Putting the RAN in BRANDING

Throughout my internship at Corporate Sports Australia for the Chevron City to Surf for Activ, I have quickly realised the importance of branding. Throughout our degree the importance of branding has come up and although it seems straightforward, it is when you put it into practice in the ‘real world’ you see it all come together.

Branding is a distinguishing name and/or symbol such as a logo, trademark or package design, intended to identify the goods or services of either one seller or a group of sellers and to differentiate those goods and services from those of competitors.

The diagram below looks at the positioning of the brand and understanding the link between a brand and its organisation, customers and competitors:

Based upon stakeholder evaluations of the strongest corporate reputation within different countries, they suggest that organisations with the strongest reputations are characterised by high levels of visibility, distinctiveness, authenticity, transparency and consistency. 

Every piece of documentation - media releases, official invitations, emails, newsletters and letters need to have the official Chevron City to Surf for Activ logo/brand on it and every time the event is written out, it needs to be ‘Chevron City to Surf for Activ’ not ‘Perth City to Surf’ or ‘City to Surf fun run’. In ensuring that all documents have this logo on it , event organisers are able to know, with confidence that its customers and competitors are familiar with the brand and can easily identify what the event logo is and are shown the same consistent logo that is distinctive from other events and organisations and is visible to them.

The event organiser, explained to my fellow intern Alanna and I about how important branding is. Everything needs to get the tick of approval from Chevron, and both organisations have an understanding of the brand of the Chevron City to Surf for Activ which you can see at the beginning of my blog post. Although the white background in the logo may seem irrelevant and unimportant, it is a part of the brand. The event manager wanted to test out a black background for the banners that will be placed everywhere - in the Event Expo, all down St Georges Terrace, Adelaide Terrace and other streets in the City and at City Beach Oval. When a sample arrived at the office, we were shown the difference between the black and white banners and all agreed that not only did the white background look more effective and let the writing stand out more but was more reflective of the City to Surf ‘brand’. The event manager continued to tell us that Chevron may not have approved this logo as it was different to all the logos that were currently in use but was good to test it out and see the difference and make notes for next year’s event.

Above are the banners on St Georges Terrace, the City start line. Imagine them with white writing and black background, the design that wasn't put forward. 

Branding may just seem to be a part of the process and come as second nature to include the proper naming of the event and have the logo on everything but when the event manager explained in literally black and white how branding works and why the banners need to have a white background, it opened my eyes to see this little detail has such high importance and works with the organisation, its customers and competitors.

What are your thoughts on branding? Have you had an experience at your internship when the wrong or right brand has been put out to the public or know of any brands that have gone wrong or are successful? 

Thanks,

Steph Sbrocco

Hilton Standards

Hilton Kuching is part of a major international hotel chain thus adopting uniform standards throughout. Since Batang Ai Longhouse Resort, Managed by Hilton is changing its corporate identity, many things including brochures, fact sheets, letters and anything else that still uses the old logo needs to be changed and updated. The older Batang Ai Longhouse Resort, Managed by Hilton brochures and fact sheets layout and design were not in-sync with its sister hotel, Hilton Kuching, nor was it following strictly to the Hilton Standards.

The PR department is in charge of redesigning brochures, fact sheets, letters, newsletters, banners and many more. I was given the task to copywrite a few documents such as welcome letter, notice of exemption, and fire safety and implement the new name change from Hilton Batang Ai Longhouse Resort to Batang Ai Longhouse Resort, Managed by Hilton. I also wrote a proposal for the new brochure and fact sheet. Not only implementing the new logo and name, but also updating things such as facilities and activities and following layout and design that is up to the Hilton Standards.

Not only that, I also help design the Batang Ai Longhouse Resort, Managed by Hilton new brochure. I used Illustrator CS and Adobe Photoshop to help me design it. The previous brochure was a simple 3-fold style but the new one will follow Hilton Kuching’s current 8-page brochure. Hilton is a large corporation so it has a manual that defines typography and graphic presentation of its name, logo and other visual identification. The manual describes how the identity is applied to everything the organisation utilises. I use the Hilton manual to guide me in making the brochure.

My knowledge of the two applications and familiarity with Apple Mac help tremendously. My supervisor also told me that the current trend for pictures now is to have no human beings in the photos. She explained that this is to ensure issues like racism can be avoided. It also makes people concentrate on rooms, facilities and so on that are being portrayed in the pictures.

Nearing the end of my internship, I had already burn more than 50 CDs for the press kit for future use. In the CD is general information on Hilton Kuching and Batang Ai Longhouse Resort, Managed by Hilton.