The Brand Experience is in The City's Red Icon

The brand experience is in...

the city’s

redicon

How can a phone box deliver brand experience to tourists and citizens in london Research Methods Portfolio

MA Advertising, Branding, and Communication

by Sarah El Alj

table of content

Abstract research question research overview discovery and inspiration new city, new spaces media, media methodology and approaches literature bibliography

2 3 4 6 8 14 17 23 31

1

m

2

research question:

Abstract

y intention from the pro ject is to explore the mechanism of engagement and authenticity in a designated limited space.

Furthermore, I want to explore all the attributes that contribute into a successful brand experience and the tools that will measure excitement and satisfaction from customers when engaging in a Phone Booth experience. Furthermore, I want to experience the practicality of the project and how it will highly contribute into my career. In fact, my long-term goal is to become a Creative director, and, therefore, I want to challenge my design and video skills into building a visually attractive experience through video, pictures, and texts. This project will be a challenge in terms of project management; I will have to deliver a phone booth prototype that will display my vision of an authentic brand experience.

This project will not only need my own branding conception but will also need technology and extensive knowledge to yield into a consistent project. The last and the most important intention is to promote London’s culture and tourism. In fact, my aim is to immerse a “phone booth” visitor in past occurring and cultural references about the street hosting the phone box. In all, this project will comprehend different aspects and will contribute into showcasing existing and future skills during the thrilling experience of research.

Can Phone Booths deliver excitingandAuthentic

experience?

BRAND

subquestions

-How are phone booths seen in London, how are they depicted worldwide?

-How do people depict the city of London, does London have a brand, if it does, how is it presented?

-What are the materials needed for this specific project?

-What is the social, virtual, and cultural conception of a phone booth?

-How the national and international media depicts a phone booth?

-Which business model will be used?

-What are the main factors which make an exciting Brand experience? How is excitement defined?

-What are the main factors which make an authentic Brand Experience? How is authenticity defined?

(Tryfflie, 2014)

3

research overview

THE RESEARCH GOAL Our main project goal is to bring phone boxes to life by establishing a cultural ecosystem while preserving cultural appropriations for phone boxes. Phone boxes are individual spaces which could be switched in a potential brand experience, delivering an exposure and extension to English and London culture and tourism.

WHICH PROBLEM WILL THE RESEARCH SOLVE, OR WHAT OPPORTUNITY WILL IT EXPLOIT?

4

As Luis Seabra Coelho mentioned in “Why organizations need Project Management” Projects are implemented in order to either stay steady in the market, improve, or solve an ethical, economical, or cultural issue.(2012) We are conducting a research project in order to enhance the conditions of one of the most notable icons of London: its phone booths. A phone booth, or commonly called phone boxes are one of London’s most iconic assets of London’s tourism and aesthetics. K1 the first phone booth model has been issued in 1925, since then, 6 models have been conceived.

(2013) By 1980, 73000 phone booths were operating across the country. However, during the ten first years of the 21st century, the use for phone booths has dramatically collapsed due to the excessive use of cell phones.(2013) In the article: 40 years of the mobile phone, the article depicts the evolution of cell phone use and the exorbitant use of cell phone in the late years along with the major cell phone best sellers. For instance, they mentioned how Nokia 1100 was the first cell phone best seller with 250 million cell phones sold. Later on, iPhones took over with 180 million cell phones sold. (2013) Milligan explains how British Telecoms describes phone booths as redundant since 3% of the population make a phone booth call in a month.

We believe that such an iconic figure should not be subject to destruction and dismissal.

When searching for “phone booth” or “phone box” on Tumblr or twitter, most of the posts refer to the red London Phonebooth. Therefore, we could make an assumption that there is such a cultural appropriation to British culture when it comes to phone booths.

THE RESEARCH OBJECTIVE

The main objective is to implement a research on Brand Experience and authenticity while using the phone box as our experimental subject. We want to make phone boxes the new information desks in the city. Citizens and tourists will be able to enter into any phone booth on any street and will be able to discover the history of the street, notable citizens, artists, and cultural references the street comprehends. Moreover, the phone booth will be able to promote and showcase the different venues, restaurants, shops, and events occurring in the street and its surroundings.

POTENTIAL RISKS & OBSTACLES

As stated earlier, the main aim behind our major research project is to study what makes an authentic brand experience; moreover, our intention is to harness new skills but different obstacles will be faced through our research process. The first obstacle would be in terms of resources. Our research project will have a prototype built by the end of the year and it will eventually need funding to build a phone booth which delivers a brand experience. The second obstacle faced is our knowledge of London’s culture and history, which will be the main material displayed during the phone booth experience. The third obstacle is the time offered for the research. In fact, the timing for the research project completion is 6 months, and time management will be a prime tool to achieve the project aims.

(Tumblr, 2015)

(The Phone Box, 2015)

RESEARCH CATEGORY According to Collins, a research project could be framed in either of the 3 categories: The first category is Question- Answer research: this category occurs when the research question is set and only the research process will eventually define the orientation and the type of answer.

The second category is Question- AnswerUse: the latter is used when the research has a practical requirement. The research later releases knowledge which could help to practical situations The third category is Question- Answer- Effect: this type of research is used in order to study people interaction while investigating behaviour and areas.

