Tailoring Brands
New Style Leaders
2013 - 2016
Brands are people. And like any of us, who from time to time need to adjust our wardrobe, update the way we think and convey our values, brands also need to improve periodically. When that time comes, many companies look to advertising agencies, branding agencies, or architectural firms to help with this revamping. What most, however, do not realize is that the solution to this need is not outside, but inside, in the company's own history.
As there is no similar service, the two do not use labels. “They've already defined us as a branding agency, brand consultants, design consultants. The truth is, we are none of those things. We have a very well-designed methodology that doesn't fit into any of these labels”, says Victor.
When we think about registering our projects on a website, we are always very reluctant, after all, how can we put material with more than 8 hours of presentation on some slides and almost 3 months of research and immersion? But we found a narrative that could, in general, cover all this complexity in a few chapters that we divided as follows:
Branding with Style
Branding, VBB, VBI (Guaraná, Brahma and Skol) projects for Ambev
Branding the Skylines
Building Projects for Vitacon and Camargo Corrêa
Branding People
Branding Personality for people developed for Marina Lima and Fernanda Tavares
Branding Homes
Interior Design and Architecture Projects
In total, in almost 10 years, more than 100 projects were developed for the most different clients. As our methodology is not fixed, it is possible to see that over the years we ended up using Branding on different surfaces and needs, always according to each client.
Each project is unique. Each challenge led us to explore Branding to the fullest and thus, we were able to understand how to set up an ecosystem that protects the essence of the brand and that it is responsible for directing the style and trends work.
Branding, VBB & VBI
Experiencing the Experience
How School SS99 presents its projects
In all our projects, we place great importance on the experience in which we should transmit all the content that we had studied and studied. From trips to local producers, through interviews with consumers, to products that compete in the same category. All of this was presented in an immersive format for Ambev's marketing team and the communication agency itself.
"The objective was to make our customers feel the same atmosphere that we felt doing the research. yes its implementation"
But that was just the "Grand Finale" for some brands or the big start for others. What really mattered to the duo was to be able to pass on all the acquired knowledge to the teams and stakeholders in a short space of time.
The presentation in the form of an experience makes all the senses to be discovered. And that helps in capturing the message. We have already made events for 100 people to 10 people, the size does not depend because in this case experience is the key to full understanding.
What's behind LED panels, lighting, scattered products, soundtrack, interior design are basically the almost 3 months it takes on average for a type of project of this size. This is just for the design, but it is certainly a huge shortcut to execution, as it is a complete guide on how the brand can and should manifest itself in the most diverse points of contact.
The process is quite detailed, but we have tried to make clear the steps we go through in the next chapters below.
Branding, VBB & VBI
Branding for Products
The challenges for both large and small companies are in the process of creating or constantly updating their identity and visual language. How can the product stand out for the consumer, whether at the point of sale or on television or social media? Many companies ended up looking for us with the objective of making a new identity or a re-branding of their products. What they found in the School, however, was a different concept applied to a methodology of how to update their brands, products and services, leaving them desired, cool and updated to the current context.
I think what most attracted the market's attention in our methodology was this visual promise to always bring something related to consumer trends, expressed in its visual codes at all points of contact.
Believing that a design permeates all channels and everyone should converse in harmony in the same universe of style, from the label, to the film's costumes, to the material and the point of sale experience, is to believe in building a brand through your product.
Bringing visual expression, and not just a visual code, aroused in a large part of the market an interest in the methodology we were developing and this brought us great customers and with them great learnings and we matured our process a lot according to each challenge.
Visuals Identity for Ambev: Guarana, Skol and Brahma
intro
Ambev owns the largest beverage consumption brands in Brazil. From soft drinks to beer categories, it has distribution throughout the national and international territory. School SS99 started its work with the company's most iconic brand, the Skol beer brand, in mid-2015 and from then on, it started to take care of other brands such as Guaraná Antarctica and Brahma beer/
Concept and Methodology
One of the main points that brought us together with the Ambev Marketing team was the understanding of our methodology. Understanding that all points converge to build the same visual unit and thus create your lifestyle that also helps in aligning the development of innovation and new products was the starting point.
