SIGHTINGSVOLUME 2, 2011

BACK TO THE PAST

HOW FAR CAN A BRAND STRETCH?

MAKE IT MATTER

CONTAINED QUARTERS

RETHINK REINVENTION

AUTHENTICITY

Millennials seeking authenticityCR

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HERITAGE

Anchoring in the p

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DEFIANCE

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BEAUTIFUL & PURPOSEFUL

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CONSTRAINTS

Getting beyond norms

ENHANCED WITH DESIGN

Visual appeal matters

BELIEVABILITY

City brands must be authentic

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LIQUID PRECISION

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SEE & BE SEEN

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BRANDEDCITIES

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The Zeal for Real

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2 SIGHTINGS 2011

IN THIS ISSUEIn this issue of ANTHEM SIGHTINGS, we are making connections, going back to our roots, and thinking outside the box.

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Cities Branding For Economic DevelopmentWe live in a branded culture and see branding applied to all manner of people, places, and things. Here we focus on place: cities that are applying the basics of branding to accomplish their goals—whether that be to attract investment or human capital or to draw more tourists. From India and China to Russia and the UK, we see cities taking different approaches to brand development to improve each city’s overall “brand” image.

We found Lavasa, for example, a new urban planning project that will be the first city in India to be developed and governed entirely by a private corporation. The city has been built on the principles of New Urbanism, which include creating highly livable spaces, to “work, learn, and play in harmony with nature.” The long-term plan for Lavasa is ambitious:

…Lavasa will eventually house more than 300,000 people in five distinct “towns.” It will also have a world-class

medical campus, luxury hotels, boarding schools, sports academies, a Nick Faldo–designed golf course, a space camp, and, its developers hope, animation and film studios, software-development companies, biotech labs, and law and architectural firms—in short, all of the knowledge industries at the heart of the “new India.”

Given the corporate governing structure of this city, it makes sense that its planners would approach the development much like a business project, starting with the brand. Partnering with U.S. branding firm Landor, they developed the brand idea of “Life in Full” which was designed to convey a complete experience, in harmony with nature. The name itself is designed to evoke feelings of fulfillment and freedom. In developing this highly optimistic and aspirational brand image for Lavasa, the city planners hope to attract residents, investors, and tourists alike who seek a better way of life with a focus on sustainability and peaceful co-existence.

China provides similar examples of cities that are being built or rebuilt to attract investments

Lavasa at night: The city in India will be entirely developed and governed by a private corporation.

BRANDED CITIES

MARKETING

4 SIGHTINGS 2011

from around the world and improve the overall experience in the city. For the 2010 World Exhibition in Shanghai, the government tore down and rebuilt large areas with the tagline “Better City, Better Life.” U.S. real estate development and investment firm Gale International is seeking to capitalize on this trend of urban improvement in China by marketing “cities in a box” to Chinese government officials. Literally turning a city into a product emphasizes the need to consider fundamental elements of branding as it relates to the city such as naming, creating a differentiated positioning, and the overall brand experience.

The first successful model of this type of city development is found in South Korea:

Songdo International Business District, [is] a $35 billion city being built from scratch on a man-made island off the coast of South Korea. At completion (currently scheduled for 2015), it will be roughly the size of downtown Boston, with 65,000 residents.

Songdo has successfully become a destination for multinational firms and expatriate employees. It will likely be a matter of time before we see these sorts of prototype communities spreading throughout China.

Similarly, in 2010 Russia made a splash when they announced to the world their ambitious plan to build a leading science and technology hub outside of Moscow (modeled off of Silicon Valley) known as the Skolkovo Innovation Centre. The goal of developing this new “Science City” is twofold: to attract the best human capital and to develop new technology and innovations to compete globally. In August 2010, the city planners announced MIR LLC and SPN Ogilvy Public Relations as the winners of the tender to develop the brand for the innovation centre. Given the importance of this initiative, it will be interesting to track how Skolkovo builds its brand image to effectively deliver on these goals.

Finally, London and Moscow have recently rebranded themselves in a more traditional sense,

Songdo International Business District, a city built from scratch on a man-made island off the coast of South Korea, hopes to attract multinational firms and expatriates to its locale.

MARKETING

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with designs of vibrant colors and taglines. In London, the mayor announced a public tender in August 2009 over which many prominent design firms competed. London’s main motivations for rebranding were a desire to disassociate itself with the financial turmoil of recent years, to prepare for the upcoming 2012 Olympics, and to “tidy up” their communications by unifying the messages from the disparate promotional organizations (i.e., Visit London, Think London, Study London, and Film London). Saffron Brand Consultants, led by industry guru Wally Ollins, won the business and recently relaunched the new London brand. The rebranding is a cheeky, vibrant execution with messaging that effectively captures the spirit of the city. According to Saffron’s website:

The brand expresses the quirky, understated, confident, self-deprecating style that anyone who knows London will recognise.

While not officially sanctioned by the government, architect Nicholas Pereslegina and designer Alexander Pershikova recently launched a rebrand for Moscow which appears to be an attempt to lighten up the city’s overall image while appealing to a younger crowd. The “Wow Moscow” branding incorporates emoticons to convey excitement and wonder, while giving a nod to the proliferation of texting and new language patterns that have emerged as a result. The tagline “Surprise +

Smile” further conveys the positive energy and playful nature of the brand.

These examples from India, China, Russia and the UK all demonstrate the need to consider the “brand experience” in each city and show how municipal governments have used the city’s brand to help achieve their economic and social goals. Consider your own city and think about its personality, voice and overall look and feel. What does your city promise? Is it delivering on its promise? How does it use its image or brand to accomplish its goals? Marketers can learn from these examples and the cities’ savvy application of branding fundamentals to improve the overall “brand” image for residents, tourists, and investors alike.