Our research major project falls in the Question- Answer- Use category, we believe its aim is to achieve practical enhancement and will need different areas of study to finally achieve its goals. In fact, our research will cover fields such as technology, design, interaction, branding, experiential marketing, and authenticity. Moreover, it will need testing and the research results will, later on, be available to use for other entities or for further research. (2013,p.15)

5

discovery & inspiration

FINDING AN IDEA & A STRUCTURE FAILING AT MIND MAPPING:

The mind map map was one of my many trials to create a comprehensive, yet precise mind map.

This mind map lacked of investigation and precision. The topic of “Customer Store Experience� could target any store in any city. Therefore, I was asked to narrow my subject in terms of my content of research.

While in the journey of discovery, I tried transforming the way I interact with ideas, and I think Diamonds shape the way I think and interpret concepts.

NEW MIND MAP: SPECIFIC & CONSISTENT

Unlike the first mind map, the one on the right is specific and targets a specific subject on a specific area: Brand Experience on phone booths. Finding two to three concepts gave me the chance to explore more in one subject rather than being overwhelmed by multiple subjects

6

7

new city, new spaces

In this section, I will be sharing the different settings and places I believed were interesting or entertaining. Places include restaurants and exhibitions

8

SOHO

I have been always interested in quirky exhibitions and artistic contributions in spaces. While having the best brunch on earth in the best interior setting on EARTH, we started talking in depth about the subject, and we decided to look at the features that make the place so special and so popular in the city of London.

Their food is for sure an exceptional one, but I am sure that many restaurants serve the same food all over London. The interior is not spacious enough which makes it cozy and homy. The place has a history, well it looks like it has. On our way in there is a huge board on which was hang many posters, international money notes, and cards from multiple people. We can also see that the place has not been renovated for a while; however, the appliances look clean and new. When it came to the accessories and the interior settings, the places wants to communicate a crowded and kitschy look. In fact, there were many pictures on the wall, and many planters on old looking tables.

The walls look they haven’t got a brush for a little while and were set in very distinct colours such as red and yellow. It is also pretty interesting to looks at the baristas and waiters of the place, they were all dressing casual, and were very friendly, very busy though. The music set in the Breakfast Club was strictly Early 90′s to Early 20′s, in fact, I would say it matches the Café’s target segments: MILLENIALS. On last Thursday, Mr Russ Lidstone, the HAVAS’ CEO, talked us through the new Advertising Era and how it is shifting to a multimedia ecosystem where all types of media are involved to ensure a brand continuity. One of the main aspects he talked us through was the Cultural Memory, and how key cultural and political event in a person’s life span can contribute on preferences and choices. He mentioned that starting the age of 7, we start building a cultural memory that builds through time. We are emphasising on this aspect since Advertising uses this pattern to pierce into customers’ nostalgia. Millennial are creatures born in the early 90′s, and it seemed like having the backstreet boys playing in the background was a great conversation starter!

9

OXFORD STREET

10

LUSH STORE EXPERIENCE: Back in the beginning of October, I had the chance to visit one of the biggest LUSH Cosmetics in London, which is located in Oxford Street. I have already experienced the “Lush Experience” in different places like Lisbon or Amsterdam, but I must say that the Oxford Street store is one of a kind. Before even entering the store, we could already smell the different products fragrances and smells. One if the main reasons that makes Lush store have such a strong smell is the non package policy of its products. In fact, most of its products are not packaged or are displayed with open pots.

I had the chance to visit the store with two friends who never heard about the brand. We got welcomed by a lush store assistant who guided us through the different store’s levels.

I would sense that LUSH’s store assistants are very knowledgeable about the store and the products. I also believe that they have a set of words they are allowed to use. She explained how the store is composed of three main levels, the soothing level, where we could discover the different perfumes and the SPA services as well as the different LUSH records. The second floor is the Welcoming level, and it is usually where all the face masks, body lotions, and shampoos are displayed, many hand lavatories were available at that level since that is where customers get product trials with the help of the store assistants. The third floor is the FUN floor where the LUSH bath bombs are displayed, there is a relatively big playground for children to play with 100% natural playing paste. What I was most intrigued by is the fragrance experience. In lower floor, the soothing floor was installed a entire display about perfumes and fragrances. LUSH has allocated a specific area to immerse its costumers in the perfume experiences,

friends and I took the initiative and went for it. The experience consisted of different steps, but they all involved the same procedure. I will be picking the perfume called “The smell of Freedom”.the store assistant explained how this perfume was created after the release of a famous journalist who got exiled for over 3 years. he got released, the journalist got asked by LUSH how would he describe freedom, the journalist choice for ingredients is what made “the smell of Freedom” so powerful. What I want to reflect the most on, is the setting of the fragrances and how through the art of interior design and navigation, we had the power, as customers, to discover about the story. Besides, we as customers could easily get through the power of discovering and decoding what was intended to be sent by the brand. The competitive advantage about this experience is how it was very original and entertaining.

