The Branding of Culture The Branding of Culture in

The Branding of Culture The Branding of Culture in the Age of Brand Culture From identity design to intrinsic value, from theory to museums, from traditions to the future of branding: an exploration of what the art world might have to tell us Marco Bevolo, Design Director at Philips Design, discusses the methods employed in the branding of the cultural domain. He explores a number of designers and case histories in the domain of branding cultural assets, with a key focus on museums and art, which are considered one of the strongest ‘strange attractors’ in terms of contemporary trends. From architectural trends to the visions underpinning cultural institutions, observing the realm of culture from the marketing viewpoint offers some unique opportunities to gain insights into more general developments of both the branding disciplines and the cultural domains themselves. The first challenge is to define the scope of the cultural domain itself. According to Italian legislation, the notion of ‘belle arti’ comprises everything, from the object displayed in a museum to the landscape surrounding the museum itself. While this definition elevates landscape to higher status, advanced exhibition hubs like MU in Eindhoven (www.mu.nl) increasingly demonstrate a crossover between high art and popular culture. But be it classic painting or skaters’ GDR CREATIVE INTELLIGENCE 2005 Issue 17 15 The Branding of Culture collections, the questions remain the same: - is it feasible to manage a cultural reality as marketing brands are managed? - if so, what is the intrinsic value of a cultural brand, and can it be managed by the conventional approach of identity design? The rise of museums as international brands has seen the advent of a new approach to branding cultural assets Thonik Founded in 1992 by Thomas Widdershoven and Nikki Gonissen, Thonik (www.thonik.nl) is an established name in Dutch design; a creative boutique whose visionary statements create a signature beyond any specific style. Thonik delivered the unified identity management system for the City of Amsterdam, an effort of synthesis unifying 55 formerly diverse logos in a simple and coherent sign. If a brand is an idea people live by, what idea could be more charged with diversity than the metropolitan life of Amsterdam? Thonik certainly delivered. Amsterdam identity. Source: Thonik Similarly, Thonik faced the challenge of branding the complex reality of the Centraal Museum of Utrecht. With five separate departments, and five fiercely independent curators, the museum did not have one brand narrative. How can an identity freeze five different stories in one synthesis? Thonik created a system based on five C’s - five departments, five curators, five pillars - all leading to one Centraal. It is a system that offers extreme versatility when deployed in all manifestations, from corporate stationery to advertising. Consistency rules at the Centraal, in a tightly unified universe of flexible semiotic signifiers. Centraal Museum of Utrecht. Source: Thonik GDR CREATIVE INTELLIGENCE 2005 Issue 17 16 The Branding of Culture Thinking in terms of semiotic chains of signifiers, Thonik managed their own brand through architecture. Faced with the challenge to erect their new studio building in the heart of the Amstel area, Thonik went for a bold design by MVRDV (www.mvrdv.nl), executed in a bright orange colour. The structure was perceived as highly disruptive of the Amstel aesthetics by their neighbours but, following a court case and a settlement (the building will not be torn down, but the color will change), Thonik demonstrated how aesthetics can communicate a brand narrative based on an attitude and a vision of life; the Thonik viewpoint, or the idea underpinning the Thonik brand. Danish design at the MoMA, New York The new MoMA building, designed by Yoshio Taniguchi, has been universally praised as a success. Taniguchi deployed a creative philosophy rooted in Japanese culture, as he did in his eight Japanese museums. The new MoMA quietly whispers its formal language, discretely leaving the stage to the artworks on display. The tool that acts as the interface between the visitor and the museum is the furniture in the rooms: sofas, restaurant tables, shelves in the library and bookshop, and even chairs and The Thonik studio, Amsterdam. Source: Thonik accessories in the restrooms. Caught between the art and the structure, these items are the touch-point of true physical contact with MoMA, a pervasive and almost seamless presence to be sensed by every visitor. However, what not every visitor knows is that, peculiarly, almost every item in the new MoMA is made in Denmark (there are some Knoll benches and a few other bits and pieces from other sources). At least from this viewpoint, the new MoMA is 99% Danish. Thanks to a combined organisational and lobbying effort, the Danish Consulate in New York achieved an exclusive partnership with the museum management, but it took eight years of negotiations from first contact to delivery - not quite the average mass marketing cycle to achieve ROI. What was however delivered is a planetary stage for the Danish design at MoMA. Source: Danish Consulate, NY ‘Danish design’ cultural narrative, or ideal brand, with nearly 60 articles published and 7 books in the making since the recent re-opening of the MoMA. One should wonder, which profit-driven corporation would accept investing for eight years before achieving any result? On the other hand, what is the value of the reputation achieved? The lesson of Danish