LEFT: London hopes to step out of the shadow of the economic downturn and reveal its true personality. RIGHT: Architect Nicholas Pereslegina and designer Alexander Pershikova created the “Surprise + Smile” branding in an attempt to lighten up the city’s image and appeal to a younger crowd.

MARKETING

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Old is made new againThe past is often mined by the fashion and entertainment industries for creative inspiration, taking something familiar or classic and updating it for the current marketplace. For example, the skinny jean, while currently popular, is not new. There have been numerous updates on the tight or skinny jean since the ’50s. Or consider the recent slate of TV and movie remakes recently released or in-the-works: Hawaii Five-0, 90210, Charlie’s Angels, Karate Kid, Arthur, and Footloose.

Nostalgia is becoming a goldmine for the consumer packaged goods world, as well. Similar to the fashion and entertainment fields, companies are reviving “old” products with modern twists. For example, Hasbro has brought back the popular View-Master toy as a cutting

BACK TO THE PASTMARKETING

edge gadget, the My3D 360 viewer. It snaps onto your iPhone or iPod Touch and creates a 3D visual environment. Another example is Instagram. Leveraging the instant camera craze from the ’70s, they have created an app for your iPhone that uses filters to convert the style of any picture into a stunning photo that is fun and easy to share with family and friends.

Another route to the past is not so much an update but a direct throwback to yesteryear. Brands like Tide and Tootsie Roll are using packaging or advertising from their archives to play up the retro vibe. Tide is showcasing vintage packaging and print ads in Target stores. Tootsie Roll has been smartly targeting tweens and their parents on the Disney channel with the classic Owl Tootsie Pop commercial from the ’70s.

Hasbro’s My3D is reminiscent of the View-Master of the late 1930s and just one of the modern day

interpretation of classic products.

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Signs are pointing to the fact that this is not a passing fad, that nostalgia branding may be here to stay. Back in 2009, Pepsi and Mountain Dew introduced “throwbacks” as limited time only products. They featured packaging from the ’80s and the original sugar formulation replacing the current high fructose corn syrup. Their ongoing success has led the company to recently announce that both items will become permanent products. Following suit, Doritos, which offered a retro package early this year that quickly soldout, has decided to make it a permanent item with ’80s packaging and a reformulation.

In addition, the trend is extending beyond food and home care products. In February, Nike introduced an Air Jordan 13 Retro Playoff sneaker based on the original from 1998. Similarly, Forty Seven Brand, licensor of Major League Baseball, is launching nostalgia apparel for all 30 baseball clubs.

So why is nostalgia resonating with consumers? The answer is twofold. First, the past speaks directly to a product’s or brand’s heritage, and heritage is one way for a brand to demonstrate authenticity or “realness.” These products or brands are tried and true, have withstood the test of time, and have earned consumer trust. Second, for Generation X and Boomers, nostalgia brings

After seeing successes with the reintroduction of its retro Pepsi and Mountain Dew designs and recipes, Pepsi announced the products would become a permanent addition to its product line.

MARKETING

up potent memories and emotions. It harkens back to a simpler time with fond childhood recollections that evoke strong emotions of comfort.

Whether it’s reaching back to the past to refashion old products for current sensibilities or “retro”-fitting current products to evoke the past, brands are finding that “old” can be relevant and compelling. Nostalgia has become a great shorthand to create an instant trusting and emotional connection with consumers, making the old new again.

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Connecting With MillennialsTheir generation is optimistic, aspiring and skeptical. They’re moving at an unimaginable pace—absorbing knowledge, making an infinite amount of connections and sharing information rapidly through their networks. They have grown up in a world where, with the help of the Internet, Christmas shopping could be done in the comforts of their own beds and sending mail takes a matter of seconds. The Millennial generation, those born between 1977 and 1994, are characteristically candid and confident—unafraid to call a spade a spade. As such, they seek in their brands what they see in themselves: real, transparent and genuine voices. They are a force to be reckoned with, changing the modern marketplace and searching for meaning in a fast paced environment. To appeal to this mass, you need to be sure that there is meaning behind what you do—whether it comes through your product, your business model or your culture—so that Millennials can truly rally behind and build an intangible connection with your brand.

Why do they seek this meaning? Because the meaning of the “American Dream” itself has seen drastic change with this generation. Where prosperity and success were previously linked to material wealth, they are now growing more and more concerned with personal fulfillment. Surely the domestic and global events that have occurred in the backdrop of this group’s rise and development have effected this change. From the Dot-com bubble to the housing boom and bust, from the War on Terrorism to the Global Financial Crisis, Millennials have faced the toughest

MAKE IT MATTERMARKETING

economic climate in recent times. Unemployment rates for those in their early 20’s have risen to nearly 20%. To Millennials, success now comes in the form of reaching personal goals and building real emotional connections—they seek meaning. And according to Glenn Heimstra of Futurist.com, it’s unlikely that this value shift will reverse even once the economy rebounds. With this in mind, it’s not enough that businesses offer material offerings—there must be a real emotional element for Millennials to embrace, as well.

You should care about this cohort because Millennials are a connected force. They have networks of hundreds and the tools to spread information like wildfire. They have influencing power and are unafraid to express their honest opinions. Just look at the social media sites popular amongst Millennials like Twitter, for which the average user has 126 followers. Or even Yelp, whose users are free to rant or rave

FAST FACTS: MILLENNIALSChildren of the Baby Boomer • generation, born between 1977 and 1994 (ages 17-34 in 2011)

Millennials make up 23% of the • United States population

New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, • Dallas and Houston have the largest population of Millennials

A diverse generation: Only three in five • Millennials are non-Hispanic whites

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about local businesses. Businesses who can successfully build solid, meaningful relationships with Millennials have the opportunity to turn their young followers into their brand ambassadors given these connected communication mediums. In fact, a study released by public relations firm, Edelman, found that globally at least 80% of Millennials have “taken action on behalf of a brand they trust—including sharing brand experiences with others, joining online communities, and posting reviews online.”