11

HOLBORN LV SERIES #3 During the month of October, I had the chance to go to the latest Louis Vuitton exhibition where we had an exclusive look at the history and behind the scenes of the very well known fashion brand. I personally was intrigued by every bit of it, and I made sure to document every single bit that could be very valuable for my Phone Booth project.

1. The first aspect that I loved is the vast and endless screen we were surrounded by at the main entrance. As you can see in the first picture, the main exhibition guide was telling the story of Louis Vuitton while we could see a full display of Louis Vuitton picture at the screen in the background. Same thing happened when the guide was talking about the offices in Louis Vuitton and how it is designed.

When shown on the big screen, we could have an insight of a real size space which was quite intriguing. Same thing happened when the screen displayed the different models on a real size catwalk. it is almost real.

bags, they have set a real showcase of a bag in the making. While 3 cameras were pointed at the French lady sewing the bag, we were able to look at the process from three different angles, which was pretty fascinating.

2. The second aspect that I really liked about the exhibition is the voice over playing at the background. The choice for music was also pretty interesting, I could already figure that songs from H.A.I.M and Grimes were playing, which can show fashion sophistication.

3. The third aspect that I liked is the the game played with forms. space. and light when it comes to transitions between exhibition parts.

4. The exhibition did an excellent job in displaying or creating metaphors of their values through physical displays. For instance, when there was an intention to display precision in the making of shoes, precision was represented of laser lights drawing very distinct shapes on a black canvas. When they wanted to display precision and quality when it comes to

12

13

Josef smukrovich-2 minutes

media, media In the past days, I also made sure to collect any media that talks about phone booths in order to assemble different cultural references about phone boxes.

(Stencil 2013)

14

Revolution,

Solar Box on Twitter

15

Methodology and approaches

THE RESEARCH TOPIC:

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

the-telephone-box.co.uk

16

According to Collins in the section “What makes a great research topic”, a research topic is a product of interest, focus, availability of knowledge, the challenges along with risks that will be encountered in the project. Career incentives and risks are prime in the research project since it shows how the project and career perspectives are following the same path. The research question: “How Phone Booths can deliver exciting and authentic brand experience?” came from the interest towards aesthetics, branding, authenticity, and brand experience. We want to study how brands meticulously deliver the authentic brand experience that depicts a brand’s essence. Knowing that our interest is displayed in these specific keywords, we wanted to make sure that they are embodied in a concrete yet creative example. Our focus on the phone booth is due to its availability around London, its cultural authenticity, its individually drawn space, and its design and aesthetic features. When it comes to the availability of knowledge, we think that our three main subjectsBrand experience, Authenticity, and technology are widely available when it comes to secondary sources. Therefore, we will display later our list of sources through a literature review. Our secondary subjects which are tourism, human interaction, and media are areas of knowledge that comprehend multiple literature sources. However, we believe that we will be facing multiple challenges in understanding different concepts and theories in technology and human interaction. As far as the career goals that this project embodies, we could mention three specific skills we are aiming to discover and operate with.The first skill area is production management, these research major projects aim into delivering a consistent knowledge about the different topics mentioned earlier, but it also aims into delivering a concrete prototype of authentic brand experience. Therefore, we will be looking at the different tools to harness production through productivity, effectiveness, and time management. The second skill area is art direction while we are delivering concrete results, we aim into delivering in such an attractive shape, therefore, design skills will be sharpened in terms of two-dimensional design, video and visual effects. The third skill area is Brand strategy.

The latter is highly important in order to interact with the customer to deliver consistent and attractive results. (2010, p. 26)

THE ACTUAL TOPIC:

Kumar argues that the term “research” has taken different shapes of meanings in the past years. However, all the meanings aim into finding answers to questions. Research is a set of philosophies which involves data from different fields. The data will be processed through a methodology and a procedure in order to provide valuable knowledge, results, and findings.

The research will eventually be processed within an unbiased and objective framework. The process of research is explained since the latter will be the pillar of our journey into finding knowledge. As far as our Major research project go, we believe that it will comprise all the components mentioned earlier.

Therefore, in this section, we will put on the show our choice when it comes to the philosophical orientation, methodology, set of methods, epistemology, and the theoretical framework involved in the research. Since our research major project is a blend of artistic, yet project driven, we decided to be inspired from the creative research with Collins, while keeping project based research with Kumar. With that being said, we will support our choices at each stage of the process with valuable arguments. (2005, p.15)

PHILOSOPHICAL ORIENTATION:

Collins argues that a research philosophy stands for the category of data and data development. Collins mentions how the research philosophy is a product of beliefs and methods of work; therefore, it is a way to describe the personal input in the research. Although a research project should always be objective unbiased, the way data is processed can be personal but should be embodied in either of the following core approaches: Epistemology, Ontology, or Axiology.

Epistemology relies on specific accurate knowledge and it understands the different limits and challenges faced. Again Epistemology aims into verifying and yielding scientific or reliable knowledge.

