Creative Brand Strategy | Project
21/4/26 - 23/7/26 (Week 1 - Week 14)
Kimberly Miaw Jya Nee | 0366836
Bachelor of Design (Honours) in Creative Media | Taylor's University
Creative Brand Strategy
Project
[Table of Contents]
1.
Lectures
2.
Instructions
3.
Project
Part A: Presentation
Part B: Situational Analysis
Part A: Ideation
Part B: Purpose, Positioning & Personality
4.
Feedback
5.
Reflection
Lectures
Week 1: Module Introduction
- Semester theme: Mental Health Awareness
- Task: narrow down from the broad theme to a specific campaign direction
- Example of being too vague: "My campaign is about mental health awareness"
- Example of being specific: "My campaign raises awareness about emotional burnout among university students during assessment periods"
Week 2: Brand Strategy Fundamentals
What is Brand Strategy?
- The thinking and planning behind how a brand wants to be understood, remembered, and experienced
- Brand strategy = the thinking
- Brand identity = how that thinking becomes visible
- Key rule: strategy comes before design
- A logo without strategy is just a graphic
- A poster without audience understanding is just decoration
Brand Strategy vs Brand Identity
| Brand Strategy | Brand Identity |
|---|---|
| Purpose, Vision, Mission, Values, Positioning, Personality, Story | Logo, Colours, Typography, Layout, Posters, Social Media |
Key Brand Strategy Components
- Purpose — why the brand exists beyond profit
- Vision — the future change the brand wants to create
- Mission — what the brand actively does to achieve that vision
- Values — the principles guiding how the brand behaves and communicates
- Positioning — what makes the brand different and relevant to its audience
- Target Audience — a specific group, never "everyone"
- Audience Insight — a deeper emotional/behavioural truth about the audience (not just a fact)
- Personality & Voice — how the brand feels as a character and how it speaks
- Brand Story — the emotional narrative connecting the brand to its audience
- Big Idea — the central creative concept that guides visuals and messaging
- Tagline — a short, memorable phrase that captures the brand message
- Visual Identity — how all of the above becomes visible
Touchpoints & Customer Journey
- A touchpoint is any place the audience encounters the campaign
- Examples: social media, posters, events, QR codes, workshops, merchandise
- Journey stages: Awareness → Interest → Understanding → Engagement → Action → Sharing
SWOT Analysis
- Use to evaluate a campaign strategically, not just visually
- Strengths & Weaknesses = internal
- Opportunities & Threats = external
Week 3: Situation Analysis & Campaign Proposal Planning
The Big Idea Behind This Week
- You are not just analysing an existing campaign — you are using that analysis to build your own
Template Logic Flow
Issue → Problem → Audience Insight → Strategy → Concept → Visual Direction → Touchpoints → SWOT
Follow this order; do not jump to design before the strategy is clear
What Makes a Strong Proposal
- Specific topic (not broad)
- Research-backed claims
- Clear audience (not "everyone")
- Meaningful audience insight
- Consistent tone throughout
- Strategy, message, audience, and design all connect logically
Common Mistakes to Avoid
- Topic too broad
- Writing "everyone" as the target audience
- Making claims without evidence
- Designing before understanding the problem
- Generic mental health symbols without meaning
- Tagline too common or vague
- Fear-based or dramatic messaging
- SWOT treated as a simple checklist
Week 4: Brand Positioning & Differences
What is Brand Positioning?
- Strategically defining a brand's unique value in the minds of target customers, relative to competitors
- Formula: For [audience], this brand is a [type] that helps them [benefit] by [unique approach]
Differentiation vs Distinctiveness
- Differentiation = your brand exists outside or apart from competitors
- Distinctiveness = your brand stands out within the same space as competitors
Brand Positioning Map
- A visual tool that plots competing brands along key attributes (e.g. price vs quality)
- Helps identify gaps, opportunities, and where your brand sits in the market
- Steps: Understand market → Identify differentiators → Map competitors → Position your brand
Types of Positioning (choose what fits your brand)
- Leader, Customer Service, Convenience, Popularity, Cost-Based, Quality-Based, Differentiation, Role-Focused, Competitor Comparison
USP vs UVP — Key Difference
USP (Unique Selling Proposition)
- The hook — what makes the campaign different right now
- Focuses on a specific feature or guarantee
- Purpose: to sell and differentiate in the moment
- Example: "Pizza delivered in 30 minutes or it's free"
UVP (Unique Value Proposition)
- The heart — the broader value the brand offers
- Focuses on long-term trust and brand experience
- Purpose: to build lasting connection with the audience
- Example: "At-home convenience for the modern, busy consumer"
Simple rule: USP is for the campaign, UVP is for the brand.
Week 5:
Week 6: Brand Positioning & Visual Identity Development
Where you're at:Moving from Task 1 (proposal/strategy) → Task 2 (visual identity design)
Build identity BEFORE poster
Build identity BEFORE poster
1. Brand/Campaign Name
2. Logo Development
3. Brand Identity Moodboard
4. Colour Direction
5. Typography Direction
6. Icon/Symbol System
7. Visual Style
8. Poster/Campaign Application
Logo must communicate
2. Logo Development
3. Brand Identity Moodboard
4. Colour Direction
5. Typography Direction
6. Icon/Symbol System
7. Visual Style
8. Poster/Campaign Application
Logo must communicate
- Campaign purpose, target audience, emotional tone, what makes it different
- Avoid generic, medical, or random-looking logos
- Minimum 20 sketches required
- Must work in B&W and small sizes
Moodboard must include
- Logo, colour, typography, illustration/photo style, icons, poster layout, social media, emotional tone references
- Must support your strategy, not just look nice
Colour & Typography
- Calm = safety/healing | Bold = urgency | Dark = seriousness
- Rounded type = friendly | Condensed/bold = urgent | Serif = emotional/mature
Symbol Library
- Collect 100 symbols/visuals/words related to your campaign
- Each needs a short explanation of relevance
- Use patterns found to build a consistent icon system
Week 6 Deliverables (due next week)
- Confirmed campaign name & positioning
- Logo sketches + selected direction
- Brand moodboard
- Initial colour palette & typography
- Progress on 100 symbolism references
- Early icon/visual exploration
Key reminder: Every design decision must tie back to your strategy — purpose, audience, mental health issue, USP, emotional tone.
