Bumper Sticker/Magnet
This uses the characteristics warm and authentic. It is warm by using the sun as the focal point. It also does this by making the tagline a prominent part of the design. The tagline implies that the Andover Strip is the center for business. But the heart can also imply that it is the emotional or more caring side of business. It is a warm and friendly place. They care so business owners will be authentic and up front.
The visual identity of this asset is compliant with the brand because of the form and color. The form is kept consistent with the brand fonts and with the use of similar shapes (like the sun). The colors also help tie it in because it is able to utilize the full color palette.
This asset is similar to the tote bag, the pen, and the notebook. Because of the limit on space it was important to just put the most important aspects of the brand on display. This provides the logo, the tagline, the number to the information center, and a general location. Due to their small size and manufacturing cost, these would be an ideal item to include in a mailing campaign to introduce the area. Since the brand will have little recognition power at first it is important to provide information that people can quickly deduce about the location. And since this can be printed in full color like the notebook the brand color palette can be incorporated.
Using these kinds of assets are a benefit because they are often cheap to make and can be mailed out. Near the launch of the brand it would be beneficial to mail residents in the surrounding area about the new district. This would bring attention to the area and act as an introduction. In an article written by Ott she states that “[a]dding a reasonably priced promotional product to a direct mail promotion usually generates far greater response rates, which reduces the cost per unit of the mailing and increases your success”. Adding a tangible item like the bumper sticker or magnet would help give the start of the brand a bigger impact.
Pen
This asset promotes the characteristic dynamic. This design can be applied to any pen product but the pen I have picked out here also doubles as a stylus. It not only adds to the usefulness of the asset, but this represents how dynamic the Strip can be.
After looking at various sites that make custom promotional items, the pens only allow the use of one kind of ink. So, I had to convey the visual identity through shapes and forms. By picking a blue pen, it will still stay in the color palette. Space is also limited on this item, so it is important to get the point across. This item promotes the logo, the name, and the tagline. Since this is not an established brand yet, it is also important to give people a way to find out more. The number will connect them with the information center in Andover where they can learn about the district.
The pen is visually similar to the tote bag, the notebook, and the bumper sticker/magnet. All these assets had limited space. So, they all feature similar arrangements of the important information for the brand.
This pen can be paired with the notebooks or handed out on their own. The article, The Pros and Cons of Promotional Products states that pens are often shared so they are passed around between many hands (Richard, 2017). This helps with exposure which will help the brand get on its feet within the surrounding communities. Pens are also one of the cheaper promotional items to make so it will be easy to make a large amount.
Pole Banners
These banners stick to the brand by employing the familiar and warm characteristics. It shows that the strip is a place of business, but Family is put in a different color to give it importance. Yes, the Strip wants your business but it also values family, so owners won’t screw you over just to make a buck. It also uses dynamic because of the winding road. It implies movement and that there are places to go.
One way they stick to the visual identity is through their focus on business. The left side uses imagery of the businesses. The right talks out how there are shops and there are restaurants to spend your time at. Another way is that they tie in characteristics of the road itself. They have the road winding through the image and the logo plays as a focal point.
The pole banners are closely related to the signage. Since the pole banners and the signage had a chance of being displayed close together, it was important they shared a similar visual identity. They use gradients and the same road motifs.
This type of asset is handy because once the hardware is set up, they can become places to advertise dedicated to the district. At the start these banners can be used to map out the district so people know how far into Andover the district stretches. This will help people understand the district. And since the hardware is installed the banners can easily be switched to be a highly visible advertisement for special events, tent sales, or individual business (AMI Graphics, 2017). This type of flexibility will allow the advertising to change as the brand changes. For these particular designs they would act as an introduction to the brand/area. They can either be displayed together or the green one can be displayed on its own. The green one acts as a “Hello my name is…” and the orange one explains the strengths of the area.
Signage
The characteristic warm is shown through the use of the bright coloring and the emphasis on family in the word set. Familiar plays a part by using images of the area so that you already have an idea of the districts look before you get there. The winding road plays on dynamic by implying motion.
This communicates the visual identity by its use of color and the imagery. The colors are bright and warm. It also uses the road motif and the asphalt texture to help tie in the strip of road. The images of the area focus mostly on the business part of the community.
The billboard most resembles the pole banners and the notebook. The banners both use the road motif. It is similar to the notebook because they use the same background and they both incorporate images from the area to help with recognition.