17

Ontology aims in discovering the nature of reality instead of the knowledge itself. Ontology is split on two main types objectivism and subjectivism. The first type, objectivism relies on different social entities and theories to explain a phenomenon, subjectivism, on the other hand, relies on the self and its interpretations to explain a certain phenomenon. Axiology is the third philosophical orientation. It is a research focused on ethics, aesthetics, and values. As a result, we think that the best research philosophy to undertake in our research project is Epistemology since we are analysing different aspects while relying on scientific and social theories. (2005, p.26)

The third perspective is explanatory, which aims into explaining where does a relationship stand and explain why it has been set. So not only does it set a correlation, but it explains the correlation itself. Exploratory perspective aims into investigating in an non-researched area. When this perspective is used, the researcher can use any of the perspectives mentioned earlier: descriptive, correlational, or explanatory. (2005, p.29) Gray has a different way of explaining theoretical perspectives, and, therefore, determine the right research methods. The first Theoretical perspective he defines is positivism. Positivism relies primarily on any reality that involves the senses; therefore, it is a perspective that is highly relying on observation and empirical research. Gray argues that all data included in the research should, therefore, subject to test and When it comes to research approach, Collins suggests should be in the shape of facts rather than values. either a deductive or inductive approach. The first approach is best used when there a great availability of data, field, and literature resources in respect to the research subjective. The inductive approach is used when there are not enough resources about the subject research; consequently, the research will take further time and effort in order to retrieve data and, later on, make insights about the subject. After conducting a literature overview, many findings, books, and experiments were coordinated to serve the subject of brand experience, authenticity, aesthetics, and psychology.

Therefore, the research project will be undertaken within a deductive approach which will not only use secondary data but will as well use primary research in order to discover new findings. (2010, p.42)

RESEARCH APPROACH:

THEORETICAL PERSPECTIVE:

Kumar classified a research by its objectives perspectives. There are 4 distinct perspectives: a Descriptive, correlational, explanatory, or exploratory research. A research which has a descriptive perspective aims to describe a situation, problem, or phenomenon. It aims to serve researchers in the social media field. Many scientists use the descriptive perspective in order to examine and describe a specific ethnicity, generation, or social condition. When it comes to the correlational perspective, it aims to stumble or a relation, interdependence, or dependence between different factors.

This perspective would serve research on effects on diseases on a social environment, or the correlation between menopause and stress.

18

Interpretivism, on the other hand, relies heavily on cultural interpretations and history to conduct a research. It is a research perspective which is heavily used by social sciences researchers since it looks at the social reality rather than the natural or anatomic definition of a situation/environment.

Critical inquiry, on the other hand, puts every past finding and constructed knowledge into question in order to obtain new findings. This perspective is usually put in for to eradicate any social construction or social class reinforcement.Postmodernism on the other hand relies on an extensive and detail-based analysis.Feminism is a perspective that looks at gender equality and the different views generated from the equality gap to explain events and facts. It believes that female gender may have different interpretations because of male dominance. (2004, p.7) When it comes to our research we believe that it will have both an explanatory and correlational perspective. Our major research project aims to create a brand experience in Phone booths; furthermore, it will explore the relationship between Brand experience and authenticity along with explaining how the relationship is set between the two factors. Consequently, we will focus on the different factors that enhance authenticity and excitement in a Brand experience. The subject covered involves extensive observation and it will, therefore, follow a positivist perspective; however, we will need to follow an interpretive approach when searching and designating cultural reference for our project.

METHODOLOGY APPROACH

The research methodology will be based on the theoretical perspectives, approaches, and philosophy orientations. According to Gray, it is considerable to define the different research aspects in order to, later on, define the research strategy and methodology. The research methodology will be inspired of many researchers’ interpretations of methodology. We decided to focus on a waterfall style methodology that will include a rotative learning cycle. We decided to focus on four main methodologies to come up with ours.

(2004, p.11) We will, first of all, explain Kumar’s research process, he states that in order to undertake a research, there are two things to take highly into consideration. Finding the research question is prime because deciding and defining an aim will guide the research into a definite research journey.

The second thing that Kumar took into account is the methodology and the series of tools and techniques the research will need in order to be conducted. Therefore, the research will be based on three main steps: Phase A is deciding, which answers the question Why. The second phase is Planning which answers the question How. The third phase is conducting which consists on collecting data. Kumar describes research methodology in eight steps. The first step is formulating the research problem. This step is considered as a guidance tool. In order to achieve the first step, a researcher is required to review the literature and identify a research problem. The second consists on creating a research design which will be the framework for research. The third step consists on building a set of instruments for data collection. In order words, this step consists on gathering the right tools and methods to retrieve data. The fourth and next step will be about picking the right sample, and at this step, there are many theories that a researcher should take into consideration to find the right sample. In the fifth step will be about gathering the findings to writing a consistent research proposal. What follows is collecting data, interpreting data, and creating insights which will be embodied in a research report. (2005, p.53) Design thinking this iterative process aims into considering people as the prime asset of the research. The framework involved in this typical method is openness and full concentration on the other rather than personal input. The second aspect is how design thinking is highly flexible and requires a set of disciplines and areas of study. Therefore, design thinking will give further freedom in research and more outcome. Design thinking includes five main steps: Empathise, Define, Ideate, Prototype, Test. In the empathy level, the researcher should be immersed in the environment in order to observe the social patterns and engage with people. This step helps to learn extensively about the people’s identity while learning about their habits and priorities. So in our case, we will be empathising with the English citizen and tourists in London, in order to find out the different habits, interests, thoughts, and opinions. Later on, the series of observations will not only allow us to immerse in the English environment and culture mechanism, but it will also help us find a common ground between our phone booth project and our subject, which are the people. The second step is defining, which stands for finding the multiple needs our subject are looking for, this very specific step will allow us in finding and designing the right content to display in the phone booths. It will filter out content and show us what content, design, and ideas we can

19

deliver or avoid. The third step is Ideate, which aims into creating, brainstorming, and coming up with the craziest ideas. The prototype is the draft of the ideas with which the researcher has come up in the last step.

