HOW DOES INTERIOR DESIGN RELATE TO BRAND EXPERIENCE?

Interior design is indeed different from brand experience, but these two subjects cross paths when we talk about environmental branding. This term is used when we talk about branding a business, whether it is a restaurant, an office, a shop or any other space.

BUT FIRST WHAT IS A BRAND EXPERIENCE?

A brand experience goes beyond the logo, marketing material, website and other items that identify the brand. A brand experience is about how the brand stimulates the senses of the customers and makes them feel, think, react and behave based on their vision.

So when you feel like working out after entering a NIKE store, or you feel like eating healthier after a meal at EeetWell, or you feel like a child again at Disneyland you’re experiencing the vision of these brands.

These experiences can come from any point of interaction a person can have with a brand and one of the most important brand channels is the interior space.

INTERIOR DESIGN X ENVIRONMENTAL BRANDING

Interior design is the art of planning how a space will function and will look based on the user needs, lifestyle, culture, technical rules and budget.

Differently from interior design, environmental branding is more strategic. It’s a mix between interior and graphic design that focus on communicating the brand values throughout every interior and exterior element of the space.

Flooring, wall covers, furniture, lighting, landscape, decoration, signage, everything needs to convey the same story to the client. The storytelling goes even further than that. Let’s have a restaurant as an example, the staff uniform, crockery, interior scent, soundtrack, takeaway bags and menu are also fundamental items of communication. That’s why it is extremely important to have a strong and detailed brand identity guide in place.

More than an aesthetic pleasant space, environmental branding has the power to connect people and brands on a deeper level. The bottom line is, that a beautiful place can attract a client once, but an unforgettable experience can keep the client coming to your business for years.

Although the environmental design is extremely important for a business, it’s just one slice of the pie. Successful businesses manage to send the same message on all customer touchpoints.

HOW TO CREATE A BRAND EXPERIENCE THROUGH ENVIRONMENTAL BRANDING?

The first step to creating a brand experience is a clear verbal and visual brand identity. This will dictate the positioning of the brand in the market and it will guide all the project decisions. This statement is an important tool so you can keep a coherent narrative throughout the space.

Now that you have the main guide in your hands, it’s time to analyze the challenges and opportunities of the space, the project constraints like time and budget and the customer journey.

The customer journey in an environment is the way the customer moves and interacts with the space. The ideal journey should assess the experience from the outdoor communication to the moment the client leaves the establishment.

Over time the impact expected after these positive experiences is a loyal client base that advocates for the brand.