The way to communicate a brand has many variables according to the history of each one. You can have brands that have a strong presence in media and sponsorships that practically speak for themselves in the consumer's memory, or legendary brands that are very traditional and that for years have been innovating in flavors and differentiations. But there is a "shortcut" in today's world that are often new brands that have adapted very well to new media working on a lifestyle branding concept.
Just as there are traditional brands in the fashion world, there are young brands full of attitude that draw the attention of consumers for the contemporary tone in their language and that even lend their "cool" side to traditional brands forming traditional co-brands or partnerships .
In the case of Ambev, we chose the path of doing something different and building a lifestyle, even in products of great awareness and legacy. I believe that the alignment between the way of designing was what brought us together in the main brands of the company in our projects.
Some new beverage brands are born with this model of thinking about lifestyle automatically, others not so much. But the fashion industry somehow is always working very well on new concepts in its products.
Lifestyle Brands
The process
Essence
Any process of transgression involves knowing your tradition. Thus, all projects developed to seek new visual identities went through the same process as our methodology. Search and respect the essence of each brand and its origin.
In the case of Guaraná, we had to go to Fazenda Santa Helena, understand Ambev's relationship with local producers and how Guaraná is made, so unique in Brazil. In the case of brands that are not national, as is the case of Skol, we made a vast search to understand what would be the fundamental pillars of a European brand that was born for export with the memory of a Brazilian brand that goes down round. And in the case of Brahma, understanding how the merger of the largest breweries had immigrants as one of their main foundations.
Graphic expression
Only after knowing the ancestry and tradition of each brand or product, we were able to understand what was behind each visual code and graphic representation that, over the years, underwent changes and in many cases overlapping and even forgetting these origins.
target
What is desire for a consumer? The answer may be: what is desire for you? For us, desire permeates all social layers and strata. There are no limits to dreaming what we don't have. And for consumers it has always been looking and understanding who they are today, divided by clusters, tribes, niches, etc... but not just looking at their behavior but understanding their lifestyle. And style refers to musical patterns, artists, literature and everything related to that universe.
Each product has its profile, after all we are talking about niches. It is even important to compare how each product and brand has a different profile. We left Praia Grande, passed through Itaquera and arrived at Venice, California, in this mapping for Guaraná. As for Skol, we went straight to Brookyn in New York while for Brahma, it was the center and history of immigration that brought us closer to consumers.
Communication Trends & Drivers Research
Trend research work is often limited and restricted to imagery and visual issues. But this job is to understand movements, speeches and make each brand, product or service, have their communication drivers updated.
Understanding how and why each aesthetic must be preserved, followed and directed to a Designer or anyone who is involved with the visual arts is a huge constructive process. We put our personal tastes aside to build and, in many cases, delve deeper and learn other aesthetics and other codes that will compose that particular universe.
As for communication, evolving the drivers were very significant points in these projects. After all, what did well-being mean before the pandemic? In a matter of months, this concept needs to be revisited and this work is essential for each brand to have its drivers not only updated, but in-depth. The role of a brand is to educate and through its targeted content, whether visual or narrative, it is important for the construction of the entire Lifestyle.
A label needs to tell a whole story, its legacy, its origin, product quality, name, but alone it does not support a lifestyle. It is necessary that other points also talk in the same way. I believe this was the great differential that brought us closer to Ambev's main brands. A different way of seeing and applying design starting from the construction of a complete lifestyle.
Wear the brand literally at every touchpoint. How can the same party be a label, a logo, an architecture, an experience, an art direction, a guide for co-brands? Design needs to communicate and not just express. From that point of view, we build the entire visual narrative of each project.
design
Biggest Challenges
A label needs to tell a whole story, its legacy, its origin, product quality, name, but alone it does not support a lifestyle. It is necessary that other points also talk in the same way. I believe this was the great differential that brought us closer to Ambev's main brands. A different way of seeing and applying design starting from the construction of a complete lifestyle.