The research needs to show the prototype to different people in order to have a variation of thoughts and, therefore, a collection of insights for his final idea.

The last step is Test, which is the step where the research show the prototype to the subject in question.

So as we can see, there is a going back to the first step to finding a common ground between people engaged with and the prototype idea. The researcher will have the freedom to repeat the steps for several times until finding the appropriate prototype idea for the subject.

(2013)

So far, we have discovered two main research processes, the following concept describes the main research levels and the different relations it creates in order to create knowledge. Mueller and Thoring have decided to make the very detailed comparison between design thinking and lean startup, which are two main processes that deal with customers, methodology, and process design. After defining lean startups and its provenance from Lean design, Muller and Thoring came to the conclusion that both Lean Startup and Design thinking are two processes that put humans or customers as their core subject.

The authors compare the two research processes in terms of shape; in fact, they state how lean learning cycle is shaped in a circular form while design thinking is in a linear form. Thoring and Muller explain how the circular shape signifies a continuity and repetition. Another aspect the authors point at is how the two processes aim into delivering the result, which is a product of a learning process and an experimentation process. While conducting the comparison, the authors deducted that the two processes start with the same ideology: finding a problem instead of an idea.

Later on, it stated how the two concept includes consumers in the very early stages of the process. The differences between the two processes aren’t many, but they shape the intentions of each. For instance, while design thinking is looking for innovation, lean startup is looking for validity as a purpose. Therefore, while design thinking begins with extensive research because it is doubting about a direction, lean startup starts from the company’s vision and builds its way up. Another different aspect is the fact that Lean startup does not rely on ideation methods such as brainstorming for instance while design thinking doesn’t.

Thoring and Mueller came with the remarkable idea of merging between the two main research processes to make a stronger research model, which could be shown in the diagram bellow.

The new research process is called lean design thinking, and its main steps are Understand, Point of view, ideation, Prototyping,customer discovery, customer validation, and company building. As we can see the diagram, design thinking is heavily used in the first steps of the new model; therefore, steps such as understanding, point of view, ideation, and prototyping are present in the model, the lean Startup process comes in the fourth step: prototyping, where there is methods such as business model, problem-solution fit, or proposed funnels are brought into perspective. The model shows a business-oriented focus towards its end. For instance methods such as Product market fit, Sales?marketing roadmap or scale execution are present in the model.

Another interesting aspect of the model is how it iterates at each step in order to retest and evaluate the performance of each step. “ people don’t pay products but meanings” this is Verganti’s main view about relationship between people and innovation. He also states that people look for emotions, experiences, and desires in a product, and, therefore, they are looking for a meaning rather than anything else. Analysts have stated how meaning is prime in consumers’ choices, and there are many companies which follow the approach of creating products based on conceived meanings. However, Verganti is looking for design-driven innovation, which a tool used to create meaning rather than retrieve a pre-existing meaning within customers As we can see in the diagram, the radical change only happens when there is a technological push, a design-driven perspective, and an almost non-existent consideration for user centred meaning. (2009, p.63)

20

(2012, p.10)

21

Thoring and Mueller came with an interesting interpretation of design thinking. In fact, the two researchers came with a new analysis of the method by defining the different learning levels. As the diagram can show, there are 4 main levels of Design knowledge. These main levels define how knowledge is created and with which mean it has been processed. Mueller and Thoring took every step in Design thinking and created a model that describes each of the main steps in terms of knowledge level. The first level is understood, which consists on grasping knowledge from secondary sources such as books, tapes, and documentaries.

In this is the specific step, we are shifting from the Symbolic knowledge to the Tacit knowledge.

In the Observation step, we are faced to physical assets on a physical level, which is later on transformed to a tacit knowledge. When it comes to the activity of interviewing, we can say that it is a shift from tacit knowledge stored in interviewees, which is later on shaped as explicit knowledge through their answers in interviews. As for the activity of storytelling,

22

knowledge through their answers in interviews. As for the activity of storytelling, it goes through the same process as the interview activity. In fact, the action of photographing story telling and discussion is a clear shift from Tacit knowledge to explicit knowledge.

When it comes to Synthesis, it consists of filtering the explicit knowledge to finally form series of theories.

Therefore, it is a shift from Symbolic level to a Model level. When it comes to question formulation, it is a used model and theory in order to deliver explicit knowledge for research subjects. Therefore, it is a shift from Model Level to Symbolic Level. Ideation is a step that requires a back and forth shift between the Symbolic level and the neuronal level since it requires formulation of personas and insights. When it comes to prototyping, it consists on gathering all insights in order to form a model, a concept, or product; thus, there is a move from Tacit knowledge to a physical 3D form. Then testing the prototype on the research subjects, we are gathering insight, and, therefore, it is a move from the Physical level to the Neuronal level.

