Design

Abstract – The Emotional Value of Brands & How Scenography can contribute to the Communication of Brand Values?

Brands are a child of industrial society. They were developed to provide orientation in a new era in which numerous products and goods could easily be confused. A brand is supposed to signify a clearly marked territory. And, the fact that the brand gained its importance in the industrial society seems to make it inseparable
from material commodities. It is connected to goods, products and hardware. Goods and products were the visible proof that the brand was still alive. It existed because its sign was recognized and its beneficial use was appreciated. But, what happens to this visibility when today most things are replaced by ideas
and knowledge, by services and processes?

We can best describe brand and how these brands survive by using pictures from theology. Brands function in the knowledge society like religion. We see nothing when brands sell knowledge goods. In religions, we do not see the beings that they are all about, either. But, we see churches, priests, ritual objects. People
tend to believe only what they can see. Like in religion, storytelling is a central tool in interior architecture designs. The staging of real-life brand stories and imagined ones increase consumer loyalty. Scenically designed brand environments today are not only the subject of objects which are exhibited in the classical
way in display cabinets, or, that can be experienced in a more modern way, namely, interactively. Many public and private brand environments try to convey intangibles: from social problems or challenges to company philosophies or brand values.

Successful communication in spaces has the primary objective of reaching the emotional state of fascination. All of the scenic, dramaturgical, surprising and emotionalizing elements of communication ensure the necessary interaction between human beings and the brand. Interaction provides the visitor with the opportunity of experiencing something new. Quenching the thirst for knowledge. Communication in spaces is perhaps the most efficient form of branding. The positive internal part of the brand must be made outwardly visible. Design as “walkable” identity in the form of branding space with all of its expressive qualities
presents a singular opportunity to influence the brand in a positive way.

During my research, I stumbled across an article by Ben Waber, Jennifer Magnolfi and Greg Lindsay on the topic of workplace design. They use the term "collisions" to describe the random encounters of company employees. In a working world which is becoming more and more digital, interaction amongst employees is once again being  increasingly awarded meaning and value. Collision is an appropriate term because it contains both the sense of informality as well as spontaneity. However, can the effects on the processes in companies be predicted and verified. And, how about those in such collisions? Might it be possible that they even stimulate innovation and promote creative work in companies?

A lot has been said about creative work. It is considered to be the future. The future of many employees and many companies. New developments are unthinkable without creative work. There would be no changes to processes in the office environment and no new developments and innovations. But, what is creative work? Bringing a little clarity into the picture can do no harm. On the one hand, clarity about the term "creativity" and what contribution we can make to creativity when we are working. For this, the results of the work of a number of researchers in the area of creativity have been collected and evaluated. And, on the other hand, clarity about the question of work, office work. Where does it take place, what is it about and in what way will it probably change in the future?

When considered together, both aspects, creativity and office work, could provide us with information about the requirements needed in a designed office environment for creative work to take place there.  This might happen, if the right conclusions are drawn from observations on the conditions needed for the emergence of creativity. These conclusions can then be applied to spaces that are already available in offices, are in the process of being planned or still need to be found.

The aim is to use a secure foundation for developing a causal connection between the conditions for creativity and the environment in the office. The pre-requisite for creative work is a space that is organised in such a way that it provides support for creativity. What we want to do is to design such a space.

Not only increasing digitization but particularly the current pandemic calls conventional places of work into question. After New Work, the home office appears to be solution. But where do communication and exchange take place? Are online meetings really able to replace the creative coexistence in the workplace?
At Coburg University of Applied Sciences, professor Mark Nicholas Phillips and Angelika Donhauser are doing research on the working worlds of the future and present their findings below.

Die Generationen Y und Z formulieren klare Ansprüche an die räumliche und zeitliche Flexibilität ihres Arbeitsplatzes. Die Annehmlichkeiten, die sie zu Hause oder wo anders erfahren, wollen sie dort wiederfinden. Das erfordert neue Raumkonzepte.