It’s Not About Size: Bigger Brands For Smaller Businesses, London, Virgin Publishing Ltd., 2001, ISBN 0 7535 0558 4

INTERBRAND, Brands An International Review, London, Mercury Books Gold Arrow Publications Ltd., 1990,

JACKSON T., Virgin King: Inside Richard Branson’s Business Empire, London, HarperCollins Publishers, 1995, ISBN 0 00 638267 3

LEVY S. J., Brands, Consumers, Symbols, and Research, California, Sage Publications, 1999, ISBN 0 7619 1697 0

OLINS W., On Brand, London, Thames and Hudson, 2003, ISBN 0 500 51145 4

PAVITT J. Brand.New, London, V & A Publications, 2000, ISBN 185177 324X

RIVERS C., Identify: Building Brand Through Letterheads, Logos and Business Cards, East Sussex, RotoVision SA, 2003, ISBN 2 88046 723 3

STERNQUIST B., International Retailing, USA, Fairchild Publications (A Division of ABC Media, Inc.), 1998, ISBN 1 56367 103 4

WILLIAMS G., Branded?: Products and Their Personalities, London, V & A Publications, 2000, pp60-61, ISBN 1851773258

Internet Sources

Accessed 1/12/03

List of Illustrations

1. Virgin Logo Advertising Various Products (page 2)

Accessed 1/12/03

1. Richard Branson and Margaret Thatcher in Challenger II (page 3)

JACKSON T., Virgin King: Inside Richard Branson’s Business Empire, London, HarperCollins Publishers, 1995, Section1 of Illustrations

1. Richard Branson and Ivana Trump (page 4)

JACKSON T., Virgin King: Inside Richard Branson’s Business Empire, London, HarperCollins Publishers, 1995, Section1 of Illustrations

1. The Virgin Logo (page 5)

Accessed 2/12/03

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[1] P21 PAVITT J. Brand.New, London, V & A Publications, 2000

[2] P44 PAVITT J. Brand.New, London, V & A Publications, 2000

[3] P1 JACKSON T., Virgin King: Inside Richard Branson’s Business Empire, London, HarperCollins Publishers, 1995

[4] P21 PAVITT J. Brand.New, London, V & A Publications, 2000

[5] Section1 of Illustrations, JACKSON T., Virgin King: Inside Richard Branson’s Business Empire, London, HarperCollins Publishers, 1995

[6] Section2 of Illustrations, JACKSON T., Virgin King: Inside Richard Branson’s Business Empire, London, HarperCollins Publishers, 1995