(2011)

literature BRAND EXPERIENCE Experience Economy

by Gilmore and Pine Experience Economy is the ultimate guide book for brand experience. After introducing today’s market and after discussing how turning products into commodities is no longer a solution to be competitive, the authors introduce the experience concept and how it is changing the commercial scene. An example which got us hooked is the Las Vegas/Disney experiences.

Pine and Gilmore explain how staging character, having a taste of reality through senses, and the magic of technology creates a great competitive advantage for the brand. The book is highly related to our subject since our main aim is to turn a commodity, which is the action of calling in a phone booth to an exciting stage experience that could move the hearts. Therefore, in the third chapter, they introduce The Progression of Economic Value, which shows the different stages in which a product can evolve while gaining more value and, therefore, yielding more profit. staging the product in an experience can position a good at a premium stage. The second prime theory developed in the book is how to stage a product, and the authors mentioned 4 main steps: Absorption, Active participation, immersion, and passive participation. A customer can get into these main steps by experiencing four main attributes: Entertainment, Educational, Escapist, and Aesthetic. In all, the book covers different interesting Brand experience rules which will be highly used in our project.(1999)

23

Managing the customer experience by Schmitt “Managing the customer experience” by Smith and Wheeler comes with the interesting concept in “Managing the customer experience”. Today’s customers are impatient beings who want their products not only delivered, but they are also eager in receiving a brand experience. Along with providing with the right set of tools to deliver a great brand experience, this book, unlike the “experience economy” addresses the subject of experience in the business framework. So the authors show where brand experience stand in a business model and how companies will be willing to deliver a complete brand experience to its customers.(2002)

Experiential Marketing by Schmitt In Experiential marketing by Bernd H. Schmitt, we are exploring the main attributes which define an experience such as the typologies of mind, senses, feelings, thoughts, action, and relation. Although the examples mentioned are quite dated, we believe that the book’s core component can still be applied nowadays. However, the book talks about an experience as a collection of different communication channel that will make the brand omnipresent in customers’ minds. Another interesting component is the key issues of experiential marketing, and it relies mostly on which attribute should marketers put in the front to ensure an effective experience.

(2000)

AUTHENTICITY

Anthenticity by Gilmore & Pines

Authenticity is the second book pick from Gilmore and Pine. It discusses how authenticity is highly valued in the 21st century. In fact, the authors have noticed a high demand for authentic products and services which takes ethical values into consideration. Customers are also looking for companies that deliver the realest output possible. The authors identify 5 different types of authenticity: Natural, original, unique, influential or contextual to people’s environment. This book will help us deliver an authentic brand experience within phone boxes since it explains the main attributes needed in a product/experience to become authentic. (2007)

24

DESIGN & CREATIVITY

Graphic Design Thinking by Lupton

Ellen Lupton’s Graphic Design Thinking: Beyond Brainstorming is a guide to fetch new idea thanks to arts. The book is visually oriented but introduced new research methods we were not aware of. Along with brainstorming and mind-mapping, she introduces visual research, which a technique that consists on gathering different visual attributes about a brand or product, visualise and identify the differences or similarities with other brands to find a common ground and to come up with new insights.

Two other techniques she introduces are the visual brain dumping and forced connection, which we found very important for our research. Visual brain dumping consists on sketching within a specific time frame in order to come up with new ideas. The second technique is consists on merging two main crafts, areas, or techniques in order to come up with new concepts. The author mentions the idea of creating a new coffee shop and what could be the different services a customer could receive while waiting for a coffee. One of the ways she introduces to find a common ground with another area of retail is to list the attributes of a coffee shop and what could be the traits that are similar in other areas. We are willing to change the phone booth’s main attributes, and therefore, we will need techniques such as forced connection or visual brain dumping to create a new image while introducing new traits to the red phone box.

Idea Generation by Leonard and Ambrose Another book which explores the different ways to generate ideas is called(2006) Idea Generation. Leonard and Ambrose explore in this book ways to convey and search for ideas, we mentioned earlier how we are interested in forced connection, and this book comes up with another technique which is called free association and it is where a researcher sets a trigger and finds 20 words associated to it. The techniques aim into finding the second idea in a generation of concept in case of an advertisement.

(2000)

25

Cinematic Storytelling Tellingby Van Sijll This book assembled and analysed by Jennifer Van Sijll discusses different movie scenes while explaining the meaning of each scene depending on the angles and the directions involved in the filming. She introduces different filming effect to, later on, explain why such an effect was applied on a specific scene. We think that this book will be rewarding for our project since the brand experience will involve footages for a short period of time.

