#brandspace

Fiction is often looked to for inspiration. The relevance of a story in a period other than that in which it was published is generally taken as evidence of the writer’s foresight. Take for instance Roald Dahl and the fact that this year, one hundred since the year of his birth, a series of global events have been planned to mark the author's creative vision and influence. Among, the characters and stories that still impact today, the chocolate factory from his 1964 novel can be seen as a precedent which has provided a ready made framework for corporate brands intending to win greater relevance and influence in our city spaces and lives today.

In many ways, Wonka's chocolate factory is the proto-brand experience space. A workspace-cum-immersive experience that draws visitors in to a brand narrative not only encapsulated in the building itself but in the geographic locations surrounding and connected to it. While visitors are unlikely to be subject to the self-inflicted cruelties experienced by Wonka’s less favoured guests, there is an implicit expectancy to give oneself over to interactive, playful, educational and at times absurd spaces and activities.

The range and popularity of brand experience space (brand space) has reached a point where it is now viable for it to become an anchoring element of urban developments. Silvertown Quays, a mixed-use development emerging in London’s Royal Docks, has been promoted as ‘the world’s first purpose built brand destination’.

Here a number of brand spaces will exist alongside new homes and dedicated workspace in a balance that developers, The Silvertown Partnership, hope will facilitate collaboration between burgeoning businesses, established corporate brands and curious visitors.

Brand space can be identified as part of a wider trend of corporate strategic efforts to engage, adopt and influence urban processes; an activity that has been referred to as brand urbanism. This term describes the process by which urbanism is mediatized and abstracted often in order to enhance the image of a place or a brand. For corporate brands, this often occurs through prosaic methods of aligning their brands with particular spaces through, for example, sponsorship and corporate philanthropy, but also through creative methods of engaging with publics and places.

Brand urbanism can also refer to a related yet distinct activity of brand initiated building and city making, and it is here that brand space is playing an important role. Businesses are creating built forms that hybridise or differ from other spatial corporate footprints (traditional retail stores, HQ's, factories) in that they are intended to act as physical manifestations of the abstract brand. For years businesses have and continue to use ephemeral spaces for this purpose. However a growing number of businesses are seeking to create a permanent brand presence in cities or open up existing, previously private, spaces to the public, in the same way as that fictional factory.

There are many reasons why this particular corporate manifestation is becoming a fixture in our cities, a number of which revolve around businesses and cities drawing from each other in order to enhance their brands chances of gaining an advantage over competition. Of course this isn't a new development, but businesses do seem to be taking a more strategic approach to urban space, and taking advantage of the fact that it can be less democratising and more amenable to control than online platforms. It is also equally driven by a business need to, as widely researched, engage a millennial cohort who while shopping online continue to seek physical places of consumption, interaction and experience. So, as well as investing in their online and social media presence, recent examples have shown a tendency for businesses to invest in and re-engage urban space in innovative ways, creating destinations and seamless brand experiences through an extraction of abstract brand value from places. I recently visited Louis Vuitton's Island Maison, a glass and steel pavilion designed to give the impression of floating just off the luxury quarter of Marina Bay, Singapore. Most of the staff I encountered in the space weren't on the retail floor but on either of the exhibition floors hoping to not sell me a product but tell me a story of the brands heritage, a story which has been reimagined and presented through a collection of newly designed heritage based foldable furniture and travel accessories (created in collaboration with several international designers) and an exhibition of original Louis Vuitton trunks which have been bought back from their original owners, at great expense I imagine.

These travel and personal journey themed collections seemed to gain greater significance by being displayed in the glass promontory like structure of the Island Maison. What can also be perceived here is a business using urban space to create a mutual transformation of the place and the brand. Marina Bay's association with luxury is enhanced by Louis Vuitton’s physical presence and the brands image is in turn enhanced through its connection with a high-end development, which contains the landmark Marina Bay Sands hotel. The value exchange is seamless, and lends credence to the experiences contained within the Louis Vuitton brand space. From Montblanc's concept store in Beijing to the House of Vans in Waterloo, you'll find examples of brands across all sectors strategically using urban space for corporate goals. It's easy to understand why these examples of brand space and other brand activity in urban space can be seen as 'Facebook urbanism'. All of these spaces and the experiences contained are ready made material that will be interacted with and shared, generating content for brands. Without prompt I was politely told by a Louis Vuitton employee 'yes, you can take photos'. There is however more to this trend. These spaces are as much about building relationships with consumers as they are about content generation. In some cases they are inherently influenced by open innovation in their ambition to create a platform for sharing, networking and developing ideas with consumers and businesses in a physical space.

Another nice work from ART + COM

Kinetic logo at Deutsche Bank

(via creativeapplications)

Kinetic Logo at Deutsche Bank BrandSpace Frankfurt