'Brands Are Discovering Crowdfunding as a Marketing Tool' + Project Drive-In

To further reflect my decisions to create a campaign for an established brand, I looked into Branding, and how charities, raising awareness etc, are successful marketing tools. One of my goals for this project, was to create promotional material for a brand, which I feel I am achieving through this technique. 

http://www.adweek.com/news/advertising-branding/brands-are-discovering-crowdfunding-marketing-tool-152600

“These campaigns let brands engage with their customers rather than just treating them as a transaction” 

“The customers feel like they’re working alongside the brand to make something happen.”

some insight into WHY a brand, perhaps Lush, would employ such marketing tools.

Project Drive-In

Featured in the previous article, was this example of Charitable Marketing(kind of), displaying the concept of raising awareness to a cause. Well known car manufacturer Honda have created a campaign in order to 'save the drive-in cinema', targeting cinemas around America that are in danger of losing business. The idea of the drive-in is one that is quite nostalgic and romantic, which I feel reflects alot about the brand. The focus on such a heartwarming, memory-inducing cause provides the idea that the brand is very family orientated "its a great way to spend time with your family"(=family friendly cars?) and the concept of the drive-in is something that is traditional and established, which could create the impression of Quality, and in some cases Authenticity. 

http://projectdrivein.tumblr.com/

Blog about the drive-thrus that have been saved, so that the contributors can see where there donations are going. 

Reflection

Finally I have found what genre of marketing my campaign fits into. Within this example of charitable marketing, I have identified that it is an excellent marketing tool, which, dependent on the cause that is chosen, can convey a message about the brand's values. I intend to take inspiration from this process through my own campaign, raising awareness for digital artists and how they should be treated as equal to traditional. 

I feel that the focus on creating Authenticity within Art, conveys that Lush's values are heavily based on Authenticity. 

COP Practical: Intentions for the Project

The main aim for this project is to explore ways in which Authenticity can be created within digitally created artwork, avoiding all traditional analog methods, taking inspiration from the honest quality seen within Hockney's iPad drawings. I intend to create a set of processes(?) and rules for my campaign that will challenge the artist, and hopefully create an outcome that is truly authentic. also in order to promote the brand. I will be looking into why Authenticity is important to the development of the brand (Brand Theory) and how this is created. 

A list of the outcomes I'm intending to create for the project:

•  'Made For You' Campaign - I intend to create a campaign for Lush Cosmetics that promotes their brand values of authenticity through the medium of digital Illustration. 
• The campaign will include Branding/promotional material that will remain in keeping with Lush's brand aesthetic.
• Short Video/Documentary recording each partaking artist's creative journey - The purpose behind this will be to accompany a piece of artwork, in order to help the audience to understand the time/value behind creating it, therefore adding value to it. 
• Shop window display including the final responses from me(an artist also taking part in the campaign).  

COP Practical: Writing a Brief

I've been really struggling to write explain to other people what my brief is in a clear and concise way. In my head it makes sense but helping other people to understand is proving to be a lot more difficult. 

- A campaign that targets local digital artists to raise awareness of the """injustice"""" that they suffer - (How digital art is devalued)
- Using Digital medium, drawing with a Wacom tablet, the artists will create images to be used on a promotional poster/shop window display for Lush Cosmetics, which will promote the values of authenticity, and the idea of something being made specifically for you. 

- Challenge the view that digital art is linked to mechanical reproduction (Walter Benjamin's theory).

- How can I create value and authenticity through a digital art piece?

How will I create authenticity?

1. Through expressive quality of drawing, mimicking analog methods.
2. A documentary style video to accompany the artwork, that shows the work being made and creative process. 
*** I also want to have emphasis on not using the 'undo' button. (so a video of the work being created will convey that, and create more of a link between the art and the artist). Leading to a bigger campaign? Different digital artists for each Lush store around the world?
3. Signed original prints, date created. 
4. Deletion of original file to validate the authenticity of the work, so it cannot be reproduced. 

The Brief:

Create promotional campaign for Lush Cosmetics that promotes their values of authenticity, highlighting the process of something being made specifically for the audience, in the form of a digitally created, original print.