As a result, we intend to deliver the best outcome possible and the most accurate display of our ideas and messages. (2009)

Thing explainer by Munroe is a beautifully made book by Randall Munroe where he shows the different example where he explains complicated mechanisms in a very simple way. From US constitution to smartphones, Munroe explains different systems using simple words and great infographics. We think this book will be of a great help for our conception for the mock video presentation in the phonebook.(2015)

BRITISH CULTURE

Sorry I’m British! & Xenophobe’s guide to the English

y I’m British (2010) and Xenophobe’s guide to lish (1993) are two main sources of British culFrom famous expressions to English lexicon to ish manners and favourite habits, these books will us understand the authentic British lifestyle. We ld like to know more about the subject because we willing to deliver an authentic British media in the ne booths. The books will help us to find the cultural rences and the most iconic life attributes in British tyle. Both books mention Phone Boxes, defining m as one of UK’s cultural icons.

26

Watching the English

by Fox From the home rules to the food rules, to the rules of passage, Kate Fox guides us in her book Watching the English about the multiple habits English people have. Through her exploration of Grammar of English, kate explains why do English say “sorry” often thanks to long hours of observations as an anthropologist. Kate Fox also relies on class, gender, and ethnicity to explain the British norms nowadays. We think the conversation codes, as well as British street behaviours included in the book, will give us more guidance and insight into delivering the proper English speaking style. 13How to be British by David Boyle follows the same concept and goes through subjects such as allotment, apologies, the Beatles, and beer and ale. The book gives a long description about the different aspect of British lifestyle. (2008)

Phone Booth by Kelly Phone booth by Ariana Kelly is a very interesting book which covers the series of situations where phone booths were highly important as well as their usage back when the red boxes were important. Along with describing the different accessories and behaviours people used in order to ensure privacy while talking, she also describes how phone booth used to be a confident and sometimes a partner in crime. We think we will be able to retrieve some important information when it comes to delivering content about phone booths, and we think it is always essential to question phone booths history and background before applying new concepts on the red box (2015) 15 Harry potter places Book one: As the title may show, this is a book including all the venues where Harry Potter movies were shot. The book contains maps and is classified by regions and occurrences. This book could be highly rewarding in the production level since we will need cultural references depending on the phone booth location.(2012)

The Brand Senses by Lindstrom Martin Windstorm explains how senses contribute in our willing to buy a specific product or service. In fact, he came up with the concept of “smashing” which consists on questioning the brand’s attribute to later on change or “smash” for better components and attributes. He, later on, describes the importance of every sense in a brand. We think this manual will be highly important for our research since it includes multiple examples which could be applied in our project. For instance, Windstorm mentions how background music in store or ringtone can influence someone’s purchase choice. (2005)

27

Street logos by Manco Tristan Manco has decided to show street art to the worlds while explaining how street artists have managed to create their own brand thanks to their graffiti signatures. This book is also a great way to discover the different street artists around the world and their inspirations. We chose this book in order to depict artistic yet urban assets of city streets. We think that street art is a part of London’s culture and we believe that it should be one of the many contents broadcasted in the phone booths. (2004)

Cite them right the referencing guided: Since our research project will have a Harvard referencing style with Cite Them Right, we decided to use the Palsgrave Study Skills referencing guide in order to cite our sources in a correct way. Whether it is an audiobook, a video, or a magazine article, this source will provide us with all the rules available to cite our

City Branding by Dinnie

Keith Dinnie explores the different steps and attributes to take into consideration when branding a city. She describes in her book that a city’s branding is present in order to attract tourists’ attention while satisfying residents and locals. While Dinnie describes the different stages and attributes to develop a city brand, she gives the example of Toronto and how the city has succeeded in building a brand while diffusing its essence through communication channels.

28

Towards effective place brand management by Ashworth and Kavaratis Another book which explores city branding is (2011) Towards effective place brand management- branding European cities and regions. Ashworth and Kavaratis look at different city brands such as IAmsterdam or Berlin and evaluates the brand logo and the strategy they undertake to keep their brand alive. We think these books will be highly important for our research because our main aim is to convey London’s brand through our medium the phone booth; therefore, having multiple examples helps highly in the process. (2010)

London, from Punk to Blair by Kerr and Gibson We think that in order to deliver a brand experience about the city of London, we will have to explore the culture and history of London. We have not done an extensive research on the research, but we found two interesting sources so far which could give us an idea on the content we want to convey within the phone booths. The first source is called London: From Punk to Blair. It covers topics from punk music to public transportation.

(2003)

Research Methodology by Kumar Kumar has been one of the key authors in this research portfolio.

Kumar’s “Research Methodology” is the ultimate guide to explore the different steps involved in a research project. Through the book, we found the different ways defining the research project in terms of approaches and perspectives. the author includes a range of research processes, and the letters were highly beneficial for our research. An interesting part covered was “ how to mix methods” and we made good use of it because we are implementing a mixed methods approach.(2003)

