Brand Experience

BRAND EXPERIENCE

Offices are no longer just utilitarian; they are becoming powerful tools for brand building and employee engagement.

The evolving work landscape has heightened the demand for unique, curated, and memorable office experiences. Offices are evolving into brand destinations to stay relevant and appealing to employees and clients. This placemaking trend, driven by the pursuit of top talent, increased creativity, and a strong brand connection, aims to provide immersive experiences not easily replicated remotely.

Retail spaces often leverage brand history, incorporating vintage design elements to craft a unique atmosphere that resonates with customers.

Similar strategies can be applied to corporate spaces, creating a distinctive experience for users. Companies are adopting retail-inspired design elements, such as interactive displays and extensive signage, to enhance the workspace, making it more inviting and brand-centric.

An immersive brand experience profoundly influences stakeholders. Staff are motivated when the workspace aligns with the company’s mission, while clients, encountering the brand firsthand, build trust and enhance their perception of the company.

Curating distinct experiences for users and engaging in UI/UX, or User Interface and User Experience, may offer invaluable strategies to apply to the brick and mortar space. UI/UX is set on creating a seamless, user-friendly, and enjoyable interaction between individuals and a system or product. In the context of the workplace, it means designing spaces that are functional, easy to navigate, and memorable to work in and visit.

From Retail to Corporate Taking cues from the client-centric, experiential features of retail stores, corporate spaces are becoming physical manifestations of a brand’s journey and evolution. Retail environments have traditionally been designed to captivate customers and build emotional connections with brands, and this approach is being integrated into corporate spaces to create more signature and dynamic workplaces.

As we dive into corporate placemaking, we begin by recognizing it goes beyond just adding a logo.

While a logo is a key visual element of a brand, the brand itself is a broader and more encompassing concept that includes various tangible and intangible elements.

Corporate REVERB Brand Experience

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1. Brand Identity Define the essential and unique characteristics that encapsulate what a brand stands for and the experience it aims to deliver to its audience.

2. Customized Palette Furniture, finishes, graphics, and lighting choices collectively evoke a personality and by using iconic patterns you solidify the mood.

5. Exhibits Whether digital or artifact-based, signature exhibits and graphic displays help transform a space into a brand tool communicating history and values.

6. Signage By integrating the required code signage with the company’s character in mind, brand graphics can extend throughout the entire space.

3. Color A passive but powerful brand tool, color can compliment or exactly match the brand and set an immersive backdrop.

4. Logo The logo, a defining brand graphic, creates a landing moment, serving as a visual shorthand for the company and is a crucial part of brand identity.

7. Wayfinding Colorful graphics and signage help guide people through space. Orienting visitors can help alleviate stressors in a space while enforcing brand.

8. Artwork Placing art strategically throughout a space reinforces the desired mood and message. For example, featuring local artists can make a space more community focused.

How to Placemake The brand is a holistic concept that encompasses the entire identity of a company or product. It goes beyond visual elements and includes the company’s values, personality, mission, and the overall experience it provides to customers.

A company with a long and storied history might use historical artifacts or images in its office decor, and a company focused on innovation may incorporate cutting-edge technology and open, collaborative spaces.

Brand Identity From monumental graphic displays with branded messages and logos, to the design of restroom signage, maintaining a consistent brand message within the workplace ensures that users are experiencing brand throughout the space. When everyone within the organization understands and identifies with the brand, it strengthens the connection between the company’s history and its present identity.

For clients, visiting an office that embodies the brand’s promises can create a sense of trust. This loyalty can translate into long-lasting relationships, repeat business, and positive word-of-mouth recommendations, all of which are invaluable in building a strong and enduring brand.

A brand is made up of various elements, including the logo, color palette, typography, messaging, brand voice, and overall design aesthetics. It is also influenced by the company’s culture, customer service, and the quality of its products or services.

The design of an office has an unlimited number of opportunities for reflecting the brand’s values, culture, and history.

Start with the People Employees are integral to communicating the brand message internally. Their engagement, behavior, and interactions with each other and clients mirror the brand’s values. When employees understand and embody the brand’s history and mission, it creates a living narrative that reinforces the larger brand message. Staff events, training, and company culture can all contribute to this internal branding.

Embody the Mission When the workplace is aligned with the brand, it not only influences perceptions but also fosters brand loyalty. Employees who are emotionally connected to their workplace and the brand are more likely to identify with and advocate for their company.

Tell the Story Everything from wall graphics to artwork to interactive displays to material selections can communicate the significance of the organization’s location, history, services, and team. Telling the company story throughout the space helps employees and clients connect with the brand on a deeper level, fostering a sense of purpose and identity within the organization.

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9. Instagram Moments

As team members champion the organization’s mission, explore ways to offer clients or guests the same lasting memory. For instance, utilize a branded sculpture within the office as an Instagram backdrop for clients celebrating a new home purchase.

10. Merch

The inclusion of branded products throughout a space reinforces brand in small, intentional moments.

Consider the type of objects and how they can support the workflow while also mirroring the culture.

11. Digital Experience

Websites, social media, Zoom calls, and other digital platforms are often the first impression an audience has with an organization’s brand. Creating a cohesive brand language through the digital and physical spaces is essential to a unified brand image. Consider the background, how is the lighting? Does the virtual meeting experience match the hospitality you would receive in person?

Interactive displays and graphics can also serve as a conversation starter and a tool for onboarding new employees, helping them better understand the company’s heritage and aspirations.

Even the behavior of employees and how they interact with one another can convey the brand’s values, making every interaction an opportunity to reinforce the company’s identity.

Find it in the Details Brand presence in the workplace can be conveyed in subtle but powerful ways. Smaller details, such as the choice of furniture, the style of artwork, and even the scent in the air can all reflect the brand’s identity.

The Takeaway The ever-changing realm of work has surged the need for tailored, branded, unforgettable office environments in an effort to ensure their relevance and allure to both employees and clients. This movement in placemaking, fueled by the quest for exceptional talent, amplified innovation, and robust brand affinity, strives to offer immersive encounters that cannot be effortlessly mirrored in remote settings.

A tech company with a casual and creative brand might have bean bags and quirky art installations in its workspace. The choice of lighting, from natural daylight to warm or cool LED lights, can also affect the atmosphere and how the brand is perceived.

Mixed Use + Co-Living

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