And if you don’t connect with them, they’ll just find a way to do it themselves. If there is a need to be met, Millennials—a skilled and confident group of go-getters—are perfectly adept and willing to find a way to meet it themselves. Their generation has bred some of the most successful ventures of recent times, and it doesn’t stop with Mark Zuckerberg of Facebook. Joe Gebbia and Brian Chesky, founders of AirBnB, first offered up their San Francisco loft when they found that visitors to a nearby conference had trouble finding a place to stay, as all the hotels in the area

were fully booked. Realizing this was a common problem facing many travelers, they created this community marketplace for travelers to find short-term hosts. It’s a prime example showing that if businesses fail to understand and act on the needs and problems of consumers, they should be sure that Millennials—despite their youth—have the capability to take the bull by the horns and come to the rescue.

Some companies are answering the call of Millennials and providing them the connections they’re looking for. Whole Foods is one where the focus on product has led to a brand that Millennials can trust, supplying fair trade items and sourcing from local producers. They have even become more transparent with their “Whole Foods Market Responsibly Farmed” seal and the wild-caught seafood sustainability rating system, showing the best options and which to avoid in their stores.

Toms is a great example of a business model that resonates with Millennials. Millennials have been

MARKETING

Joe Gebbia, Brian Chesky and Nathan Blecharczyk

took the initiative to create AirBnB after finding

there was a need for more accommodations

in San Francisco when conferences and

conventions came to town.

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shown to be more socially aware than previous generations, and businesses can benefit from partnering with them on social causes. With the goal of placing a pair of shoes in need for every shoe purchased by its customers, Toms and its One for One business model has been able to connect with Millennials in this way, appealing to those hoping to take their dollar further and be part of a social movement. (Read about Toms’ recent expansion into eyewear, officially transforming from a shoe company to a One for One company in “How Far Can the Brand Stretch?”.)

Some businesses are also creating cultures in their companies that will attract Millennials. Take a look at how Method has brought some fun to the lackluster soap and laundry detergent categories and you’ll see that much of that has to do with their culture where being “weird” is embraced and individual personalities can be expressed. Even Andrew Mason, founder of group buying website Groupon, is bringing “meaning” into his culture and business dealings, choosing his business partners based on if they are “genuine and real.”

So while the immense purchasing power of the Baby Boomer generation is well deserving of attention, the growing force of the Millennial generation should not be ignored. They’ve grown up in a very different environment and are placing more value on the intangibles than their predecessors. They’ve proven themselves to have substantial influence in our society and if you don’t connect with them soon, there’s no guarantee they’ll wait around for you to do so. They’ll just go and create a brand of their own.

MARKETING

Toms encourages its consumers to take photos of how they wear their Toms and post them on their website. After seeing teens sport their shoes at proms and brides and grooms wear them on their special day, Toms came out with a formal line including shoes made with grosgrain materials and even glitter.

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THE ZEAL FOR ‘REAL’MARKETING

In authenticity we trustThe marketplace today requires a “realness” or authenticity to be in every brand. Different forces have shaped this requirement: lack of trust in institutions built-up over time, informed consumers that are marketing-speak wary and weary, economic pressures that necessitate value justification and an empowered consumer base with communication vehicles that can expose falsehoods.

The dictionary definition of authentic is genuine, real, true, original. For brands, there are different ways to demonstrate or communicate this “realness.”

When one first thinks of an authentic brand, they often think of a brand with heritage or a story like Ben & Jerry’s ice cream or Virgin. Or realness can come from a specific source such as Evian water which is solely collected from an aquifer in the northern French Alps. Another common association with authenticity is around craftsmanship or technique. For example, Peet’s Coffee hand-roasts its coffee in small batches. Realness can also come from brands that look beyond profits and that have strong beliefs or missions. Consider Clif Bar, which has a quintuple bottom line: planet, community, people, business, and brands. For brands that play in these spaces, authenticity is built in.

For those brands that don’t have realness built in, how do they bridge the gap to be true and real? Here are some key considerations, some familiar and some new, to building trust and authenticity.

Consistent brand messaging across all touch points is crucial. Imagine if you called, emailed or texted Geico and the customer service representative was serious and rude? That would totally throw you off based on the humorous TV commercials. How would you now trust that they’ll save you money, have you covered, and have your interests at heart?

In our highly connected world, brands must be completely honest and transparent in words and actions. Take for example, Burt’s Bees, a personal care company that clearly states on their website

Ben & Jerry’s recent marketing campaign focuses on its roots, reminding consumers of its history and its accomplishments since its first shop opened in 1978.

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that they are striving to be 100% natural. They even helped to create The Natural Standard for Personal Care Products. Yet, they admit that currently only half their line is 100% natural. This transparency is extended to packaging where they include a graphic bar indicating exactly what percentage of each product is natural. It’s okay not to be perfect, as long as you are honest.

Another reality of the current environment is that real communication is two-way. Brands need to embrace what is consumer generated.Case in point, the Domino’s Pizza turnaround. The company took to heart consumer comments and completely revamped its nearly 50-year-old pizza recipe. Along the way, Domino’s continued to engage consumers (and employees) through the transformation. Ads showcased the company ultimately turning around their harshest critics with the new recipe. The “real” approach and better product boosted sales well beyond expectations.

At the end of the day, it’s about trust. Trust is the first building block to creating a relationship between a brand and its consumers. Realness or authenticity helps to build that trust and in today’s marketplace is crucial for brand development and growth.

Burt’s Bees admits that not all their products are 100% natural and goes as far as to print on each of its products the actual

percentage of natural ingredients.