Practical: Design Boards

I really struggled to make these boards as I'm not sure what it is I'm actually going to create yet. Also the hypothetical nature of my project so far isn't leaving much room for creativity. I need to think of ways to develop my ideas more. 

Lush: Brand Research

Audience

- "LUSH thrives on its niche selling of organic cosmetics and social responsible behaviour, which is the core aspect of the company."
- The main target audience of the company is working women aged 18-45
- However people who place importance on values/ethics of a company
- Fans of the handmade/Authentic products

Values

Screenshot from their 'Values' section on website

From these few sentences, it is clear that Lush utilise and value the concept of authorship within their brand, conveyed through everything including their furniture in store. 

*********Raising Awareness/Ethical Campaigns*******

Lush are really well known for their ethical campaigns that raise awareness of issues around the world. This is is a really good platform for me to use in order to challenge the problems of devaluation of digital art (as to me it is unfair). This is where I could see my campaign developing in a real life context, which I feel is really appropriate. 

Practical: Getting started

 

This was my initial idea. To have a graphic poster like a black board (which links with the stores aesthetic). So I feel like I want to use this as a kind of template, to which I/someone will add value through time applied and craft of imagery. I'm a bit stuck on what to draw though, because my idea is more about the process than what's on it, however I would like it to look aesthetically effective. I really like the format of the boxed sheet(right) because I think it has a really basic form/draw in this box kind of feel, which will almost separate the format from the image being drawn, aswell as framing it. I think that the the simplicity of the (left) image has a really throwaway/photocopied feel, which slightly relates to the way Hockney's iPad drawings were exhibited???

I've also reached the conclusion that digitally created works could be devalued because of the use of the 'undo' button. The mistakes that make us human cannot be undone, so conveying these through my work will be vital to the communication of authenticity - Screen record the process of making the poster, proof of no undo. This shall be another experiment towards my final outcome. 

Inside a typical Lush store

Thought?

making my campaign about the mistakes in life that make us human? perhaps not the best message to promote a brand, but I think there's something really romantic and honest about the idea which the audience for the hand made/lush customers would appreciate. The element of honesty I feel provides trust, and makes the brand seem humble. 

communicate the honest quality that's seen in Hockney's ipad drawings??? With this whole project I'm taking alot of inspiration from the honest and direct quality seen in Hockney's ipad drawings.

Practical: Application Of Theory + Thoughts (SYNTHESIS?)

Theorists + Inspirational Quotes

Walter Benjamin - Loss of aura and authorship within mechanically reproduced work. 

I want to challenge this idea by creating an original/authentic piece of digitally created art. Delete the original file so it cannot be reproduced? more authentic? 

Karl Marx - Labour Theory of Value draws comparison from digitally created art to Mass Production.
Because a computer does some of the work for us, the outcome is not as valuable as it would be if it were created completely by hand, because of the time taken to create it. (According to Marx)

I want to challenge the idea of devalued digital artwork, adding value through time spent creating and authorship. This will be displayed through the creation of a video/documentary of the creative process of the final image, a screen recording that will show the amount of time taken - trying to stamp out the belief that the computer does the work for you. 

Made You Look - “People don't want to go to Ikea and buy a digital print, they want to go and buy something that is hand made and is signed and is original artwork”
Why is this an attitude? people value things more that are made specifically for them?

Brendan Dawes - "I love all the cool things that digital media has give  us; i'm just saying that these tea stains, bent corners, and smudges from the physical world are really important to us - they help mark who we are as human beings, and they tell a story."
- Not using the undo button? creates that unpredictable direct quality that is seen within traditional physical work.

Thoughts

I want to explore ways that authenticity in art is conveyed, through mistakes/ bent corners/scratches ("the small things that make us human")
How to convey the concept of an original piece? Signed at the bottom (edition 1 of 1)
Convey lush's brand values of authenticity and hand made quality through a digitally created piece of artwork.

Authenticity lies within authorship - how can I create authorship through digital means?
Make my own digital brushes, in order to create an image? Experiment incorporating textures into work?