Week 8:
Instructions
Project
In this module, we were required to create a Mental Health Awareness Campaign in collaboration with Taylor's Centre for Counselling Services (CCS).
Fig. 1. Creative Project Brief - Mental Health Awareness
Task 1: Presentation & Situation Analysis [30%]
Deadline: Week 2 & Week 4
The first assignment is divided into two sections: a Case Study Analysis and a Campaign Proposal.
Part A: Presentation (10%)
In Week 1, I narrowed down two potential topics to explore for my project:
Proposed Topics:
2. Perfectionism paralysis (e.g. anxiety, self-esteem issues)
From there, I began searching for existing campaigns related to these topics. It was difficult to find ones that directly matched my focus, so I consulted Mr Max in Week 2. He advised that I could use a broader case study as long as I could relate it back to my chosen direction.
Based on that, I decided on Pinterest's "Don't Don't Yourself" campaign as my case study.
Fig. 2. Case Study Analysis Report (PDF)
Part B: Situation Analysis (20%)
Fig. 3. Campaign Proposal (PDF)
Fig. 4. Task 1 Presentation Slide
Task 2: Purpose, Positioning & Personality [30%]
Deadline: Week 10
Part A: Ideation
- find 100 symbolism/visuals that represent your topic
Fig. 100 symbols/visuals
logo
- minimum 20 logo sketches
- black and white
For Week 6, I worked on finding references and inspiration for my campaign logo. Other than that, I also created a detailed concept of my campaign original character
Fig. Logo Moodboard
Then I started sketching out the logos on Week 7 in B&W.
Feedbacks from Mr Max:
1. Campaign Name & Tagline - "Little by Little" works as both, but avoid feeling too generic. The strength lies in the visual world built around it.
- Personalising perfectionism as 5 forest creatures is a strong idea, relatable and not overly clinical
- "Creature Camp" framing works well (learning, mistakes, beginner mindset)
- Watch out: characters shouldn't just be cute mascots. They need to clearly represent perfectionist behaviours.
- Owl, Deer, Mole, Raccoon: concepts are clear ✓
- For the Scroller: Snail is the top pick (slow-moving + carries burden = being stuck), Squirrel feels too energetic, Crow skews too dark/mysterious
- #1 Friendly, handmade feel; approachable tone suits the anxiety/paralysis theme
- #6 The double "L" symbol + owl-eye concept has potential, but simplify before it gets too abstract; test at small sizes
- #7 Badge style ties nicely into the camp concept; great for merch, stickers, posters. Just don't lean too heavily into scout aesthetics.
- Should visually suggest progress, small steps, building confidence. Avoid looking too polished (try sketchy textures), but still keep it designed and intentional.
- Continue developing character sketches
- Refine logo from #1, #6, or #7, pick one final direction, then build out full brand identity
Part B: Purpose, Positioning & Personality
- mood boarding & brief
Task 3: Cause / Campaign / Event Branding [30%]
Deadline: Week 13
- can dont do video (choose between vid, quiz, illustration book)
- 3 physical application
Feedback
Week 1 (21/4/26)
General Feedback:
- Introduction to the module and project briefing by Mr Max.
- The main theme for this project is mental health, in collaboration with Taylor’s CCS.
- Our task is to design a mental health campaign that is visually engaging while also addressing the issue meaningfully.
Specific Feedback:
- We were required to present our initial topic ideas to Mr Max in class.
- We were also asked to begin researching relevant case studies based on our chosen topics.
- Since I proposed 2 topics, Mr Max advised me to look into both topics.
Week 2 (/5/26)
General Feedback:
Mr Max gave a lecture on how to conduct an effective case study on
existing campaigns.
Specific Feedback:
- Mr Max advised that the selected campaigns do not have to exactly match my topic, as long as I can relate them back to my research later.
- I managed to find a suitable campaign by Pinterest.
- The submission deadline for the case study report was extended to Friday of the same week.
Week 3 (5/5/26)
General Feedback:
Mr Max outlined what is needed in the campaign proposal for class this
week.
Specific Feedback:
- I decided to chose creative students (particularly in design and media fields) who struggle with perfectionism and experience difficulty starting tasks due to fear of failure and high self-expectations as my target audience
- Lego, stepping stone, hill, mountains,
Week 4 (12/5/26)
General Feedback:
Mr Max focused on Brand Positioning. We were also required to show him
our campaign's USP and UVP
Specific Feedback:
Worked on the presentation slide
Week 5 (19/5/26)
General Feedback:
[Submission Week] This week is the submission for Task 1, followed by
online individual presentation via Teams.
Specific Feedback:
Finalised the slides and campaign proposal document
Week 6 (26/5/26)
General Feedback:
Task 2 briefing
Mr Max created a template
no presentation for this task
finalise logo by Week 7
verbally explain brand identity choices in final presentation
Specific Feedback:
Week 7 (2/6/26)
General Feedback:[Public Holiday] Since it was a public holiday, Mr Max held an online consultation session this week. I sent in my campaign logo sketches and also a more detailed concept of my character personifications via Teams.
Specific Feedback:
Reflection
Experience
Observation
Findings
Thank You
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