Overview of Concepts
This month’s course, Design Integration, required familiarization with the concept of developing an advertising strategy. Additionally, proper approach toward research into a client product as well as marketplace analysis were both explored. Furthermore, the factors that contribute to consumer behavior, including Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs and Settle & Alreck’s Shopping List of Needs were studied. Both product and consumer-oriented strategic approaches were explored, each revealing potential benefits and shortcomings. Ultimately, all these concepts and researched were used to develop a final creative brief for the fictional client BoxPark Sushi located in the East Side neighborhood of Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
Connecting/Synthesizing/Transforming
In Advertising: Concept and Copy, George Felton states that for advertising to be effective, research and strategy must come before execution. He claims that a strong strategy begins with research and complete understanding of the product, the consumer, and the marketplace (Felton, 2013). Similarly, Erika Hall writes in the book Just Enough Researchthat the categories of a brand or product’s ultimate value proposition and product attributes must be completely fleshed out and understood before any design execution begins.
Tasked with developing a design strategy for a fictional restaurant, BoxPark Sushi, it was necessary to apply these research concepts early on to ensure that future communication decisions would adequately speak to the consumer while simultaneously demonstrating its unique benefit. The first step involved understanding of sushi’s history both in Japan and its integration and how it currently fits in American culture. The BoxPark model of shopping/entertainment was also explored to gain an understanding of the benefits it can potentially provide to consumers over those of a traditional mall or restaurant. Furthermore, both direct and indirect competitors required identification in an effort to reveal what was already being offered by other establishments in Milwaukee and the East Side district in terms of consumer benefits. This information was cross-examined and compared and ultimately revealed multiple advantages that BoxPark Sushi should use in in their approach to communication to help differentiate themselves best from its competitors. This research served as the foundation for the rest of the month toward the ultimate goal of developing a creative brief for BoxPark Sushi.
Problem Solving
A key design issue this month was finding an approach for BoxPark Sushi to climb to the highest level of Maslow’s ladder by using Felton’s suggestion of asking “what is the highest possible benefit I can claim for this product” (Felton, 2013). Since the BoxPark venue and its benefits were very unique in their own right, it presented itself as a possible area of focus to satisfy needs of the consumers. However, psychographic and demographic research into area residents helped define the target consumer and their needs and lifestyle in a very distinct manner. The target audience has an affinity for experience and appreciation for culture, thus, the superior solution of focusing on Japanese traditions and hands-on sushi making classes were chosen as the benefits that would serve their individual needs most appropriately. Further, these features offer the potential for self-actualization, “the need to understand, cognitively and aesthetically” (Felton, 2013), which is the highest-level benefit listed in Maslow’s hierarchy of needs.
Innovative Thinking
The work performed for this month’s assignments are in line with industry standards regarding demographic, psychographic, market, competitor, and product research. However, crafting the onlyness statement required a bit of innovative thinking. Discovering appropriate benefits for a market segment in which one has no previous interaction with is a challenging task. Initial attempts focused on concepts that were a bit too broad, such as the sushi itself or the idea that BoxPark is a new type of visual structure the district hasn’t seen before. Though these things proved to be true, the broad approach led to the pitfall of attempting to be a “one size fits all” total market approach by speaking to too large of a portion of the market (Felton, 2013). To truly differentiate BoxPark from its competitors, it was necessary to use a consumer-oriented approach by combining brand-image and lifestyle strategies. Since there are other options to gain quick access to sushi in the same district, BoxPark presented itself as the only place where one could gain a cultural experience, something the specified audience places high value on. The development and review of the creative brief was essential in this process. In the future, seeking interviews with area residents that fit the profile of the target demographic would prove to be useful and may reveal additional information that should drive communication.
Acquiring Competencies
1. Design Strategy – Performing research and familiarizing yourself with things such as targets, metrics, and positioning will help a designer understand the ultimate goals of a brand and provide insight into a design solution that answers business problems with creativity. Occupational/Technical
2. Brand Competition – By analyzing direct, indirect, and replacement competitors, one can make more informed decisions regarding the most successful areas of focus and what areas should be avoided to create the highest brand perception. Occupational/Technical
3. Client Product Research – To make informed communication decisions, thorough understanding of a product’s features and what benefits those features offer to consumers is required. Occupational/Technical
4. Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs – One should always aim to demonstrate a brand or product’s ability to meet the highest level of Maslow’s ladder, self-actualization. Occupational/Conceptual
5. Psychographics –Investigation into the beliefs, attitudes, preferences, and various habits of a population will reveal more pertinent information than demographics alone. Occupational/Technical
6. Market Segmentation – Both quantitative and qualitative research will afford a designer the insight necessary to communicate with the correct segment of a specific market and understand their willingness-to-pay for a product or service. Occupational/Technical
7. Creative Briefs – Though there is no exact right or wrong way to develop a final creative brief, a successful one will establish objectives and reveal the correct approach to solve advertising problems. Occupational/Conceptual
8. Brand Image – Focusing on consumer benefits can create an emotional bond between brand and consumer which will in turn generate brand loyalty and raise brand image. Occupational/Conceptual
9. Positioning – A brand cannot be all things to all people, so one must choose what aspects of a brand/product are most important to focus on so that they can position themselves in the strongest way possible. Occupational/Conceptual
10. Unique Selling Proposition – Product features, while important, should take a back seat to the benefits of the product when developing a successful onlyness statement. Occupational/Conceptual
11. Lifestyle Advertising – Lifestyle advertising is effective in creating a desirable aura through brand communication and offers the audience a chance to experience that same essence. Occupational/Conceptual
12. Color Choice in Communication – Color meaning varies greatly depending on culture, geographic location, personal experience, and one must avoid preconceived notions when making choices regarding color. Occupational/Conceptual
References:
Felton, G. (2013). Advertising: Concept and Copy (Third ed.) [VitalSource Bookshelf]. Pearson Education. https://bookshelf.vitalsource.com/#/books/9780393733921/
Hall, E. (2013). Just enough research. A Book Apart. https://learning.oreilly.com/library/view/just-enough-research/9780133964394/copyright.html