Unit 2.4 _Major Project Proposal

Major Project Proposal

Unit 2.4

Gabriel Soto MA Graphic Branding and Identity London College of Communication University of the Arts London 2011

RESEARCH QUESTION 01 AIMS AND OBJECTIVES 02 AUDIENCE 03 CONTEXT 04 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY 10 SCHEDULE OF WORK 12 EVALUATION 13 OUTPUT 13 BIBLIOGRAPHY 15

UNIT 2.4 – MAJOR PROJECT PROPOSAL

RESEARCH QUESTION

_Can dream incubation be applied to brands?

Dreams are successions of images, ideas, emotions and sensations, ranging from very realistic to fantastic and surreal experiences, occurring in the mind during certain stages of sleep.

Branding defines a set of images, ideas, emotions and sensations to be associated to a specific brand through experiences.

What if brands manage to make those images, ideas, emotions and sensations that configure dreams be the ones related to the brand?

Image (Left): “A Dream Caused by the Flight of a Bee Around a Pomegranate a Second Before Awakening.”

Salvador Dalí.

Could brands create and deliver close to reality experiences through dreams? Could dreams influence consumers’ behaviour in the real world? Are brands able to create such strong connections in the consumers’ mind so that interactions with the brand in reality could trigger dreams related to it?

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UNIT 2.4 – MAJOR PROJECT PROPOSAL

AIMS AND OBJECTIVES

Explore the field of dreams for branding to embrace in order to deliver new kinds of experiences to consumers.

Investigate to what extent dream experiences about products or brands could influence consumer’s behaviour and perception towards that product or brand, and how that affects decision-making in reality.

Get better understanding on how brand associations are built in the consumer’s mind, how all sorts of brand-related experiences are kept in the memory and how it affects behaviours, beliefs and attitudes.

Evaluate if brands need to develop more complete or complex “brand worlds”.

Present a starting point for further studies and applications on the subject of branding and dreams.

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UNIT 2.4 – MAJOR PROJECT PROPOSAL

AUDIENCE

- Brand Designers - Brand Strategists - Marketers - Advertisers 03

UNIT 2.4 – MAJOR PROJECT PROPOSAL

CONTEXT

From a very general perspective, branding could be defined as a two-stage process, one internal and controlled by the creators of the brand and one external in which consumers are involved. The first stage is the creation of the “brand world” and the definition of the elements that configure it (images, ideas, emotions, sensations). The second stage has to do with the communication of that “brand world” in order to create memory of the brand in the consumers’ mind and generate a brand associative network, which is the overall aim of branding as “a brand only exists in the memory of people” (Franzen and Bowman, 2001).

So gaining a position in the consumers’ mind becomes an asset that branding has to embrace and stimulate, in order to create the right connections that could result in positive attitudes, emotions and possibly in devotion towards the brand.

That is the reason why consumers are constantly exposed to brand stimuli presented in all sorts of media, from the moment they wake up until they go to bed.

Then, what happens when they sleep?

During sleep the physical context of the consumer is not the experiential; therefore brands cannot deliver direct stimuli at that moment. Anyhow, when sleeping, people are still having experiences in the form of dreams.

Most of the dream experiences are forgotten, although the information is kept in the unconscious mind. It is said that the unconscious mind defines impulses, impressions, thoughts and many other characteristics of human behaviour. So following this train of thought, if consumers dream about a brand or product, it could somehow influence their behaviour when awake.

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When do dreams happen?

In the 1950’s Professor Kleitman and Dr Aserinsky from the University of Chicago noticed that their patients rapidly moved their eyes while sleeping during short periods of time, and when that happened their brain activity increased and was similar to when they where awake, so they found out that sleep was divided into two stages: REM (rapid eye movement) and NREM (non-rapid eye movement). Dreams occur mainly during the REM stage of sleep.

In an average person’s lifetime, around six years are spent dreaming; about 90 minutes every night (Sorlin, 2003, p10).

What is dream incubation?

Dream incubation is “planting the seed” in the mind for a specific topic to occur in dreams. Most of the investigations and bibliography about dream incubation addresses it as a problem solving technique, and in most cases it is found to be effective. There are many artists, inventors and scientists who claim that the idea for their most relevant work came up in a dream, such as Paul McCartney who dreamed the melody of “Yesterday” and the writer Mary Shelley dreamed about “Frankenstein”.

Dream incubation is self-induced. In the majority of dream incubation techniques, the individual has to follow a set of instructions for a period of time at certain moments of the day and night, in order to set his mind and focus on the topic or problem intended to dream about. Exposure to visual, audible and audiovisual content related to the topic is recommended as part of the process because it can create “fresh memories” and associations in the mind, making it easier to unconsciously trigger them while dreaming.

