Week 6 EOC: Rocky Ford: Restoring the Brand

Every brand project will have a history and it’s important that the designer understands a brand’s origin. It could be created from an acquisition, a merger, the result of a rebrand or a new addition to a family of brands. First Rocky Ford needs to know their origins, and from there, rebuild. They need to improve and update their systems so incidents such as poisonous break-outs do not occur again. Most people forget about subjects like these in the next week or so, but not the media because everything is reported, recorded, and documented. Rock Ford needs approach their customers with their deepest apologies. Sending out personal letters with special coupons or even a free fresh sample of their product would allow the customer to trust the brand once again. Have public relations post on social media and frequently read newsprints about how Rocky Ford has relocated to a new and improved factory with "state-of-the-art" equipment. Many businesses are happy to sell known products to people they already do business with, and there are examples of companies who have essentially done this for hundreds of years (some banks and brewers, for example). But sometimes the ‘low risk’ strategy hampers growth and innovation. Once people begin buying, now change things up. Rock Ford might want to grown honeydew melons near their cantaloupes and sell them. What the must realize is they can only do so much innovating because they are known only for their cantaloupes. if all else fails, they can rename themselves and start a new reputation in the farming industry.  “You can only grow so much within a known market”

Week 10 EOC: Dream Job

Manager, Visual Merchandising

POSITION SUMMARY:
Responsible for design and communication of collateral and visual merchandising planograms for North America
 
Position reports to Executive Director Graphics/Visual Merchandising and Executive Director Store Design/Visual Merchandising (matrix manager)


KEY RESPONSIBILITIES:

·         Responsible for the development of impactful design solutions for assigned programs.
·         Manage planograms for NA doors and create or update communication document.
·         Streamline communication process and make recommendations to improve efficiencies.
·         Partner with cross functional teams to integrate visual merchandising, store design and collateral.
·         Maintain strong working knowledge of Origins brand, its heritage, customers, products and retail environments.
·         Utilize internal and external influences to concept ideas and innovations.
·         Produce technical drawings, renderings and models for internal and external usage
·         Leverage strong organizational and communication skills to manage multiple projects at one time.
·         Participate in weekly Creative department status meetings as needed and coordinate on a daily basis with other members of the Creative and Creative Operations teams as needed.
·         Travel as needed for retail site visits within North America.




·         5+ years of related experience with strong design background including concept development and production.
·         Ability to organize and manage multiple projects and to meet deadlines.
·         Ability to successfully communicate design direction and strategy to Marketing and Senior Management.
·         Proficiency in CS: InDesign, Photoshop and Illustrator.

Tag Line

I am an art student seeking new opportunities in the fashion industry. Developing strong business relationships and a portfolio of creative professions is a long-term aspiration of mine. I am a designer, creative thinker, and hard worker with bigger dreams to accomplish in this industry. In return for your interest shown, my gratitude will demonstrate an excellent work ethic, knowledge that I posses, and will continue to acquire in my career.

“Behind the brand is careful business management controlling the way the brand expresses itself”

“Good branding is about pushing the creative boundaries within the context of the business of the brand. It is about understanding business. It is about creating stories”

“Brand structure and brand management have helped build businesses, market products and services, and manage reputation”

Davis, M., and Baldwin, J. (2006). More Than a Name: An Introduction to Branding. AVA Publishing                                                      

Emphasize Your Specialty and Five Key Talents

My sincerity and humility will allow me to affect my audience's emotions and develop trust. As I communicated effectively with sincere statements, I will convince my peers, employers, and investors that I am a brand that is here to stay. With my artistic abilities, I will create a memorable design that will always be recognized. My brand will be affiliated with the fashion industry but will branch off into other creative industries. I will lead my brand to the top and when I have establish more than one trustworthy business relationships, I just might merge and expand into an international brand.

A company entering a crowded market place with a new product may rely on their existing brand to help it succeed. However, some products and brands are often interlinked at launch. Kellogg’s is a good example of this. It has a range of breakfast cereals all under the Kellogg’s brand umbrella.

Branding helped to identify origin for the first time and attempted to affect buyer loyalty. Mass production of consumer goods went hand-in-hand with technological inventions and by the early 20th century people became defined by what they bought.

 

“Behind the brand is careful business management controlling the way the brand expresses itself” 
    Davis, M., and Baldwin, J. (2006). More Than a Name: An Introduction to Branding. AVA Publishing                                                   

Statement of Your Specialty

What I have to offer my audience is my sincerity. I may not be experienced in many things but one promise I can establish with my brand image is sincerity and humility. My audience will always expect my services, talents, core values, and passions to be honest and incorporated in every aspect of my brand strategy. There will be no subliminal advertisements, phony product descriptions, or exaggerations. I will surprise my audience and myself also, when I begin my journey toward the ultimate brand status. The more I learn, the more my audience will receive.

