Creative Brand Strategy - Task 1A & 1B

 April 21, 2025 - (Week 1 - Week 14)

Linchenyi/ 0367008

Graphic design/Bachelor of Design in Creative Media

Creative Brand Strategy - Task 2A & 2B

INSTRUCTIONS

LECTURE

WEEK 1

The first week of classes did not start with a regular class, but with an interdisciplinary briefing. This briefing was an introduction to a collaborative project, focusing on product development and packaging design, and was jointly participated by students from three majors: design, business school, and psychology. The core of the project revolved around the business school's final product plan, and each major participated in different links according to its own expertise:

• Business students were mainly responsible for product conception, budget arrangement, and competitor analysis in the market;
• Design students were responsible for the visual and structural design of product packaging;
• Students with a psychology background focused on user research and marketing strategy formulation.

In the briefing, each group presented their product proposals. The following ones impressed me the most:

• Termo Brew is a small coffee machine that is easy to carry and is very suitable for mobile office or travel. The team's concept is clear and the introduction is very convincing;
• Glow & Flow proposed the concept of combining lighting function with portable fan. Although it is creative, there is still a lot of room for improvement in the current presentation;
• DYO launched a Tumblr cup with double beverage containers. The design attempts to break the traditional cup structure. Although the product concept is a bit vague, their way of telling stories with images is quite mature and shows good visual expression ability.

Overall, this briefing is not only a display of the initial concept of the project, but also an exercise in team collaboration and creative expression. It also gave me a clearer positioning for the subsequent packaging design tasks.

WEEK 2

This week, Mr. Fauzi explained to us in detail the basic path of brand building. Combining his own industry experience, he explained to us how to conceive, develop brand image and communication strategy from scratch after receiving a brand design task. The flowchart he showed clearly listed each stage, from research, positioning, concept generation to the final visualization. This process provided practical guidance for us to independently create brands in future projects. At the same time, he also assigned a practical task: select a company for in-depth case study to lay the foundation for our subsequent brand reshaping work.

 Fig 1.1 Week 2 Lecture

WEEK 3

This week we came into contact with and applied the SWOT analysis framework, which according to the teacher is a common strategic tool for insight into the market environment. It helps us more systematically identify the internal strengths and limitations of the brand, as well as the potential opportunities and threats faced by the outside world.

We also gradually realized that in today's rapidly changing industry context, it is very important to understand the status of competitors and industry trends. This analysis not only enhances our understanding of market structure, but also strengthens our awareness of how to help brands carry out effective reshaping strategy planning.

 Fig 1.2 Week 3 Lecture

WEEK 4

 Fig 1.3 Week 4 Lecture

TASK :

TASK 1A : Case Study

You are to analyse a well-established Rebranding Campaign of your choosing. 

1. Identifying its brand strategy: The Brand Story, Objective & Purpose, Brand Values, Vision & Mission,

Target Audience, Brand Positioning. 

2. Understanding its brand experience: features and activities. 

3. Reviewing its key visuals and the applications: identity and usage from different platforms.

In this case study on brand remodeling, I chose to analyze Glossier, a skincare and makeup brand that I currently use. The reason for choosing it is not only because of my personal experience with its products, but also because of my interest in its brand story and remodeling strategy.

I learned that Glossier originally originated from the beauty blog Into the Gloss written by founder Emily Weiss. This blog laid the foundation for the birth of the brand with "real user experience" as the core by interviewing women on how to use beauty products.

In order to have a deeper understanding of Glossier's brand background, I first organized the brand's origin, development history and market positioning before the transformation in the document as the basis for subsequent analysis.

Task 1A:Case Study：Rebranding Documents

 Fig 1.4 Rebranding Documents Pdf

Task 1A: Proposal.ppt

Pink Watercolor Minimalist Beauty Makeup Presentation，作者 CHENYI LIN

TASK 1B: Campaign Preposal

You are to propose a Branding Campaign. The campaign will be for a a glimpse of your choosing and may be conceptualised as a rebranding exercise to introduce a new concept or as a new product line launch. 

The suggested proposal outline: 

Campaign Description, Brand Story, Objective & Purpose, Brand Values, Vision & Mission, Target Audience, Organizers. SWOTs, Brand
Positioning. Furthermore, you are to identify the Brand Touch Points by producing a Customer Journey Map

Task 1B:Case Study：Rebranding Documents

 Fig 1.5 Rebranding Documents Pdf

SWOT ANALYSIS

Strengths

• Strong and unified brand visual identification system
• Strong social media influence and community building, loyal user community
• Strong content marketing capabilities, good at soft content implantation on Instagram and TikTok.

Weaknesses

• Over-reliance on social media and DTC model and social media exposure and word of mouth
• International market expansion is relatively slow, with few physical touchpoints. The brand is not well-known in Asia, South America, Africa and other places except North America.
• Highly dependent on social platform promotion

Opportunities

• Set up self-service micro experience booths or mobile experience cars, scan codes for trial, and display brand stories.
• Set up flash events in different countries + endorsement cooperation with celebrities and Internet celebrities in different countries
• Design limited packaging, peripherals or virtual stickers

Threats

• The beauty market is highly competitive and homogenized. Emerging brands emerge in an endless stream, and their marketing and design styles converge.
• Over-reliance on the North American market, Glossier lacks overseas layout.

Customer Journey Map:

 

 Fig 1.6 Customer Journey Map

 Task 1B:Campaign Proposal.ppt

Task 1B CAMPAIGN PROPOSAL，作者 CHENYI LIN

FEEDBACK

WEEK 3

Before the rebranding, it was a beauty and skincare brand sold on an online platform. In the absence of offline stores or very few physical stores, how can consumers try out the brand's products? Especially when beauty and skincare products are sold online, consumers "cannot try" them. (It is difficult for customers to try or feel the real texture, color and effect of the product), introduce new concepts or launch new product lines. How to solve this problem.

WEEK 4

In the SWOT, the weakness is mentioned: "Depend on online channels" → Opportunity: "Set up offline interaction points to enhance user reach" Threat: "Market homogeneity" → Action: "Jointly promote visual differences and topicality" These are mutual. Why is this a problem for Glossier? What offline opportunities did it miss to reach users?

REFLECTION

Experience

During this phase of the brand remodeling project, I gained a lot of valuable experience. First, I realized that without a physical store, how to get customers to trust and try the product was a key challenge. This prompted me to think deeply about consumer behavior and try to find innovative solutions from the user's perspective.

Observations

I chose Glossier because it was originally a purely online beauty brand that started from social media and is very representative. However, as competition in the beauty market intensifies, Glossier faces problems such as slowing growth and lack of offline experience. This is a challenging but potential brand reshaping opportunity. I hope to help the brand reconnect with consumers by redesigning the online interactive experience and introducing new product lines or service methods.

Findings

Through this phase of learning, I have mastered how to create and apply customer journey maps. Customer journey maps allow me to have a deeper understanding of every key point of contact between consumers and brands, which helps us optimize the overall experience from the user's perspective.

In the process of conducting research on brand reshaping activities, I found that not all brand reshaping is successful. Some brands have won a large number of new consumers because of clear strategies and clear goals, while others have lost users or even damaged their brand image due to unclear positioning or improper execution.