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Start with Credibility & PermissionIn today’s tough marketplace, we are seeing more and more brands trying to grow through stretching their equities, sometimes pushing the envelope and challenging consumers’ perceptions of what the brand is all about. These days consumers generally accept the concept of a lifestyle brand that effectively stretches, and we frequently see big brands like Ralph Lauren, Quicksilver, or Patagonia stretching to provide their target consumers with the newest accessory or product to suit his or her lifestyle. Another example of a well-known brand with broad stretch is Arm & Hammer. From a humble start as a baking soda brand, the company leveraged its potent ingredient to stretch into kitty litter, oral hygiene, fabric care, and more. But how far is too far? In looking at the factors

HOW FAR CAN A BRAND STRETCH?

that allow a brand to stretch, marketers can start with two key questions:

1. Where does the brand’s credibility lie?

2. Where does the consumer give you permission to stretch?

Several examples demonstrate how brands have leveraged their credibility to enter new markets and where their consumers have effectively granted them permission to stretch.

Moleskine, the makers of the legendary notebooks, has recently launched a reading collection that includes reading glasses, a portable and rechargeable booklight, and an e-reader and book stand. According to their website, these products are

…designed to complete the kit for the modern-day nomad who loves travelling, writing and reading.

Moleskine has embraced their consumer and come to know him, understanding his lifestyle and behaviors, thus anticipating a wider range of needs and providing solutions for more situations.

The Toms brand has taken its mission-based one-for-one (“one person buys, one person is helped”) business model and has shifted from a shoe company to a much broader platform, most recently expanding to eyewear. The brand anchors

INNOVATION

Moleskine stretches its brand to include everything for the “modern-day nomad,” including laptop cases, pens, and reading lights.

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on the goal of trying to improve as many lives as possible, which ultimately delivers a powerful emotional benefit for the consumers buying and a powerful functional benefit the people in need on the receiving end. This broader social mission platform could in theory be applied to a near endless list of everyday products, but for now the brand is focusing on the highest impact needs that are also operationally feasible. Based on Toms’ success and the credibility the company has gained with its consumers, the question for this brand is not about where they can stretch, but how they’ll be able to keep up operationally to deliver on their mission as they continue to grow.

The Skinny Cow brand provides another example of a brand that has anchored on a key benefit—indulgent, guilt-free treats—and recently stretched into new categories. The brand started with indulgent, good-for-you frozen novelties and has extended its expertise to now offer multiple products with the same benefit in the candy aisle. With the ever growing obesity rate in the U.S. and American consumers’ insatiable sweet tooth, this benefit will likely fuel Skinny Cow’s innovation pipeline for some time to come.

The Amazon.com brand has come a long way since its beginnings as an online bookseller. The first step was to reach beyond just selling books to become the largest online retailer of all goods - the complete source from A-Z. Miraculously, at the same time the company was also able to expand their expertise in books to redefine “bookstore” again, launching the first widely accepted

e-reader, the Kindle. From the Kindle, Amazon quickly went on to extend the e-reader capability into online media, offering MP3 downloads and streaming videos on demand to compete with the likes of iTunes and Netflix. Finally, Amazon has a successful B2B offering, which leverages its core competencies into other services, such as hosting and cloud computing. This unprecedented brand stretch leverages Amazon’s unmatched capability of providing secure, online transactions. It’s Amazon’s easy-to-use and reliable online platform, which has built incredible trust and loyalty among its consumers, that has ultimately allowed the brand to be much more than just an online bookseller.

Although we’re talking about a trademarked whole grain and sesame blend and not an online transaction capability like Amazon, Kashi has leveraged a core product feature to extend well beyond its initial product offerings. While Kashi has successfully grown into a broader lifestyle brand that supports a healthy, natural lifestyle, the brand has stayed true to its start throughout its stretching. Their tagline “Seven whole grains on a mission” has been very powerful in its simplicity. Given the health benefits of grains and the market’s appetite for health and wellness solutions, this simple notion of creating a wide range of good-for-you products with their famous grain medley has allowed the brand to effectively stretch throughout the grocery store.

From these examples we see that brands typically anchor in one of three areas to stretch their brands into new categories: consumer target (Moleskine), benefit (Toms, Skinny Cow), or features and attributes (Amazon, Kashi). Stronger brands utilize two or more of these aspects to tie their portfolio together. But before considering which anchor to use to stretch your brand, always begin the discussion with credibility and permission—what are the limits of your brand’s relationship with its target consumer, and what will your consumer allow you to do?

INNOVATION

Skinny Cow expands its brand of guilt-free indulgence from frozen novelties to candy.

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RETHINK REINVENTION

CLOCKWISE FROM TOP: Micro-funding projects on My Music Company, Kickstarter

and ScholarMatch.

INNOVATION

Some believe great innovations are those that re-invent business models. Think Apple with iPod coupled with iTunes to redefine the music industry. Think FedEx evolving how communication gets delivered around the world. Think Amazon changing the way we acquire and read books. Another current thought surrounding innovation is that great ideas come from holistic thinking and associating different, unrelated things—if I take this from here and marry it with that from there, eureka! Steve Jobs even said, “Creativity is connecting things.” For example, Harvard Business Review reported back in 2009 how eBay founder, Pierre Omidyar, created this groundbreaking platform—by being enthralled with the creation of new markets, understanding his fiancée’s desire to buy hard-to-find Pez dispensers, and witnessing how ineffective old classified ads were in helping to solve this problem. Voilà! A great new business idea, and how we buy has been forever changed.

We’re seeing this reinvention of business models and this behavior of association taking place with the marrying of “the power of crowds” and the old axiom “take small steps.” The combination is leading to the reinvention of everything from music creation and promotion, funding of the arts, and allocation of college scholarship funds. All of these examples demonstrate how to reinvent the distribution of capital to get out from under the thumb of more powerful or ambiguous institutions, all through accessing crowds to take back the power.