Who are the audience for the poster?
Lush customers, fans of the hand made, 'hipsters'.

Peter York's Hipster Handbook

- United by love for buying special/real things

- Making things in an artisanal way, Pale Ale

- Shoreditch London - Contemporary Art, clever developers, constant theme park based around hipster lifestyle 

- Post post-modern 

- Hipster is relative concept, defined by different people with different agendas

- Being a hipster involves removing yourself from social conforms

- "I'm outside of mass conformist shopping centre looks"

- Authentic - real? not fake?

- "If you have to ask what it means to be hip, you're not hip" 

"hipness is a way of resisting the mass society"

"the fake versus the authentic"

"the scientific versus the imaginary"

Relevant in order to help identify the audience for the hand made. 

COP: Orchestrating Synthesis

Whilst writing, I admittedly didn't have alot of my arguments triangulated, so I felt the need to create this exercise and just map out on a piece of paper what my arguments were and how they link. 

Although it was difficult to recall my thought process as I was creating the map, it was good for knowing which elements linked. 

New York Times Goes Digital

New York Times International Edition

- Grown a huge audience within States
- They had never focused on building a wider audience,  without trying they were starting to grow an international audience. But noticed that In the digital era, the new york times online gained such a large audience online, people knew what it was online, however not in print era. 
- Digitisation of newspaper opened it up to new audiences. 
- New generation of readers
- Print revenue is in long term decline 'I think print is going to be around for a long long time'
- Print advertising revenue declining, print circulation revenue is fine
- Digital subscription and Digital Advertising revenue is on the rise
- Newsroom of 1300
- 

COP: Tutorial

Practical

- Practical adding value through print – one offs for lush – the audience of the product.
- How do you make a one off? How is something unique?
- Mistakes – non-reproducible
- Niche culture – requires authenticity – uniqueness
- Theorists about subcultures – the audiences for the hand made is.
- Limited edition - bespoke

Essay

- Historical backdrop could be too much
- Linking historical technological development with industrial change – reception of these changes by society
- Need social theories related to behaviour and technology and creativity – the arts how does technology impact the arts. Handmade and digital (BBC Four Hipsters) 
- William Morris Arts and Crafts movement reaction to the industrial /parallel with todays resurgence of screen print (even in graphic design). 
- Phil Taylor Alchemy of the analogue.
- John berger – Milton Glaser – Walter Benjamin – reproduction the status of the image
- Mixture of historical precedence contemporary comment / theories.
- Books / ebooks – printed newspapers / online newspapers
- Hipster culture BBC Four marketing
- New york times recently went digital – interview with editor on radio 4  http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b07zxgty
- case studies – illustrators work across those platforms
- compare other digital / handmade platforms products
- considering pros and cons of these differing platforms
- link back to your theorists
- perception of digital and mass production that might exist
- Lawrence Zeegan – creative review where is the comment / where is the content?
- Its worth noting that print was a process of mass production.

START WITH TRIANGULATED THEORY – LITERATURE REVIEW – USE THE HISTORICAL EXAMPLES IN AMONGST.

Student Action

Practical

- Look into audience, target market for your niche Campaign
- hipster culture, who are the audience for the hand made?
- Methods of production
- What are you going to draw? do research into Lush, brand ethos, visit stores 
- MAKE SOMETHING

Essay

- More theorists
- make more comparisons between digital and analog products 
- More perceptions of mass production and digital art that exist?

Experiential Marketing Research

In order to gain an understanding of what already exists within this field, I am researching into Experiential Marketing. 

"Engagement marketing, sometimes called "experiential marketing," "eventmarketing," "on-ground marketing," "live marketing," or "participation marketing," is a marketing strategy that directly engages consumers and invites and encourages them to participate in the evolution of a brand."

From looking into Experiential Marketing, I have come to find that it is advertising that offers something extra, an extra way to engage with it's audience. More often than not, promotional material that falls under the 'experiential' term, won't be print based - I want to focus on advertisements that perhaps use their medium as a way of communicating. 