achievement with MoMA is one of consistency and staying power, to achieve true value in the context. GDR CREATIVE INTELLIGENCE 2005 Issue 17 17 The Branding of Culture Van Abbemuseum, Netherlands So, the same question returns again: what is true value when branding culture? If we perform a corporate identity design audit across the history of the Van Abbemuseum, a decentralised but leading institution in the southern Netherlands, we might conclude the ‘Van Abbe brand’ has not been in good shape for the last 70 years. The graphic design of catalogues and books by masters like Wim Crouwel and Jan van Toorn delivered pretty varied outcomes, with no clear identity system in place. Walter Nikkels in the 1970-80’s designed the Van Abbe publications with his rigorous severity, however no one identity system can be abstracted from his tenure as art director. And Arlette Brouwers in the 1990’s apparently did not tackle the issues of ‘consistency’ or ‘system’. So, the conclusion of a classic brand design audit would indeed be, the Van Abbemuseum brand value is very poorly managed. But is this true? Van Abbemuseum. Photography: Keiko Goto (keiko@keikogoto.com) The truth about the Van Abbemuseum is that its intrinsic brand value lies elsewhere than identity systems. Each and every postwar curator managed to focus on contributing to the unique Van Abbe narrative, and every director focused on the collection as the Van Abbe story – and where there is a story, there is a brand. So, returning to graphic design, the graphic styles of each and every book and catalogue became as unique as the artist documented. As a true paradox for classic branding, one can conclude that the true value of the Van Abbe brand is in the variety of its manifestations, as each of them stands for the mission of the museum; to serve the talent of the artist, while building a varied collection, consistent in its diversity. Echoes of the social spirit of Jean Leering (the curator in the 1960’s who raised the bar of social involvement of art in society) permeate through spontaneous viral communication phenomena; the growing display of ticket stickers in the premises around the exit is a potential brand signifier more expressive than any top down advertising Conclusions From the time of the old Van Abbemuseum to the new building by Cahen, nearly 70 years went by. The rise of museums as international brands has seen the advent of a new approach to branding cultural assets. Architecture plays a fundamental role in branding cultural icons, both when boldly disruptive as in MVRDV’s work for Thonik - and when discretely immersive - as at the MoMA. Of course, design is an important tool, and systematic thinking is necessary to maintain consistency across time. There are however three branding lessons to be learnt from this somewhat borderline world: GDR CREATIVE INTELLIGENCE 2005 Issue 17 18 The Branding of Culture - genuine reputation building is achieved when doing the right thing in the right way, no matter the amount of time invested, as Danish Design at MoMA proved. - the key to successful branding is not a fetish for consistency at all costs. The key is the ability to understand where intrinsic value lies, and flexibly use all design assets to communicate such value, sometimes even by contradicting common marketing wisdom. - as expressed by the new Van Abbemuseum building, respect for and continuity with the past are crucial assets to preserving true brand value. Authenticity is key, because preserving cultural integrity is the first factor in maintaining brand equity. To conclude, and answer the intial question posed; yes, it is feasible to treat a cultural entity as a brand, deploying all related design and marketing tools. On the other hand, the nature of a cultural institution is not measurable purely in commercial terms, and the mechanisms governing the laws of reputation and perceived value in the cultural semiotic sphere might slightly differ in focus and intensity than those ruling in the purely commercial world. But the real question is: could the notions of authenticity and integrity as we identify them at the heart of the branding of culture, of the branding through culture, actually constitute the seeds of a new paradigm for branding in general? Marco Bevolo E: marco.bevolo@philips.com Marco Bevolo is a visiting lecturer at the University of Leeds, UK, and an advisory board member at ISISUF in Milan, C3 Gallery of New York and MU of Eindhoven. He is Design Director at Philips Design and lives in Eindhoven, The Netherlands, and Turin, Italy. This article is based on a study performed in 2004-2005 on behalf of Istituto Internazionale Studi sul Futurismo of Milan and the content was presented during lectures at the Nijenrode University of The Netherlands and at the School of Design at the University of Leeds. The author would wish to thank for the continuing and exceptional support: Thomas Widdershoven - Principal, Thonik, Amsterdam Jesper Kamp de Fonss - Commercial Affairs Officer, Royal Danish Consulate General, New York Frank Lubbers - Deputy Director, Van Abbemuseum, Eindhoven Diana Franssen - Librarian, Van Abbemuseum, Eindhoven Ron Pompei - Pompei AD, New York Atto Belloli di Seriate - President, ISISUF, Milan Bibliography ‘The New Marketing Manifesto’, John Grant. 2000 (Texere Publishing) ‘Thonik’, VV. AA. 2001 (Bis Publishers, Amsterdam) ‘Een collectie is ook maar een mens’, VV. AA. 1999 (NAI Publishers, Rotterdam) ‘Van Abbemuseum Het Collectieboek’, J Debbaut, et al. 2002 ‘Yoshio Taniguchi. Nine Museums’, T Riley. 2004 GDR CREATIVE INTELLIGENCE 2005 Issue 17 19