Signage like a billboard has the ability to advertise to people while they are one the move or while they are stuck at a light. The way this advertising works differently from other forms though is that creativity is not enough. A study found that because the viewer’s attention can easily be focused somewhere else, the signage needs to also be conspicuous (Wilson, Baack, & Till, 2015, p. 255). This design does this by using a bright yellow to draw the eye.
Tote Bag
The tote bag shows the brand characteristics authentic and familiar. Again, this design can be applied to any bag but the bag I have chosen for the example (and often the cheaper of the options without losing quality) is a canvas bag. Using quality fibers helps promote the idea that the district deals in authentic, natural products. It plays on familiar by offering a service where it can. It can be used for events in the Andover Strip but it can also be used in other aspects in people’s lives.
This stays within the visual identity of the brand by using fonts and forms that are used throughout other design elements. Since space was limited, and this is an item that will have a lot of exposure, it uses the logo in a prominent place to help give the logo exposure and eventually recognition.
This item is visually related to the pen, the notebook, and the bumper sticker/magnet. It is mostly closely related to the pen because they share similar limitations. Both can only be printed in one ink color. But since this asset’s dominate color is white, this imagery is a reverse of the pen which has blue as the dominate color.
Andover Strip offers many events like festivals, tent sales, farmers markets, etc. Individual stalls will sometimes offer their own bags but by the end of an event, you can be left carrying over a dozen of bags. This tote bag solves this problem by providing a single vessel to carry all these products. It is also a popular freebie item because people have use for them in other parts of their life. This is especially true in states that are getting rid of plastic bags. Alderton (2010) writes that the tote bag is such an effective branding opportunity because people use them so often at other events/meetings or as everyday briefcases. This leads to other people seeing the brand outside of the district. This then leads to better exposure.
Notebook
This asset promotes the characteristic of dynamic and familiar. The inside cover of this notebook can have a calendar printed on it. So not only does the journal part have dynamic uses but it can also double as a calendar where they can mark special dates. In an ideal situation, they would use the calendar to mark special dates for events happening in the Strip. It uses the characteristic familiar by keeping notes for the user and by being an asset that is used often.
This asset is able to be printed in a full color so is it is able to incorporate the full brand color palette. It also incorporates images that promote the business side of the area. The asphalt texture and the banding helps incorporate imagery of the strip of road.
This asset is visually similar to the pen, the bumper sticker/magnet, and the tote bag in the arrangements of the logo, tagline, and number. But this asset does not have the same printing limitations as the other products. This product allows for full color printing. So, I was able to incorporate elements from the other assets. It is able to tie in the gradients and textured backgrounds.
The advantage of the notebook is that it combines traditional advertising with functionality. McMarthy and Fram (2008) conducted a study where promotional items that integrated traditional print advertising into their forms had increased brand engagement and retention. The cover of the notebook features images of the area with an emphasis on the businesses. So, it acts as an advertisement and a visual reminder of those areas. Another benefit is that it incorporates a calendar into the cover. The problem with promoting a calendar on its own is that it only has a certain window of usefulness. By putting it into a notebook, even if the calendar expires the notebook can still be used. This will cut down on wastage in case they do not unload the items quickly.
References
Alderton, M. (2010). Conference Bags Top List of Promotional Items at Events. Successful Meetings, 59(8), 8. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com.oclc.fullsail.edu:81/login.aspx?direct=true&db=bth&AN=64436992&site=ehost-live
AMI Graphics. (2017, March 16). Practical Branding with Pole Banners. Retrieved from https://amigraphics.com/blog/practical-branding-with-pole-banners
McCarthy, M., & Fram, E. (2008). Synergies of Promotional Products and Print Advertising in Building Brand Equity for a New Brand. Journal of Promotion Management, 14(1/2), 3–15. https://doi-org.oclc.fullsail.edu/10.1080/10496490802501661
Ott, B. (2001). Keep Your Name out Front. On Wall Street, 11(2), 62. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com.oclc.fullsail.edu:81/login.aspx?direct=true&db=bth&AN=4292693&site=ehost-live
Richard. (2017, August 17). The Pros and Cons of Promotional Products. Retrieved from https://www.customlogocases.com/blog/pros-cons-promotional-products/
Wilson, R. T., Baack, D. W., & Till, B. D. (2015). Creativity, attention and the memory for brands: an outdoor advertising field study. International Journal of Advertising, 34(2), 232–261. https://doi-org.oclc.fullsail.edu/10.1080/02650487.2014.996117
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