Kiva.org paved the way with its unique micro-loan approach, seeking out investors to provide small investments to make a big impact. The trend now takes a slightly different angle—it’s micro-funding, which breaks a larger investment up into smaller chunks and then recruits a large number of people so the dollars add up. President Obama’s 2008 campaign was a leader in this type of financing; 49% of his funds were made

Making it happen through micro-funding

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in the amount of $200 or less. This approach is unique in that it also doesn’t represent your usual exchange. Those who participate tend to get value from the personal connection they are making through the investment itself, and thus don’t require as much in return. Just having a unique product from a Kickstarter project and helping an artist bring their idea to fruition is thank you enough for some.

My Major Company (MMC) is another company reinventing the music industry. MMC allows normal folk to invest in a new band, providing the micro-funds to raise sufficient cash to get a band started. With the funding, bands record their songs through MMC, which is an actual label, get distribution, and can potentially even go on tour. The revenue from music sales, concerts, and merchandise gets divided among the investors, MMC, and the artist themselves. And we aren’t talking chump change. One investor in France turned $6,850 investment into $150,000. The benefit here is not just for the bands, it’s also for the music industry as a whole since music companies can’t afford to fund as many acts as they once used to.

Kickstarter.com provides the venue for creatives to land benefactors to help them bring their vision to life. People can “pledge” money to “creative projects” and if the project gets fully funded, the project owner is off and running. If they can pitch their projects successfully, they get cash to bring their idea into the world, as well as moral support from all those ponying up the cash who want them to succeed. What do the funders get in return? Rewards as determined by the creators, which can be anything from the product being created to benefits to experiences. And if the project isn’t 100% funded, you aren’t out any cash. They’ve created a system that is rightly low-risk, taking away any barriers to participation.

Finally, ScholarMatch is a program based in San Francisco, California that was started by Dave

INNOVATION

Eggers of A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius fame. Inspired by both Kiva and Kickstarter, he’s borrowing this funding model to help kids get to college. ScholarMatch helps connect college-ready kids to those willing to invest in their future. The needs vary from $3,000 to $10,000 and sometimes more. Seeing so many talented, eager, worthy, in-need young people on the site packs quite an impact and is very motivating.

What can marketers learn from this? Think revolution. Think borrow and build. Think new ways to do the same thing, just better. Innovation is about seeking inspiration from outside, combining ideas from elsewhere, and trying to create new models and ways to solve consumer problems or meet their needs and desires. These are prime examples that the world today never stands still. There are way too many empowering tools to have the status quo stay the status quo for long.

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For Dine, Play or StayInnovative thinking happens when you remove constraints. Over the past few years we’ve observed the rise of pop-up shops, which removed the constraints of long-term leases and large inventories. An interesting take on this theme of late has been the use of shipping containers, repurposed to be temporary accommodations and retail or food vendor spaces. This trend shows what can happen when you mix sustainable thinking and remove the constraints of traditional bricks and mortar foundations. The results speak for themselves—truly beautiful, unexpected innovations.

One of the best examples of urban planning with containers is the project in San Francisco’s Hayes Valley called “Proxy” developed by architecture firm Envelope A+D, based in Oakland, CA. We had the pleasure of attending the launch of the first business to open in this two block complex, an ice cream shop called Smitten.

Smitten is a truly innovative business: steel instead of bricks and mortar, iPads in place of cash registers, and a liquid nitrogen based

instant ice cream machine named “Kelvin” in place of the traditional ice cream freezer.

Smitten will be in good company soon. The complete Proxy project is projected to be a “vibrant focal point for commerce and community” and is planned to include a beer garden by nearby German restaurant Suppenküche, an outpost of the ever popular Pizzeria Delfina, Ritual Coffee Roasters, 4505 Meats, and an art gallery.

San Francisco is not alone. The repurposed shipping containers are popping up globally. In

CONTAINED QUARTERSSmitten, an ice cream shop housed in a shipping container, is the first business to open on the two-block “Proxy” project in the Hayes Valley neighborhood of San Francisco.

INNOVATION

In Texas’ Cinco Camp, containers serve as a boutique hotel with minimal impact on the surrounding environment.

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Londrina, Brazil, we found another example, this time a car dealer. The franchisee of an Asian car assembler used ten containers to create part of the building’s façade, which will contain sales and service operations. Not only do the highly functional looking containers give a nod to the imported nature of the product and create considerable word of mouth marketing for the company, they are also sustainable in that they can be taken down and recycled or reassembled in a new location.

Deep in the heart of Texas, we found Cinco Camp, a boutique hotel constructed out of five 8’x10’ shipping containers and designed to blend into the environment to have the least impact on the land.

These temporary spaces are truly growing in acceptance and execution. According to Urban Space Management Ltd in the UK, their Container City product “…offer(s) an alternative solution to traditional space provision. [The containers] are ideal for office and workspace, live-work and key-worker housing.” Their website features a wide array of work/space creations (www.containercity.com).

Finally, a container concept by Swedish architecture firm Jagnefalt Milton recently won third prize in the Norwegian master plan competition for the city of Åndalsnes. The proposal envisioned a city rolling on wheels, utilizing preexisting railroad tracks and creating mobile buildings to house local business and services including a hotel, a public bath house, and a concert hall. The stunning photography also went a long way to bring the concept to life.

The temporary nature of these structures and the ultimate mobility of these venues challenge our perceptions of space, our relationship with the environment, and the usual constraints of construction and the immobility of structures. Is there an advantage to having a traditional foundation, solidly staked into the ground, or are portable structures the wave of the future?

Swedish architecture firm Jagnefalt Milton envisioned a city rolling on preexisting railroad tracks where mobile buildings would house local businesses.

INNOVATION

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DESIGN

DESIGN BEYOND THE SHELF

A look at design beyond packaging and how it’s

being used to blur the lines between form and function.