Quotes Fernando Bayeaux
Branding for Small Business
Architecture & Product Development
Projects for LOUIE, Warrior, (?)
The Born of Gate 1
Architecture & Product Development
Branding for Houses
Projects for products by Camargo Corrêa and Vitacon
Design is present everywhere. From the moment we get up, we are face to face with all kinds of designs: from the pattern and cut of your pajamas, the color of your toothbrush, from the brand of contact lenses to the packaging of the shampoo and the brand of the coffee you sits when opening your fridge design.
But does not stop there. When you open the window with your cup of coffee you are faced with the skyline of your city. And how everything is different. Each building bears a mold of a particular period of architecture, where the developments were made to maximize an operating model spreading across different neighborhoods at completely different times.
Realizing this, we thought that the same process of making a brand could be applied to a business model. Not that everything was equal to the same aesthetic as Hausmann did in Paris, but that at least each neighborhood had at least its essence respected. Why were neighborhoods that were large industrial centers in São Paulo receiving neoclassical buildings? It drove away old residents and attracted new ones without any relation to the neighborhood's history. What about the sales and local businesses? How was it possible to survive a model like that?
With all this in mind, we adapted our Branding model for the construction of buildings that could bring not only the aesthetics of the neighborhood to which they were being incorporated, but also the lifestyle offered. Why did every building need a grill on the porch?
From 2014 to 2018 we worked with two developers: Vitacon and Camargo Corrêa in the area of product development. With the launch of the new master plan at the time, developers began to face new challenges, such as undertaking and building buildings in areas that were previously completely flat, as was the case in the Vila Madalena neighborhood in São Paulo. Our role was, together with the product team, to understand the location of the next project, respecting its origin and ancestry, the history of the residents and the local commerce and to design a product that not only met aesthetically, but that brought and respected the lifestyle of the neighborhood itself. on which it was being built.
Adding services from local merchants to the development concierge and communicating the development from the sales stand, communication materials and content were also part of our project scope. Often, through briefings for communication agencies that we hired or that we carried out by School SS99.
During this period, at least 6 different product projects were developed in neighborhoods such as Vila Olímpia, Jardins, Vila Madalena, Chácara Flora, Vila Madalena and Moema. The development process is one of the longest we know of and we can still see some of these ongoing projects being raised on a São Paulo skyline, but with the pride of seeing part of them now integrated into the essence of each neighborhood and place.
Architecture & Product Development
Branding the Skylines
Projects for products by Camargo Corrêa and Vitacon
Design is present everywhere. From the moment we get up, we are face to face with all kinds of designs: from the pattern and cut of your pajamas, the color of your toothbrush, from the brand of contact lenses to the packaging of the shampoo and the brand of the coffee you sits when opening your fridge design.
But does not stop there. When you open the window with your cup of coffee you are faced with the skyline of your city. And how everything is different. Each building bears a mold of a particular period of architecture, where the developments were made to maximize an operating model spreading across different neighborhoods at completely different times.
Realizing this, we thought that the same process of making a brand could be applied to a business model. Not that everything was equal to the same aesthetic as Hausmann did in Paris, but that at least each neighborhood had at least its essence respected. Why were neighborhoods that were large industrial centers in São Paulo receiving neoclassical buildings? It drove away old residents and attracted new ones without any relation to the neighborhood's history. What about the sales and local businesses? How was it possible to survive a model like that?
With all this in mind, we adapted our Branding model for the construction of buildings that could bring not only the aesthetics of the neighborhood to which they were being incorporated, but also the lifestyle offered. Why did every building need a grill on the porch?
From 2014 to 2018, we worked with two developers: Vitacon and Camargo Corrêa in the area of product development. With the launch of the new master plan at the time, developers began to face new challenges, such as undertaking and building buildings in areas that were previously completely flat, as was the case in the Vila Madalena neighborhood in São Paulo. Our role was, together with the product team, to understand the location of the next project, respecting its origin and ancestry, the history of the residents and the local commerce and to design a product that not only met aesthetically, but that brought and respected the lifestyle of the neighborhood itself. on which it was being built.