29

Design- Driven Innovation by Verganti: The book explores the challenges in the processes of innovation and how such process could use design-driven innovation in order to deliver better and more unique content. Verganti defines design as an architecture, plan, or structure in which a concept go through to be fully manufactured. The way Verganti explained his process is through the comparison of multiple companies while analysing their innovation process in order to come up with a new model for innovation.The process is exclusively based on the blend between strategy, design, and technology management and does not consider the user as a prime subject; instead, he considers meaning as the prime subject focused on for innovation.First, the author delivers a great letter to the reader where he explains how design-driven innovation can be seen in brands such as Nintendo and Apple. He mentions how innovation has changed over years. Companies relied on delivering the best quality three decades ago; however, quality has become a commodity, while delivering a meaning is the ultimate way to attract customers. Variant defines the process as radical innovation and thinks the inspiration should come from the area’s interpretation instead of a direct request from users. We think we will use a design-driven innovation when evaluating whether phone booths will be an adequate medium for brand experience. So we will have to ask interpreters instead of future users such cultural organisation, artists, media, designers, and project developers. No wonder such content has come from Verganti since his career paths and his ambition made him believe in his concept about Design-driven innovation. Our author is the lecturer in Politecnico di Milano, where he teaches management of innovation. For years, the author has been providing consultations for innovation to multiple companies such as Nestle, Unilever, and Kraft

Bibliography BBC News (no date) BBC News. BBC. Available at: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-22861389 (Accessed: December 11, 2015).

Forbes (no date) Forbes. Forbes Magazine. Available at: http://www.forbes.com/sites/reuvencohen/2014/03/31/design-thinking-a-unified-framework-for-innovation/ http://www.fastcompany.com/919258/ design-thinking-what (Accessed: December 11, 2015).

Ashworth, G. J. and Kavaratzis, M. (2010) Towards effective place brand management: branding European cities and regions. Cheltenham, UK: Edward Elgar.

CREATING KNOWLEDGE IN DESIGN THINKING: THE RELATIONSHIP OF PROCESS STEPS AND KNOWLEDGE TYPES (no date) ResearchGate. Available at: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/234065444_creating_knowledge_in_design_thinking_the_relationship_of_process_steps_and_knowledge_types (Accessed: December 11, 2015).

Collins, H. (2010) Creative research: the theory and practice of research for the creative industries. Lausanne: AVA Academia.

Crystal, B., Russ, A. and McLachlan, E. (2010) Sorry, I’m British!: an insider’s guide to Britain from A to Z. Richmond: Oneworld.

DESIGN THINKING VS. LEAN STARTUP: A COMPARISON OF TWO USER-DRIVEN INNOVATION STRATEGIES (no date) ResearchGate. Available at: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/234066097_ design_thinking_vs._lean_startup_a_comparison_of_two_user-driven_innovation_strategies (Accessed: December 11, 2015).

Dinnie, K. (2011) City branding: theory and cases. Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire: Palgrave Macmillan.

Flick, U. (no date) Introducing research methodology: a beginner’s guide to doing a research project.

Creative Research by Collins Collins came up with the most helpful book I could refer to. The creative research was the ultimate guide to getting initiated into research in the arts. While providing the right tools to formulate a good research question, Collins made sure to show different ways of describing the research project through various approaches, tools, and techniques. Later on, Collins describes steps to conduct a research design and a consistent explanation of different research methods and tools. (2010)

Fox, K. (2008) Watching the English: the hidden rules of English behaviour. Boston: Nicholas Brealey Pub. Gilmore, J. H. and Pine, B. J. (2007) Authenticity: what consumers really want. Boston, MA: Harvard Business School Press.

Gray, D. E. (2004) Doing research in the real world. London: Sage Publications.

Kelly, A. (no date) Phone booth.

Kerr, J. and Gibson, A. (2003) London from punk to Blair. London: Reaktion.

Kumar, R. (2005) Research methodology: a step-by-step guide for beginners. London: SAGE. Lee, A. (no date) 40 years of the mobile phone: Top 20 facts. Available at: http://www.express.co.uk/life-style/ science-technology/388974/40-years-of-the-mobile-phone-top-20-facts (Accessed: December 11, 2015).

Leonard, N. and Ambrose, G. (no date) Idea generation.

Lupton, E. (2011) Graphic design thinking: beyond brainstorming. New York: Princeton Architectural Press.

30

31

Manco, T. (2004) Street logos. New York, NY: Thames & Hudson.

Miall, A. (1993) The xenophobe’s guide to the English. London: Ravette.

Miller, C. D. (2012) Harry Potter places. Ashland, NE: A Novel Holiday Travel Guidebooks.

Munroe, R. (no date) Thing explainer: complicated stuff in simple words.

Pears, R. and Shields, G. J. (2010) Cite them right: the essential referencing guide. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.

Pine, B. J. and Gilmore, J. H. (1999) The experience economy: work is theatre & every business a stage. Boston: Harvard Business School Press.

Schmitt, B. (2003) Customer experience management: a revolutionary approach to connecting with your customers. New York: Wiley.

Schmitt, B. (2000) Experiential marketing. Bilbao: Deusto.

Smith, S. and Wheeler, J. (2002) Managing the customer experience: turning customers into advocates. London: Financial Times Prentice Hall.

Verganti, R. (2009) Design-driven innovation: changing the rules of competition by radically innovating what things mean. Boston, MA: Harvard Business Press.

Why organizations need Project Management (no date) Project Lab. Available at: http://blog.projectplace. com/why-organizations-need-project-management/ (Accessed: December 11, 2015).

X2 Connect Ltd K6 Red Phone Box Facts (no date) X2 Connect Ltd K6 Red Phone Box Facts. Available at: http://www.x2connect.com/shop/k6_red_phone_box_facts.php (Accessed: December 11, 2015).

32