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DESIGN

BEAUTIFUL & PURPOSEFUL

Bringing numbers to lifeBrowsing your favorite blog recently, you may have run into some visually stunning graphics visualizing the data referenced in the writing. Information graphics, or infographics, which use visuals to present data and knowledge instead of relying solely on numbers and words, are nothing new of course. Open up a newspaper from years ago or today and you’ll find them in the form of bar graphs and pie charts. Maybe you took the subway recently and used a color-coded map to get you on the right route to your destination. Despite not being new, infographics are popping up more and more today and are being used to show everything from the spread of diabetes in the United States to explaining the complex dream layers of the film Inception. But why now?

Our society has made leaps and bounds in making information more accessible to the average person. Thanks to the Internet we’re now able to generate infinite amounts of information in just seconds (or tenths of seconds as Google likes to measure for us), making information overload a problem in our society. Bing’s recent marketing campaign even tried to position the search engine as the “Cure for Search Overload Syndrome.” Infographics help solve this problem by making it easier to show a multitude of complex facts and figures in a single, easy to read graphic that leverages visuals instead of words to communicate information. It’s also undeniable that we’ve become a quicker society. And because—as David McCandless, author of the book Information is Beautiful points out—sight is our quickest sense, we’ve embraced infographics. By presenting data visually, they’re helping us absorb more data faster than ever before.

Another reason we may be seeing the proliferation of infographics is the rise in availability of data visualization tools. The website Wordle makes it easy to create word clouds showing

An infographic created by GOOD and Hyperakt, in partnership with University of Phoenix, uses color and impactful juxtapositions to show

the gap between the educational requirements of the current job market and the reality of educational attainment in the United States.

21 SIGHTINGS 2011

DESIGN

WHEN CREATING INFOGRAPHICS...

1. MAKE IT VISUALLY APPEALING This one is self-explanatory. As McCandless puts it, “We’re all visualizers. We’re all demanding a visual aspect to our information.”

2. MAKE IT IMPACTFUL AT FIRST GLANCE Effective infographics will use visual elements to emphasize size differences, trends and movements that give viewers quick takeaways.

3. SHOW PATTERNS AND CONNECTIONS One of the great strengths of infographics is its ability to aggregate information and reveal patterns and connections that could otherwise be overlooked when presented in plain numbers and words.

4. SHOW RELATIVITY VS. ABSOLUTENESS The current unemployment rate is noteworthy, but compare it to the rate a decade ago and it becomes meaningful.

5. HELP VIEWERS DRAW INTENDED CONCLUSIONS Having many stunning bar graphics and pie charts is great, but if they don’t get the viewer to where you need them, they haven’t served their purpose.

the frequency of words that appear in a body of text. Google’s Public Data Explorer provides various demographic and economic datasets that users can choose to create their own compelling infographics. So, you can even try it yourself.

If you do decide to enter the world of infographics, remember that while they may be beautiful to look at, infographics still serve a very functional purpose. Keep these five tips in mind to make sure your infographic is effective.

VisualEconomics’ infographic shows the dramatic rise of the unemployment rate in the United States over the 2000-2009 period.

22 SIGHTINGS 2011

DESIGN

(A) A store window display from Louis Vuitton places a purse on a pedestal that appears to be melting.

(B) A concept table designed by John Nouanesing called “Paint or Die But Love Me.”

(C) Anna Ter Haar designed a pair of sunglasses for a Klavers van Engelen fashion show that used the melting effect.

B

A

If color patterns follow trends then why not shapes and forms? Could it be that power brand Apple is driving the easing of rectangle edges on many of today’s electronic gadgets? Historically, form was said to follow function, but with today’s super materials and manufacturing capabilities, forms are able to almost defy function and simply demonstrate or exploit what is capable with a medium.

Enter the liquid form. Metals, resins, and polymers have the ability to transform from liquid to solid. Recently, some clever artists and designers have been manipulating this unique feature to make functional items that appear as liquid but work as solids in their tasks. Liquid tables for contemporary environments, retail display fixtures for LVMH and even sunglasses that visually defy logic but perform just the same as geometric counterparts. Who knows what will materialize next.

LIQUIDPRECISION

C

When Forms Defy Function

23 SIGHTINGS 2011

WHEN PRICE IS NO OBJECT

With all the focus on cheap-chic and value over the last decade, it’s good to see that luxury has not gone out of style. Consider Renova’s multi-color, extra soft, designer toilet paper made of 100% virgin pulp. This soft, colorful toilet paper may just convince you to pick up a roll for $3. While you’re in the spending mood, you can also consider picking up a bottle of Lambda’s ultra premium olive oil—a 100mL bottle runs for a mere $185.

UPDATES ON OUR TRENDS FOR 2011LOCAL: A PLACE UNLIKE ANY OTHER

Amy Cortese, author of Locavesting: The revolution in local investing and how to profit from it, hopes to spread the idea of investing in local businesses, bringing the world of capitalism— so often associated with Wall Street—closer to Main Street.

NO FREE TV

YouTube will be joining the ranks of Netflix and Apple with the unveiling of its movie rental service. Over 3,000 movies will be available for streaming on its website.

SMALL IS BIG AGAIN

Staples and Kohl’s will be rolling out smaller stores as they expand. Kohl’s will be reducing store sizes to be better suited for densely populated areas while also reacting to increasing online shopping and the need for more efficient operations. Staples hopes to build on its “one size does not fit all” model, building stores with varying square footage. Meanwhile, Best Buy will be subleasing space at its stores to downsize and capture cost savings.

LIFE, LIBERTY, AND THE PURSUIT OF HAPPINESS

Old Navy encourages consumers to “Put on your happy life” in its recent campaign while Unilever’s HB Ice Cream brand in Ireland wants to spread moments of happiness with its delicious frozen novelties.

WE, THE ORDINARY PEOPLE

Amanda Hocking began as a self-publisher, uploading her pananormal-romance books just last spring on Amazon. Hocking became an instant hit—her books reached the Amazon Kindle e-book best-seller list and soon after she was able to score $2 million for her next four books.