Adding services from local merchants to the development concierge and communicating the development from the sales stand, communication materials and content were also part of our project scope. Often, through briefings for communication agencies that we hired or that we carried out by School SS99.
During this period, at least 6 different product projects were developed in neighborhoods such as Vila Olímpia, Jardins, Vila Madalena, Chácara Flora, Vila Madalena and Moema. The development process is one of the longest we know of and we can still see some of these ongoing projects being raised on a São Paulo skyline, but with the pride of seeing part of them now integrated into the essence of each neighborhood and location.
Architecture & Product Development
Branding People
Projects for products by Camargo Corrêa and Vitacon
Design is present everywhere. From the moment we get up, we are face to face with all kinds of designs: from the pattern and cut of your pajamas, the color of your toothbrush, from the brand of contact lenses to the packaging of the shampoo and the brand of the coffee you sits when opening your fridge design.
But does not stop there. When you open the window with your cup of coffee you are faced with the skyline of your city. And how everything is different. Each building bears a mold of a particular period of architecture, where the developments were made to maximize an operating model spreading across different neighborhoods at completely different times.
Realizing this, we thought that the same process of making a brand could be applied to a business model. Not that everything was equal to the same aesthetic as Hausmann did in Paris, but that at least each neighborhood had at least its essence respected. Why were neighborhoods that were large industrial centers in São Paulo receiving neoclassical buildings? It drove away old residents and attracted new ones without any relation to the neighborhood's history. What about the sales and local businesses? How was it possible to survive a model like that?
With all this in mind, we adapted our Branding model for the construction of buildings that could bring not only the aesthetics of the neighborhood to which they were being incorporated, but also the lifestyle offered. Why did every building need a grill on the porch?
From 2014 to 2018 we worked with two developers: Vitacon and Camargo Corrêa in the area of product development. With the launch of the new master plan at the time, developers began to face new challenges, such as undertaking and building buildings in areas that were previously completely flat, as was the case in the Vila Madalena neighborhood in São Paulo. Our role was, together with the product team, to understand the location of the next project, respecting its origin and ancestry, the history of the residents and the local commerce and to design a product that not only met aesthetically, but that brought and respected the lifestyle of the neighborhood itself. on which it was being built.
Adding services from local merchants to the development concierge and communicating the development from the sales stand, communication materials and content were also part of our project scope. Often, through briefings for communication agencies that we hired or that we carried out by School SS99.
During this period, at least 6 different product projects were developed in neighborhoods such as Vila Olímpia, Jardins, Vila Madalena, Chácara Flora, Vila Madalena and Moema. The development process is one of the longest we know of and we can still see some of these ongoing projects being raised on a São Paulo skyline, but with the pride of seeing part of them now integrated into the essence of each neighborhood and place.
Quotes by Michele Luckman
Branding People
Fernanda Tavares and Marina Lima
Upon noticing this movement, Flávia and Victor began to study how they could build a methodology that would unite brands with people, something similar to what happened in hotel chains. Was it possible to connect to a lifestyle?
Video by Marina Lima (?)
homemakers
Maison Alexandrine, Africa, Flag.CX
Quote by Sergio Gordilho, Alexandra or Martini (?)
Challenges and learnings
The duo took advantage of this year 2012 to enter together in one of the most traditional schools in London for fashion and trend research, Central Saint Martins.
"We took advantage of the European summer and the trend research courses to really understand how Londoners, who are known for always being the world's trendsetters, "looked at this subject", says Flávia.
It was very clear to us that for there to be a transgression there had to be a tradition. There is no transgression without tradition. And this was important in the work of developing the methodology that we were going to create", adds Victor.
Bringing the Life+Style to Branding
Brand Essence
lifestyle
Methodology
School/SS99