Oh, I do like a good Awayday. I like the planning (second by second) courtesy of the crack team TaraChlo), the agenderising and the minute you realize you’re going to be 15 minutes late for your OWN awayday.
The specific purpose of the most recent awayday was to bring the whole team up to speed with the Visions and Values that we keep top of mind as we go about our day to day lives – externally for clients and internally from a cultural perspective. It was also a chance to hang out in the same room for more than an hour and in the evening, meet everyone’s partners and watch a stripper p*** in a glass. Okay, the last one happened but it wasn’t my idea…
In the afternoon we went to the Museum of Brands in Notting Hill. If you’d seen us you MIGHT have confused us with the gang of hot French teenagers who were also there. But then again, you might not have done.
And here are some thoughts from the team about what they learnt, as captured by the head teacher.
Elle:
There are brands that survive superbly for years (e.g. Johnson’s baby powder, Kellogg’s Corn Flakes), adapting as necessary to carry on riding on the crest of the cultural wave. Then car crash brands and categories that capture a moment, but then die (e.g. alcopops), as culture has changed and their premise is too transient without sufficient re-engineering. You need COMMERCIALNESS and CREATIVITY to build a brand and product that lasts and to be BRAVE to adapt it appropriately OR let it die away.
Sonia:
Seeing all the artistry and character that came through in a lot of the earlier pieces (1920′s I think!) has made me just how good it makes you feel to see things of beauty..(stay with me…) SO I’m taking out that I would like to remember the aesthetics of the work I produce (probably props and debriefs) and take time to create clever but also ‘beautiful’ work that will leaving clients feeling fully fulfilled!
And…it’s not about our output but how we work together. I really enjoyed spending time with the team in a different context but still sharing thoughts about our industry and what we do. It changed the usual dynamic and we got to share thoughts in a different way, with different people. It’s refreshing, not least to get to talk to different people, but also to get to remind ourselves of the fact that we all enjoy talking about this world of marketing that we’ve all chosen.
Rachel:
Why is vintage packaging/branding so hot again? Is it because people are harkening back to the good old days when old fashioned values were much simple and easier? Why is Cath Kidston, Crabbies and Benefit so huge? Is it that the current generation of women (who grew up post feminism era) are thinking that being a super career women isn’t all what it’s cracked up to be? Why is growing your own veg and sewing back again? Are people looking to brands to give moral codes, a culture and sense of community of which to live by? Anyway, Claire, Amelie and I had a huge debate around this spurred on from the Victorian packaging cabinet. Maybe there is a Research paper in this?
I really liked the evolving designs of particular brands such as Johnson and Johnson Baby Talc or Cadbury’s Roses. This made me think about the consistency in some brands over the years. The way they haven’t really changed the designs or evolved from their core brand colours/values. I guess this shows the importance of a key vision and strong corporate branding is (ie the razor)
Also made me think about the life and death of a brand. Some key ones that don’t exist on the market now were Hooch/2 dogs/ Different variants of Heinz products (ie Turtle Soup, Baked Beans with Minced Meat!). Anyway, i guess this shows that some things work out and some things don’t! That you have to move with the times to keep relevant with consumers
Tom:
I found the brand museum fascinating, not only was it really cool looking at how much packaging and brand development has changed over the years (the fact that we have stopped painstakingly hand drawing all our labels and adverts being a great example ) but on the flip-side it was really interesting to see how contemporary branding is increasingly borrowing older or ‘retro’ design. Great examples of this range all the way from fashion brands like Dunlop bringing back the Green-flash to Coke and Pepsi recently redesigning their can format to look more ‘old-school’ not to mention the ultra cool retro barber-shop Razor branding! While some of the techniques and imagery used in the past seems archaic and in some places quite non P.C. other parts have now been used in a kind of postmodern pastiche – designing or redesigning brands that blend the modern with the more traditional.
Emmie:
In the museum it was fascinating to observe the minute changes that a brand undergoes during its lifetime. This visual process of evolution made me consider how, over the past 4 years, as Razor has evolved as a company so too have its personality and credibility as a brand, with its iconic yet versatile razor logo itself embodying several of our core values – creativity and concision!
Michaela:
The visit to the museum highlighted for me the fact that simple, precise and to the point advertising and branding succeeds in the long run, and the value that made the biggest impact on me was the courage concept.
Tara:
Visiting the Museum of Brands was incredibly eye opening. To see each of the brands journey from past to present day was so inspiring and something which I think benefitted me personally as well as professionally. Many thanks for an excellent day out!
Claire:
The thing which stood out most for me (apart from how grossed out I was about seeing actual chocolate from the 70s) was that the most successful brands (i.e. those that have survived the test of time) have maintained some kind of consistency – perhaps through the typeface of their logo or their brand colours but that they’ve adapted for the consumer of the time either by their tone, the message they communicate or the pack shape/material/format. Made me think have how at Razor we can be adaptable depending on the client, follow trends, use different methods but still maintain a consistency through which people understand what our brand is all about. X
Amelie:
I found it really interesting seeing how a brand or product brought back so many emotions. Looking at the 80s & 90s sections, I surprised myself with how seeing some products brought back such strong childhood/teenage memories and made me feel quite nostalgic! Even products I had never bought (i.e. Sunny Delight!) had the power to evoke something in me….I found it amazing how brands get into your subconscious without you being aware of it. And of course Gordon the gopher was ace.
Steve:
It’s fascinating to see that designs have evolved so slowly over time. Care has clearly been taken to preserve, in many cases, virtually all elements of a brand’s DNA (Heinz baked beans is a good example). I wonder how many brands have failed because they’ve been too radical in their redesigns?
The transition from remarkably intricate designs during Victorian and Edwardian times to the remarkably simple designs of today is also interesting. How many modern and successful brands have such elaborate, labyrinthine designs and buck the trend? (Hendricks?)
Why has there never been another mint with a hole in its centre? Surely you can’t patent a hole? /thin air?
Steve – always profound when you least expect it.
Cx