UNIT 2.4 – MAJOR PROJECT PROPOSAL - CONTEXT

DREAMS

BRANDING

SUCCESSIONS OF

IDEAS

SETS OF

IMAGES SENSATIONS EMOTIONS EXPERIENCES

NO LIMITS TO FANTASY DREAM INCUBATION

STORYTELLING

HAPPENING IN THE MIND

MEMORY CONNECTIONS

CONSCIOUS SUBCONSCIOUS UNCONSCIOUS

HOW TO TRIGGER IT WHILE DREAMING

BELIEFS ATTITUDES

KEPT IN THE

DEFINE

BEHAVIOUR IMPULSES

BRAND ASSOCIATIVE NETWORK

DREAM RECALLING LESS THAN 5%

THE OTHER 95%?

WHY? - NONSENSE - NOT THAT INTENSE EXPERIENCE - CAN’T GO BACK - REPRESSED

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UNIT 2.4 – MAJOR PROJECT PROPOSAL - CONTEXT

DREAM INCUBATION PLANTING THE SEED SEVERAL TECHNIQUES SELF INDUCED

ETHICAL IMPLICATIONS

ON DEMAND BRANDED DREAMS INCUBATION BRAND FOLLOWERS PERSONAL MEMORY

PREVIOUS MEMORY ABOUT THE BRAND

CUSTOMIZED BRAND EXPERIENCE?

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RECENT MEMORY ABOUT THE BRAND

UNIT 2.4 – MAJOR PROJECT PROPOSAL - CONTEXT

DREAM INCUBATION TECHNIQUES COMMON FEATURES

REPETITION

DURING SEVEN DAYS

BEFORE SLEEP

REAL BRAND EXPERIENCES

AUDIOVISUAL STIMULI

AUDIBLE STIMULI

AFTER WAKING UP

MIND SETTING

VISUAL STIMULI

WRITTEN STIMULI

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UNIT 2.4 – MAJOR PROJECT PROPOSAL - CONTEXT

Nowadays, consumers are approaching brands in an on-demand basis. The most desirable brands are the less intrusive, but are the ones that offer engaging and interesting content for the consumer to interact with.

The “brand experience” goes way beyond the mere product, and constantly evolves into new forms, getting the consumer deeply involved and turning him into a brand fanatic, in some cases.

If dreams could be one of those brand experiences, a consumer that has emotional connections with the brand, and a strong memory of it, would be the ideal candidate for branded dreams incubation in an on-demand basis (the consumer wanting to have dreams related to the brand and following the instructions for the incubation process).

There has been a large discussion about pre-programmed dreams and direct manipulation of the mind although it is not possible at this moment. But if it was possible in the future, and taking the ethical issues aside, dream programming would be the ultimate stage for brand storytelling because dream experiences feel real in terms of sensations and emotions while also being fantastic and impossible. It is the next step to the virtual world, if lucid dreaming is incorporated.

In this scenario, a wide range of influence levels must be taken under consideration, from the idea of simple dream product placement, in which a product or brand appears in the dream, but does not affect, alter or have any relevance (eg. the dreamer wearing Nike trainers), to a complete configuration of brand dream worlds in which the whole context is created and programmed (eg.

The 2010 Hollywood movie “Inception”: architects create and program complete worlds in which the characters are immersed).

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Image (Top): Man sleeping.

Image (Above): Sam Taylor-Wood’s video portrait of David Beckham.

National Portrait Gallery.

London.

Image (Right): Still from the movie “Inception” (2010). Shows the main character’s totem, an object used to test to himself if hi is in his own reality (dream or non-dream) and not in another person's dream.

UNIT 2.4 – MAJOR PROJECT PROPOSAL - CONTEXT

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UNIT 2.4 – MAJOR PROJECT PROPOSAL

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY ACTION PLAN

STAGE 1 RESEARCH

(SECONDARY)

1A

DREAM INCUBATION. DREAM RECALLING. LUCID DREAMING. VISUAL REPRESENTATION OF DREAMS IN ART, LITERATURE, MOVIES AND TV.

STAGE 2 EXPERIMENT BRANDED DREAMS INCUBATION 2A

THE MIND. MEMORY. ASSOCIATIVE NETWORKS.

1B

2B

2C CONCLUSIONS EVALUATING SUCCESS REVISING EXPERIMENT - SECOND EXPERIMENT?

The project will be developed in five stages.

Secondary research (Stage 1) will be done at the beginning to gain a clear understanding of the field of study in order to plan and execute dream incubation experiments (Stage 2) and define the future scenarios for visual explorations (Stage 3), corresponding to primary research.

The resulting body of work will be analyzed and documented (Stage 4) in order to present it as a starting point for further studies of applications of branded dreams incubation. The output of the project will be defined after completion of the first three stages.

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EXECUTING - DREAM JOURNAL - DAY TO DAY JOURNAL - QUESTIONNAIRES (BEFORE AND AFTER) - INTERVIEWS (BEFORE AND AFTER) ANALYSING DATA - DREAM JOURNAL - DAY TO DAY JOURNAL - QUESTIONNAIRES - INTERVIEWS

BRAND ASSOCIATIVE NETWORK. BRAND STORYTELLING. CULT BRANDS.