 Many products now have a broad range of standards and similar features or, in other cases, the service or product may have become a commodity competing on price and quality. Some fundamentals have not changed – people can choose simply on price, availability and location – but where competition and choice exists, the brand matters.

Brands today represent more than a product, service or brand identity (the name and logo, design and voice of the brand). A brand is synonymous with the business and the style behind the product or service; it encompasses the people working for the company and a philosophy and spirit that sustains it. Brands offer a set of values, a vision and an attitude.
Davis, M., and Baldwin, J. (2006). More Than a Name: An Introduction to Branding. AVA Publishing                                                      

Top Five Talents

My top five talents are communication, adaption, leadership qualities, relationship building, and artistic expression.

Communication is the key to opening someone's interests, opinions, and emotions in order to effectively communicate with other individuals. This talent is important when it comes to brand strategy. Every word I speak, will be documented and forever imprinted on the minds of those who will decide whether or not to establish the ultimate brand loyalty. Without communication, brands would not exist and also advertising agencies and other forms of media. Communication allows my brand to open up and engage my audience in what I am trying to accomplish. It's like talking to an employer face to face, once you've established that eye contact, you've got them hooked.

Adaption is important for managing stressful situations, and complicated endeavors. In the market place, I must adapt to my competitor's strategies and market fluctuations. There is extremely detailed research that involves internal and external factors of society. Therefore I must adapt to my style of branding, observe how competitors brand themselves, and attempt to achieve brand leadership. Every day I must constantly improve my brand, staying updated on the latest trends, industry news, my consumer's behaviors, and finding ways to expand.

Leadership qualities are attractive in the marketplace. If you're ahead of the market and have achieved brand loyalty, keep working. As a leader, I must strive for higher, yet remain "level-headed" to maintain my business relationships. I will be the kind of leader constantly updating on fresh marketing trends, hoping to achieve the ultimate brand loyalty for years to come.

Relationship building has always been a strong suit of mine. My humility and positive persona is an attractive, yet profitable quality. I am able to establish personal relationships of support successfully, but as a brand, I must also create profitable ones as well. Although I would never "Burn Bridges" with those who I started with, they too could become investors.

Artistic expression can be tied into all four talents. I can communicate artistically without words, I can adapt creatively in an environment, I will be a leader in artistic expression, and I will attract and network amongst artists to create a unique brand.

Once a brand has established itself in the market, it must continue to prove its effectiveness to stay in the market through ongoing brand activity. The purpose of brand campaigns may not be solely focused on selling a product or service, but to also build awareness, improve a reputation or to affirm or change perceptions.

At the heart of every brand is its audience. The consumer is no longer simply the person buying the product or service, but a broad spectrum of ‘stakeholders’ who include customers through to employees to external agencies and local communities. Each stakeholder may experience the brand in a different way, but there should be consistency in brand behavior. The relationship between the brand and the consumer is two-way – what the consumer thinks of the brand matters as much as how the brand projects itself to the consumer.

Many brands may succeed in communicating to an audience, but fail to engage. Engagement happens by identifying and exploiting the magic in a brand: the insight or idea that connects to the audience. It can be an intuitive process and requires a mix of strategic business thinking and creative ideas. The thinking and creative process must never stop.
Davis, M., and Baldwin, J. (2006). More Than a Name: An Introduction to Branding. AVA Publishing                                                      

Talents

Talent is to have a natural aptitude or skill. My very first talent was sewing. As a four year old living under the protection of my parents, I found refuge at the desk of my sewing machine, I was able to truly express myself through my projects. As I learned to effectively communicate with others, I became a source of comfort for others. My ability to talk softly and sincerely to others, allowed them to trust me. My mother would jokingly say that I should get a degree in Psychology, not Fashion. I also have excellent writing skills. There was a time in elementary where my teacher would stress the importance of good handwriting; that was before the era of the "text-messages." When it comes to stressful and demanding situations I am able to adapt. Adaption is a very important talent of mine because life in general has surprises. I can conform when needed and shine when necessary. Other talents that I posses are artistic abilities, leadership qualities, technological capabilities, and relationship building qualities.

Branding is a marketing discipline and the basics of branding are common to all areas of marketing: define your audience, know your market, differentiate yourself, choose a route to market and then make your brand stand out.

Many brands may succeed in communicating to an audience, but fail to engage. Engagement happens by identifying and exploiting the magic in a brand: the insight or idea that connects to the audience. It can be an intuitive process and requires a mix of strategic business thinking and creative ideas. The thinking and creative process must never stop.

Managing a brand also requires measuring the reputation of that brand both within the organization and externally, as well as managing and protecting the brand identity to prevent dilution or inconsistency. Those responsible for the brand need to be fully aware of the brand perception, the marketplace, the competition, wider trends and social influences, and the ever-changing relationship with the consumer and other audiences.
Davis, M., and Baldwin, J. (2006). More Than a Name: An Introduction to Branding. AVA Publishing