Digitally the revolution has happened (honest, I was there), now it’s maturing and it’s time to re-evaluate the concept of ‘brand’ in this new landscape, a new period of digital creativity. And what a brand could stand for in this constantly changing world.
Far from joining a party after the guests have arrived and tucked in to the good wine, digital is now integral to planning the party from the start (and I’m not talking about flashing banners or a Facebook page). This phase for me is fundamentally about a digital brand partnership with clients, and a large part of that is about what a brand can be in the future, and what the future can be for them.
Creating a Future Brand Vision allows you to imagine the role a brand could occupy without the logistics and concerns of live delivery. I do this regularly for clients, I love doing these, its one of the best challenges available for anyone working in a digital agency right now, it allows me to change and challenge how a client thinks. So, finding some time on my hands, I jotted down these words as an introduction into what works for me.
Why Does A Brand Need A Future?
Future Brand Vision’s (or vision ware, or vision projects, or any other names) are about providing an objective, an opportunity and a direction. Done right, they can re-invigorate, internally inspire, and even re-invent a brand. They can remove the barriers to fresh thinking, and develop new methods and ideas to differentiate in crowded and tired marketplaces.
Once completed, they can become a long-term objective to aim for over time informing all projects or activities to get you to this eventual target, a promise to deliver if you will. Previously, working in a small team, we completed a Vision project that formed the foundation for digital banking five years in the future. Our client was a global UK based bank, and we enabled them to digitally think without the baggage of delivering, to reconnect with how their customer base was increasingly beginning to organise their lives, and even suggesting services that helped them understand these rapidly developing new channels.
Another re-evaluated the way we book travel in the future, our client (an international recognised airline) saw how by being bold and altering their thinking on the objective of travel, rather than the business mechanics of booking, could allow them to own new ground in a very formulaic system.
The point is that they allow you to imagine and be bold. They do not over concern themselves with delivery (that comes in everything you do after), but rather the ideas and thoughts that drive a brand onwards.
Soon I will add more on how I approach creating a Future Brand Vision, how they can drive live project work, and my ten steps…