1C

PLANNING - CREATING INSTRUCTIONS - GATHERING MATERIAL - SELECTING SUBJECTS - DEFINING BRAND - SCHEDULE - DATA ANALYSIS METHODOLOGY

2D

UNIT 2.4 – MAJOR PROJECT PROPOSAL

STAGE 3 FUTURE SCENARIOS VISUAL EXPLORATION

CLEARLY DEFINE FUTURE SCENARIOS IN WHICH DREAMS CAN BE INFLUENCED BY DIFFERENT METHODS.

3A

4A VISUALLY EXPLORE HOW BRANDS AND PRODUCTS WILL REACT AND EMBRACE THIS POSSIBILITY, AND HOW WILL IT AFFECT THE CONSUMERS AND THE MARKET.

3B

STAGE 4 DOCUMENTING

STAGE 5 PRODUCING 5A

5B

DOCUMENT THE PROCESS AND RESULTS OF THE EXPERIMENT AND VISUAL EXPLORATIONS OF FUTURE SCENARIOS IN ORDER TO PRESENT IT AS STARTING POINT FOR FURTHER STUDIES AND APPLICATIONS. OUTCOME REPORT VISUAL SUMMARY FINISHING PRINTING

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UNIT 2.4 – MAJOR PROJECT PROPOSAL

SCHEDULE OF WORK

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 JUNE

1A

JULY

1C

AUGUST

2A

3B 4A

2B

2B

3A

2C

2D

4A 4A OUTCOME & VISUAL SUMMARY HAND-IN

SEPTEMBER

2B

NOVEMBER

OCTOBER

2A

2B 3A

PRINTING

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1B

3A 3B

4A REPORT

3B 4A DEFINE OUTCOME

FINISHING

UNIT 2.4 – MAJOR PROJECT PROPOSAL

EVALUATION / OUTPUT The effectiveness of the project will be measured by the following criteria: The project achieves to prove if the application of design and communication methods to dream incubation techniques can enhance them and make them more effective.

The research question is answered or a new question is proposed as a result.

The research methodology is effective to set the field for a strong and consistent output.

The ideal output of the project would be to create the general guidelines for branded dreams incubation in order to present it to the industry in the form of a book, website, or a kit containing various media. Another approach would be creating the dream incubation guidelines for a specific brand. This depends on the results of the experiments and the development of the action plan. In any case, if the experiments fail the output would be presented as a theoretical piece.

The process of primary and secondary research and experimentation will show more possibilities along the way.

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UNIT 2.4 – MAJOR PROJECT PROPOSAL

Images (Above): Posters of dream-related movies. A visual expression of dreams and imagination.

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Images (Next page left): “Boys flying dream” Arthur Tress

Images (Next page right): Still from the movie “Waking life” (2001)

UNIT 2.4 – MAJOR PROJECT PROPOSAL

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Books and articles Franzen, Giep. Bowman, Margot (2001). The Mental World of Brands. Mind, memory and brand success.

Henley-on-Thames : World Advertising Research Center.

Film and television The Science Of Sleep (2006)

Gobé, M (2001) Emotional Branding. The new paradigm for connecting brands to people. New York: Allworth.

What Dreams May Come (1998)

Inception (2010)

Waking Life (2001) Griffin, J. (1997) The origin of dreams. How and why we evolved to dream. Trowbridge: The Therapist.

Sorlin, P. (2003) Dreamtelling. London: Reaktion Books Ltd.

The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus (2010) Eternal Sunshine of a Spotless Mind (2004) Mr. Margorium Wonder Emporium (2007)

Mageo, J. (2003) Dreaming and the self: new perspectives on subjectivity, identity and emotion.

Albany, NY: State University of New York.

Alice In Wonderland (2010) Finding Neverland (2004)

Jung, C.(1961) Dreams. Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton University Press.

Freud, S. (1913) The interpretation of dreams. Oxford: Oxford Press.

The Good Night (2007) Dreamscape (1984) Futurama: A fishful of dollars (Ep 6 – S1)

Barrett, D. (1993). The "committee of sleep": A study of dream incubation for problem-solving. Journal of the Association for the Study of Dreams.

Dement, W. Vaughan, C. (1999) The promise of Sleep.

Macmillan.

The Jetsons – Elroy meets orbity (Ep3 – S2) Websites http://www.asdreams.org http://www.dreamresearch.net

Tress, A (1972) The dream collector. Richmond, VA: Webster Publishing Co.

http://www.realityshifter.com

Noble, I. Bestley, R. (2005) Visual research: an introduction to research methodologies in graphic design. Worthing, UK; AVA Academy.

http://www.dreamtechniques.com

Laurel, B (ed)(2003) Design Research Methods and perspectives. Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

http://health.howstuffworks.com/mental-health/sleep/ dreams

http://robinwhitmoredreamdiary.blogspot.com/

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UNIT 2.4 – MAJOR PROJECT PROPOSAL

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Gabriel Soto MA Graphic Branding and Identity London College of Communication University of the Arts London 2011