About values, identity and orientation in the cultural industry
How a cultural festival redefines itself
Prologue
Brand Identity is much more than a visual label. It encompasses the entire essence of a brand, a company, or an institution – its values, its self-understanding, its goals. Authentic, effective, and differentiating communication emerges from a consistent translation from identity. It is the basis for strategic concerns and the management of the brand. A clear profile, a common basis, a created image form the foundation for actions, perception, and communication.
Mission
In this special case, I am allowed to accompany an international culture festival with a long-standing history in reinventing itself. Exploring their own value construct with an entirely new team and new management – an exciting matter of the heart, because I have known and appreciated the festival for many years and see the potential and creative drive behind the repositioning and the team.
I like to describe my role in this project as a ‘travel companion of brand awareness’. As idiosyncratic as it sounds, it is often a sheer necessity for many organisations I come into contact with. Somehow a lot of implicit brand and identity exists, whether bundled in the mindset of management or in a kind of unspoken code of conduct – “that’s just the way we are”. Only when these truths are organised and available, can they be used specifically, by everyone, again and again – in the employer brand, products, events, and much more
Insight
We identify in the joint process: It is about a field of tension between tradition and repositioning. From internal perception – how we are and what we want to do ourselves, what we portray and an overall complex cultural-economic structure – what is expected of us, what is our mission?
Dialogue
We quickly recognise the sensitivity of the field of tension. After a large initial survey in the team, we find ourselves together in various sessions again and again. The new team around the festival director is making new experiences in the festival operation in parallel. They meet various visitors, cultural actors, and politicians. We take in all these impressions, keep checking where truths lie, and what remains.
With a large pool of impressions such as hard facts, yet soft, not quite defined topics, I finally begin the definitional work of a comprehensive brand architecture around questions like:
Who are we?
What do we stand for?
What is our drive, our purpose?
What is unique about us?
Who are our partners?
What do we distance ourselves from?
What are we particularly proud of?
Result
We are looking at a brand that already builds on a tradition, a legacy. When a completely new team fills this brand, they must find their own way, their own approach and interpretation in order to authentically pursue and represent that entirely.
We have taken this aspect into account very sensitively from the beginning, in order not to stop this process by having a too rigid framework.
What finally emerged is a compass that shows a very individual direction, which offers the possibility to question new measures, communication, partners and much more, to compare them with set ideals.
With which new actors can identify and which already indicates directions for many aspects. But it also exhibits freedoms and conscious spaces for development, which are still in progress.Â
Of course, I can’t go into the last detail in the presentation of the cases. After all, every path IÂ pursue with the different companies is very individual and tailored to their special requirements.
Much rather, I actually want to talk about your challenges. Would you like to learn more about Brand Personality or Identity Processes? As well as how we can proceed together to work out the special features of your brand, and systemically anchor them within the company right up to the management level. Please get in touch!
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Are you facing a similar challenge with your organisation?
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Are you facing a similar challenge with your organisation?
Let’s talk.