OUGD303 Final Major ProjectLisa Whitaker Board

Brief 1 Brand, Youth Culture and Authenticity

The Brief

A research based investigation of Teen Brands with a focus on understanding the Brand / Culture relationship and how teens identify with brands. The starting point was my 13 year old son’s bedroom to identify the brands to focus on.

Why? I want to extend my dissertation research of Vans and culture and apply deeper thinking to this subject to understand why Brands authenticity and identity. The research will inform the outcome, which could be print or digital based.

The Concept

A visually engaging identity will promote the storytelling nature of a unique retail / cultural experience. Playing on the Penguin ‘Classics’ design each book cover communicates a year, a heritage brand and a subcultural or cultural link. The images will be used across the marketing and promotion of the new retail Space called Threads –Telling Stories. The subcultural history starts in the late fifties with the Mod subculture to Britpop and Casuals in the nineties, right to present day. The Brands incorporated into this campaign include Doc Martens, Fred Perry, Baracuda, Ben Sherman, Gabicci, Fila, Stone Island and Adidas.

Proposed outcomes

Bags, tags, hangers, signs, mockups of proposed retail space, infographic timeline of the links across time, several subcultures and brands.

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OUGD303 Final Major ProjectLisa Whitaker Board

Brief 1 Brand, Youth Culture and Authenticity

Promotion and Distribution

The Campaign will be introduced to market a few weeks before the Store is due to be opened. The promotion will link to an App and to Social Media where the Telling Stories Concept will unfold. Each of the advertised Brands and Subcultural links will offer links to videos, music and images from the relevant period. People will be invited to share their brand stories using Social Media, video or images. For example they may have been wearing their Doc Marten boots to a special gig or they may have customised an item of clothing.

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OUGD303 Final Major ProjectLisa Whitaker Board

Brief 1 Brand, Youth Culture and Authenticity

The Retail Space

This unique retail experience is called Threads, Telling Stories and is aimed at 12 to 21 year old teenaged boys and young men. The reason for the broad age range is there is currently a gap in the market for male teen clothing and they currently shop for adult sized clothes. The range would not be aspirational if just aimed at teens.

The experience will be a retail space which curates brands in the same way Urban Outfitters does however it will also incor-porate instore and online subcultural threads and links including music, video and a social area to share their own ‘Threads’ or Stories.

The space will offer a comfortable seating area called “Threads n Beats’ to listen to music and share music and stories.

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OUGD303 Final Major ProjectLisa Whitaker Board 4 of 4

Brief 1 Brand, Youth Culture and Authenticity

In Store

The story telling theme is extended to the clothes tags and bags. Each brand will identify which subcultures or cultures it shares links with using the same colour scheme as the books.

The space will take advantage of new technology including chips in clothes which activate interactive mirrors and also Smart Phones. The aim is to inform young people of the significant subcultural heritage which exists behind brands and encourage them to share their own styles and stories. In doing so it will subtly point to brands which have fake back stories such as Hollister and Superdry by not including them in the range.

The aim would be to create a more affordable ‘teen range’ which will be cheaper then the adult sized counterparts.