SEE & BE SEENSIGHTINGS OF INTERESTING TIDBITS

QR CODES IN PLACES WE NEVER THOUGHT

After sighting them in our local window displays last quarter, QR codes once again came on our radar in ways we never thought they would. John Fluevog printed QR codes directly onto its recent collection of clog shoes, directing those who scanned them to a video of how the shoes were made. Diesel has been integrating QR codes into their social media campaign by allowing visitors to their shelves to “like” them on Facebook instantly. For the artist in all of us, Barcode Gallery will create custom QR codes and frame them into artful pieces. QR codes appear to be easily applied, but the jury is still out on user adoption.

HOWARD SCHULTZ & ONWARD

Howard Schultz made an appearance at the Commonwealth Club in San Francisco earlier this Spring to share some insight on where Starbucks is heading in the future and to promote his recent book, Onward: How Starbucks Fought for Its Life Without Losing Its Soul. Schultz noted China, mobile payments, and Health & Wellness as huge areas of opportunity and when asked about the primary driver behind his decision making, Schultz credited simply—“love.”

24 SIGHTINGS 2011

Anthem Worldwide, the brand development division of Schawk, Inc., is an integrated global network that provides innovative solutions to articulate, unify and manage brand impact. Anthem creates compelling brand experiences by aligning its strategic, creative and executional talent worldwide with the business needs of companies seeking a competitive advantage. Anthem offers a full range of branding and design services. For more information on Anthem, please visit http://www.anthemww.com.

© 2011 Schawk, Inc. All Rights Reserved. No part of this work may be reproduced in any form without written permission from the copyright holder. Schawk is a registered trademark of Schawk, Inc. The Anthem logo is a trademark of Schawk, Inc. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

Contact:Kathy Oneto, Vice President, Brand Strategykathy.oneto@anthemww.com

25 SIGHTINGS 2011

WORKS CITED:

BRANDED CITIES

Andrew E. Kramer, “Russia Plans a Science City Modeled on Silicon Valley,” The New York Times, April 10, 2010, http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/11/business/global/11russia.html.

Ayman Sarhan, “MoscOw, Rebranded,” Marketing 3.0 (blog), May, 2011, http://advertiser-in-arabia.blogspot.com/2011/05/moscow-rebranded.html.

Branwell Johnson, “Mayor of London seeks agencies for city branding,” MarketingWeek, August 4, 2009, http://www.marketingweek.co.uk/mayor-of-london-seeks-agencies-for-city-branding/3003066.article.

Discover Lavasa, “Discover Lavasa, About Us,” http://www.lavasablog.com/blog/about/.

Greg Lindsay, “Now Coming out of Chinese Factories: Cities in a Box,” AdAgeGlobal, June 13, 2011, http://adage.com/article/global-news/coming-chinese-factories-cities-a-box/228086/.

Jeremy Kahn, “India Invents a City,” The Atlantic, July/August 2011, http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2011/07/india-invents-a-city/8549/.

Landor, “Our Work: Lavasa: Live life in full,” http://www.landor.com/index.cfm?do=ourwork.casehistory&cn=5917&bhcp=1.

Lavasa Corporation Limited, “Lavasa is India’s planned hill city,” http://www.lavasa.com.

The Skolkovo Foundation, “History of the Project,” last modified April 27, 2011, http://www.i-gorod.com/en/about/history/.

Songdo IBD CityTalk (blog), http://www.songdoibdcitytalk.com/blog/.

HOW FAR CAN A BRAND STRETCH?

“4 luxury brand extensions,” Influxinsights (blog), January 16, 2007, http://influxinsights.com/2007/style/4-luxury-brand-extensions/.

Derrick Daye, “Exploring Brand Extension,” Branding Strategy Insider (blog), April 14, 2007, http://www.brandingstrategyinsider.com/2007/04/exploring_brand.html.

Fred Gerantabee, “Building a Brand with User Experience: How Technology-fueled Experiences Have Defined the Next Generation of Household Names,” Interbrand (blog), June 4, 2010, http://blog.interbrand.com/blog/post/2010/06/04/Building-a-Brand-with-User-Experience-How-Technology-fueled-Experiences-Have-Defined-the-Next-Generation-of-Household-Names.aspx.

Jack Neff, “Study: When It Comes to Value Perception, Amazon Tops Brands in U.S. and Globally,” AdvertisingAge, March 14, 2011, http://adage.com/article/news/millward-brown-study-amazon-tops-global-brand-rankings/149393/.

Moleskine, “Moleskine Reading Collection,” last modified May 24, 2011, http://www.moleskine.com/about_us/news/reading_collection.php.

Patagonia, “Patagonia Company Information: Our Reason for Being,” http://www.patagonia.com/us/patagonia.go?assetid=2047&ln=140.

Shirley Brady, “Special K Publishes Book With ‘Third Meal’ Suggestions,” BrandChannel (blog), April 20, 2011, http://www.brandchannel.com/home/post/2011/04/20/Special-K-Book.aspx.

TOMS, “TOMS One for One Movement for Eyewear,” http://www.toms.com/eyewear/our-movement.

RETHINK REINVENTION

The Campaign Finance Institute, 2008.

Douglas McGray, “Education is in Crisis. Let’s clone Dave Eggers,” San Francisco Magazine, May 2011.

Dyer, Jeffery H., Hal B. Gregersen, and Clayton M. Christensen, “The Innovator’s DNA,” Harvard Business Review, December 2009.

Kickstarter, http://www.kickstarter.com.

Fareed Zakaria, “Restoring the American Dream: How to Innovate,” CNN GPS, June 5, 2011.

Thomas K. Grose, “I’m with the Band,” Time Magazine, February 28, 2011.

