Brand Dialogue sets out to redefine design and branding in India

The group revealed its new mantra at an exclusive two-day Master Class on Creative Branding Strategy that laid emphasis on the importance of design in branding

BestMediaInfo Bureau | Mumbai | September 5, 2014

Dutch branding and design group Brand Dialogue is on a mission to change how branding is perceived in India. Brand Dialogue, which has helped sculpt brand identities for top Indian clients such as Flipkart, Metro Cash and Carry and Delhi Airport, revealed its new mantra at an exclusive two-day Master Class on Creative Branding Strategy that laid emphasis on the importance of design in branding.

"Design is a verb. Design is when you string together smart ideas to create a difference. It is something that you need to incorporate into your thought process. To most people design means creating something visual or tangible. It is this mindset that we are challenging, because design means so much more. We want brand managers to live and breathe design, always enabling the brand to stand out," said Jeroen van Erp, an internationally acclaimed branding and design expert who conducted the Master Class.

Erp is the Founder of Fabrique, one of Netherland's premier design and branding agencies, which is a member of the Brand Dialogue group. He is also the Chair, Dutch Creative Council, Board Member, Association of Dutch Designers (BNO), Board Member, Design and Emotions Society, and Executive Board Member of Creative Industry Scientific Program (CRISP), Netherlands.

Brand Dialogue regularly conducts several educational programmes across India in association with the crème de la crème of European universities. Here, Indian brand managers get an opportunity to attend a series of lectures, workshops and brainstorming sessions, under the guidance of top international branding and design maestros. The Master Classes in India are organised in association with the Delft University of Technology (TU Delft), the largest and oldest Dutch technical university which includes alumni like Gerard Philips (Co-founder of Philips).

Explaining the need for such Master Classes, Willem Woudenberg, CEO & Founder, Brand Dialogue, said, “With our experiences with brands in India and worldwide, we have realised that Indian branding scenario is still at a very nascent stage and the right knowledge can take this industry to greater heights. Marketers today are too pre-occupied with their day-to-day tasks, which is why they are not able to think ahead of the times. Through these Master Classes, we provided them with an opportunity to think years ahead, with the objective of empowering brand leaders of tomorrow with essential skills that will help them get clarity in various aspects of branding.”

Erp, who himself graduated from the faculty of Industrial Design, TU Delft, further explained, “Design is a very creative concept like branding. It is a full process which involves an assimilation of smart ideas to create a difference. The major challenge for managers today is to create a belief within their own organisation.”

The Master Class saw participants from top Indian and international companies, such as Croma by Tata, JK Helene Curtis, ABN AMRO and many others, engage in a series of discussions, presentations, debates and deliberation on new model, theories, insights and tools for design and innovation to come up with outside-the-box solutions to branding related challenges. "Not only did this prove to be an excellent networking opportunity for the participants, they also learnt the importance of keeping it simple. Branding should be clutter-free," Woudenberg said.

Brand Dialogue plans to host many more such Master Classes across India in the coming months.

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