Carlsberg created a billboard, with an actual working bar tap that allowed people to try the product. This idea and the use of language 'probably the best', creates a relatable down to earth aspect that not only engages the customer, but helps them build a relationship with the brand. This is quite relevant to what I intend to create because ultimately the advert is heavily print based, with something that makes it feel designed and personal to the customer. 

Reflection

I don't think that Experiential marketing is where my project fits in, in all honesty. I want my project to encompass more than just a billboard/poster but I don't think that it will interact with it's audience as personally as this example.

COP Practical: Idea Development

Now that i've thought of a brand to apply my work to, I've definitely got a clearer view of my project and where it is going. To reiterate; I intend on making an experimental advertising campaign that will interact with it's audience on a very first hand basis. For the practical side of my COP response, my main theme is conveying authenticity, and adding value to a digital print, in the context of an advertising/promotional campaign. The brand that I intend to create work for is Lush Cosmetics, because of their highly authentic way of creating products, and their modest marketing techniques. I love the idea of how each product sold in Lush stores, has a small sticker on it saying when it was made and who it was made by, which I feel creates a personal relationship between the brand and the customer. In a sense this creates a kind of Aura around the product, as defined in Walter Benjamin's theory. 

I intend to play on this relationship with my outcome. My initial intention is to make a range of single edition prints, that will be individual to each lush shop, reiterating the idea of a product that has been personally created for the customer, creating Aura for a digital piece of art. As it is part of an advertising campaign, my printed outcomes will have to contain text so I will explore both illustrative and graphic processes. I am using the term experiential marketing to define my intentions for this project, because I want the outcome to encompass more than just a printed campaign, I want to use values of authenticity and originality to promote the brand and help customers engage with it, aswell as challenging the devaluation of digitally created work, that is loosely grouped with the idea of mass production.

COP Practical *IDEA*

Initial Idea

- To challenge the idea of authenticity within digitally created work, I want to create a set of original, single edition prints that will makeup a printed advertising campaign. I want this project to challenge the idea of 'mass production', despite the posters/imagery having been made digitally. 

- I want to use my images towards an advertising campaign for a brand (Undecided yet, something that needs to have a personal connection with it's audience), because I want to take this opportunity to make work that exists in a commercial context.

- Use a brand that has values of Authenticity, Hand Made, 'what you see is what you get' Quality

BRANDS?

Lush Handmade Cosmetics

Lush NEW LOGO 2014

 All products are authentically created.
My work could be printed onto recycled paper/recycled carrier bags (Fits with the brand ethos)
They do not utilize television advertising either, so for a print campaign this brand would be perfect.

Lush brand authenticity

https://rmtheory2practice.wordpress.com/2013/10/18/authenticity-lush-cosmetics/

A closer look at a uniquely authentic brand.

http://marketinglaura.com/authentic-marketing-lush/

COP3: Part 2 Project Proposal + Peer Review Preparation

Overarching Theme

Digital Vs Analog

Specific Subject

How to add value/humanity to digital artwork? I want to challenge the link between digital artwork and mass production, conveying that digital is merely another creative tool that shouldn't be viewed as inferior to physical artwork? 

Research Question

To what extent are digital design tools a threat to the illustration industry?

Products

Advertising Campaign posters

Proposed Outcomes

An advertising campaign consisting of range of original edition illustrated print posters.

Media Processes 

Digital Brushes

Screen Print(?)

Paper Making(?)

Questions for Feedback

Any more ways a digital image can be translated to a physical artefact? that adds humanity/value/authenticity

Does my project make sense in terms of relation to my question?

What effect would an original print being used as advertising material , have on the way that a brand is perceived? What you see is what you get? Make the brand appear more human?

Any good references?

What are your views on digital art in comparison to physical art?

Brief

Design and Create an ad campaign for a chosen brand. Using digital design tools, design a range of Original edition posters that will be printed and used as promotional material. Convey human quality through use of texture and media process. 

Contextual References

Twining’s “Drink It All In” – Stop Motion advertising campaign

By Parabella productions

Incorporation of craft and human element in advertising.

I want to convey these elements through printed pieces.

Marcin Wolski – Use of text within image

Visual textural quality and use of graphic design lends itself to printed campaigns