CONTAINED QUARTERS

“Unique Vacation Rental Deep in the Heart of Texas,” Boutique Homes Dispatches (blog), http://www.boutique-homes.com/dispatches/unique-vacation-rental-deep-in-the-heart-of-texas/.

Architizer, “AUTOBOX,” http://www.architizer.com/en_us/projects/pictures/autobox/13276/100773/.

Daisy Chow, “Proxy,” Tablehopper (blog), http://www.tablehopper.com/hardhat/proxy/.

DesignAddict, “Rolling buildings on rails,” DesignAddict (blog), http://www.designaddict.com/design_addict/blog/index.cfm/2010/12/30/Rolling-buildings-on-rails.

EnvelopA+D, “Proxy,” http://www.envelopead.com/proj_octaviakl.html.

Urban Space Management, “Container City,” http://www.containercity.com/home.html.

BACK TO THE PAST

Aaron Baar, “Brands attempt to lure Gen X with nostalgia,” JWT Intelligence (blog), May 16, 2011,

http://www.jwtintelligence.com/2011/05/brands-attempt-lure-gen-nostalgia/.

Bruce Horovitz, “Pepsi, Frito-Lay capitalize on fond thoughts of the good ol’ days,” USA TODAY, March 11, 2011, http://www.usatoday.com/money/advertising/2011-03-11-1Athrowback11_ST_N.htm.

Hasbro, My3D, http://www.hasbro.com/hasbromy3d/en_US/.

James Scott, “my3D iPhone/iPod/ 3D Viewer,” GeekAlerts (blog), May 26, 2011, http://www.geekalerts.com/my3d-iphoneipod-3d-viewer/.

Tim Nudd, “P&G Selling Tide, Bounce, Downy in Funky Retro Packaging,” AdWeek, May 17, 2011, http://www.adweek.com/adfreak/pg-selling-tide-bounce-downy-funky-retro-packaging-131705.

MAKE IT MATTER

“Most Innovative Companies: Groupon,” Fast Company, 2011, http://www.fastcompany.com/most-innovative-companies/2011/profile/groupon.php.

50 Most Innovative Companies

Airbnb, “About Airbnb,” http://www.airbnb.com.

Edelman, “New Study Shows That for Millennials, Taking Action on Behalf of Brands is a Core Value,” 8095 Global Study, October 14, 2010, http://www.edelman.com/news/ShowOne.asp?ID=261.

Judith Warner, “The Why-Worry Generation,” NYTimes.com, May 28, 2010, http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/30/magazine/30fob-wwln-t.html.

Matt Carmichael, “Where the Millennials Are,” AdAge Stat, http://adage.com/article/adagestat/advertising-age-finds-cities-millennials/149347/.

Meghan Casserly, “The New Pay Gap: Boomers, Gen-X and Millennials,” Forbes (blog), January 5, 2011, http://blogs.forbes.com/meghancasserly/2011/01/05/the-new-pay-gap-boomers-millennials-salary-recession-raise/.

THE ZEAL FOR ‘REAL’

Carrie Griffith, “Top 10 IMC campaigns of 2010 (Part 1),” Vitamin IMC (blog), December 20, 2010, http://www.vitaminimc.com/2010/12/top-10-imc-campaigns-of-2010-part-1/.

Sam Oches, “Domino’s Pizza Reinvention Gains Huge Sales,” QSR Magazine, August 2010, http://www.qsrmagazine.com/menu-innovations/many-acts-domino-s-pizza.

BEAUTIFUL & PURPOSEFUL

David McCandless, “The beauty of data visualization,” TED Global 2010, July 2010, http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/eng/david_mccandless_the_beauty_of_data_visualization.html.

Liz Dwyer, “Infographic: Educating the Workforce of the Future,” GOOD Education, May 9, 2011, http://www.good.is/post/infographic-educating-the-workforce-of-the-future/.

Visual Economics, “A Decade of Unemployment,” http://www.visualeconomics.com/a-decade-of-unemployment/.

LIQUID PRECISION

“Sunglasses,” Anna Ter Haar’s Portfolio, http://www.annaterhaar.nl/2008/09/klavers-van-engelen-fall-winter-2008-2009/.

“Paint Drip Table by John Nouanesing,” Bless This Stuff (blog), http://www.blessthisstuff.com/stuff/living/tables/paint-drip-table-by-john-nouanesing/.

SEE & BE SEEN

“Kohl’s focusing on smaller stores, looking at all options for new headquarters,” Chain Store Age, May 12, 2011, http://www.chainstoreage.com/article/kohl%E2%80%99s-focusing-smaller-stores-looking-all-options-new-headquarters.

“Locavesting”: Capitalism for Main Street,” Reuters Wealth, June 7, 2011, http://blogs.reuters.com/reuters-wealth/2011/06/07/locavesting-capitalism-for-main-street/.

Bandtwagon, “Diesel QR Codes by the @FullsixGroup #solomo,” http://bandtwagon.com/diesel-qr-codes-by-the-fullsixgroup-solomo.

Barcode Gallery, http://www.barcodegallery.com/.

Hemant Patel, “YouTube Unveils 3,000 Full-Fledge Movie Offerings, Challenging Netflix,” May 11, 2011, http://news.ebrandz.com/miscellaneous/2011/4036-youtube-unveils-3000-full-fledge-movie-offerings-challenging-netflix-.html.

Lambda, Ultra Premium Extra Virgin Olive Oil, http://www.speironcompany.com/Flash/lambda.swf.

Marketing Daily, “Staples Plans On Smaller Stores; Adds Cell Phones,” Marketing Daily, June 24, 2011, http://www.mediapost.com/publications/?fa=Articles.showArticle&art_aid=153062

Renova, http://www.renovaonline.net/you_iuk.html.

Strawberry Saroyan, “Storyseller,” NYTimes.com, June 17, 2011, http://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/19/magazine/amanda-hocking-storyseller.html.