MDM650 Mastery Reflection Multi-Platform Delivery
Month nine was a journey of frustration, excitement, experimentation, and lack of sleep. During this month, I wrapped up my Thesis project of the workshop phase. Throughout this month, I have to find creative solutions to the building a brand identity and marketing strategy for 500CAL. The following categories below are the experiences of creative problem solving I have encountered.
Logo
The problem I came across in the logo development was the disconnection between logo mark and branding campaign. The original logo contained an icon of an old-school style cartoon of a boy’s face and wordmark. However, the brand campaign utilizes the wordmark and not the icon or combination of the two. Overall, the brand campaign and logo mark are two separate campaigns.
The solution was to eliminate the icon because its old-fashion nostalgia was not relevant to the young modern appeal of the branding campaign. The key is consistency. North Star Marketing (n.d.) explains, with their analysis on great branding focused around Coca-Cola, that brand consistency manages perceptions, attitude, and confusion (North Star, n.d.). By removing the icon from the logo, the brand identity element, the food head, was able to be incorporated into the logo throughout the campaign driving brand recognition of familiarity of the two components.
The new modified logomark
Brand element
Another problem discovered in the development of the brand identity was how to make healthy, affordable food relate and appeal to Millennials (500CAL’s target audience).
The solution was to create a movement for change in the food nutrition and quality in the fast food industry. Huffington Post explains (2015) that on January 20, 2015, article by USA Today reporter Bruce Horowitz surveyed over 30,000 consumers and discovered younger consumers are more concerned about their health than price point (Watson, 2015). The increasing rate of health-minded individuals inspired the brand’s movement for change in healthy food that tastes great, is convenient, and is affordable. The campaign's message would relate to young people who believe in a healthy lifestyle being essential for a better life. The visual aspect of the message is the ‘food heads.’ This brand element represents the saying ‘you are what you eat.’ Consumers who feed their body 500CAL meals are individuals who understand the benefits of healthy food. The heads of these characters transform into food items from the client’s menu. Usually, the imagery of these characters features outdoor activity, and physical movements, or family bonding activities. The brand element signifies the motivation behind the message of the brand of healthy lifestyle and fun.
A food head
Marketing and online strategy
The next question is how do you reach the 500CALs consumers.
The marketing strategy is predominately web and technology. To reach mass audience and proximity, I felt print media was a sound solution. The platforms would consist of billboards, posters, and magazine ads. The campaign of the marketing strategy is called “feed the brain.” The feed the brain campaign is center around food heads, and the revolution of fast food made the right way. For my media coverage, online and a possible news coverage, a guerrilla campaign is strategized for major city areas. The guerrilla marketing consists of an interactive billboard that reflects passersby onto the screen and attached food heads onto their body to connect them to the campaign.
Examples of print media
The online presence would consist of social media, website, and mobile ordering app. After extensive research, I found that Millennials prefer finding information on their phones than computers. According to Social Week Media, “Millennials are quite attached to their mobile devices (at the hip) and refer to them for all their social, informational and even consumer needs” (Reynolds, 2016). Millennials are the generation of instant gratification, and their technology of choice is their mobile devices. Many companies within the fast food industry are joining the demand for mobile apps and online ordering. According to a recent American Express restaurant industry survey, “Millennials are twice as likely to place an advanced order via a mobile device, and 62 percent have placed a digital order with a restaurant in the past six months” (Johnson, 2017). The solution expanded my website project into a website, mobile site, and mobile ordering application. The social media presence will consist of Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Snapchat. Millennials are very active on these previously mentioned sites. To connect with the demographic, the company will feature a snapchat filter instore that correlates with the feed the brain campaign where the user’s face becomes a food head.
500CAL snapchat filter
Their webpage featuring their mobile ordering app
I have learned a lot during month nine in creating a consistent branding campaign. In my future projects, I will take the knowledge I gained and add them to the research process and development stages.
References:
Johnson, A. (2017, May 22). Tweet what you eat: Diners and restauranteurs embrace the “Food selfie,” online ordering and the fight against food waste. Retrieved from http://about.americanexpress.com/news/pr/2017/Tweet-What-You-Eat-Online-Ordering-Fight-Food-Waste.aspx
North Star. (n.d.). The difference between a good brand and a great brand? Retrieved from https://www.northstarmarketing.com/2015/05/07/the-difference-between-a-good-brand-and-a-great-brand-consistency/
Reynolds, C. (2016, February 5). 8 Tips for driving millennials to your website and keep them there. Retrieved from https://socialmediaweek.org/blog/2016/02/tips-millennials-website-keep-them/
Watson, E. (2015, February 9). Younger consumers are trending towards more health-conscious eating. Retrieved from http://www.huffingtonpost.com/elwood-d-watson/younger-consumers-are-tre_b_6632166.html