15
PRODUCTE, CONSUM, COMUNICACIÓ: EL NOU PUNT DE VENDA,
1998
The creation of the brand image for Pans & Company The Pans & Company chain is a recent example of a chain that has achieved a great success from the creation of a strong brand image. This image is an added value for the product, acts as a key difference factor, and even means a barrier against new competitors. This article will try to
explain what the keys have been in configuring this strong brand image, which
meant an important impulse in the initial development of the chain and which
many brands (not only distribution and fast-food brands) have tried to imitate.
In the first place, I
would like to stress that the image is an effect produced as a result of the
perception a consumer makes up from a set of impressions obtained from the
company's actions in all fields. The image is a value that resides, therefore,
in the mind of the consumer and not in the company's marketing department. What
happens is that the company has efficient tools for conditioning or influencing
the creation of that perception in the consumer's mind.
We should specify that
this perception is formed as the result of an accumulation of all the stimuli
the consumer gets from a company. Among these, there are some which depend on
the company's will for communication (what is known as voluntary messages), as
in the case of publicity, public relations, direct marketing, etc. However,
there are other types of messages which do not depend on the decision to
communicate, but rather are naturally produced by the simple fact of the
company's existence. The company itself, as an organisation, its premises,
products, and personnel which make it up are the main communication route for
this sort of «involuntary» message.
Both sorts of messages
reach the public and reinforce one another if they are coherent in what they
intend and carry out or, in the case of the contrary, they discredit one
another. In the first case, the perception that the receiver makes up of the
company will be clear and positive and will contribute decisively to the
company's business success, as is the case in Pans & Company, while in the
second case, this perception will be confused and its results negative, or
neutral in the best of cases, for reinforcing the company's
competitive position.
Therefore, before the
decision to communicate, the decision
to use communication resources outside the company, it is necessary to optimise
communication the company emits with its own resources which is none other than
its identity as a company or as a brand. It is important to realise that this
sort of communication will reach the public whether the company wants it or
not. However, what is the company's decision is carrying it out strictly and
using it effectively for the potential of its business or otherwise.
If the identity is well
set out and has been visualised and transmitted correctly, it will make up a
solid basis for all the company's communication actions, and thus will be the
keystone for the construction of a strong brand image.
This is the case of Pans
& Company. Its corporate identity, from the conceptual point of view, and
its visual expression, have been, even before beginning its commercial
communication, the factors which have influenced more decisively in the
construction of a strong brand image.
For an analysis of the
keys to the process of the creation of the Pans & Company identity and its
visual expression, we have to follow its creation process. The starting point
was a briefing which defined the business concept as follows:
The
creation of a chain of establishments placed in high-traffic areas,
specialising in the sale, in a fast-fond-like, system, of a limited range of
high-quality sandwiches and some complementary products (salads, cakes, drinks,
and ice-cream) which will guarantee the satisfaction of all appetite and snack
needs of a wide public at any time of day.
The company's aim was ambitious, as a quick spread was foreseen, as well as the possibility of competition, in the medium term, in external markets. The introduction policy
began with the creation of some first establishments of our own, basically for
three reasons:
1. The possibility of experimenting. 2. Allowing faster growth.
3. Creating a brand desirable for possible
franchise holders.
At a geographic introduction level, the decision was to create two first prototype premises in Barcelona and study their behaviour for a year, so as to then begin the expansion process. We had previous
information as market data which indicated that the volume of the Spanish
market for fast testaurants would increase rapidly and that, therefore, there
were great possibilities for new initiatives.
Starting from here, we
carried out an investigation to discover tendencies, consumption habits, and
perceptions that consumers had about fast food outside the home and the offer
that existed till then.
The main conclusions
from this study (carried out in 1990) were the following:
- It confirmed the trends which endorsed the growth of the market: increasingly, people have less time for preparing meals every day and, therefore, have to eat out more and more often. In this consumption situation (more an obligation than a pleasure) the consumer wants to be served quickly, with varied quality products, at a reasonable price, and in pleasant surroundings which will allow a certain mental relaxation before going back to work. - In regard to the perception of existing
supply in the fast-food sector, the investigation stressed that consumers
appreciate simplicity, affordability, and the quickness and informality of
these premises, but, on the other hand, a good section of the public rejected
this formula because of a perception of poor quality, a certain weariness of
the monotony of the offer, and a certain association of the offer with
teenagers.
- We quite definitely saw that a good portion
of the public did not identify with the existing offer and had a negative
perception of fast food, not so much of the system itself (it was accepted as a
consequence of current life-styles) as of the formulae offered till then:
basically, American hamburger joints which had arrived at the end of the 70’s
and the 80’s. In spite of the fact that there was already a sandwich chain in
Barcelona, the consumer lined up with the American offer, as they did not have
an identity of their own but reproduced the typical American codes for
hamburger joints.
- There was also a part of the public which was
psychologically reticent to changing food habits so as to follow the norms then
marked by American hamburger joints; this favoured the offer of products which
initially were better adapted to our food consumption habits.
 From these data we defined a strategy based on taking a greater advantage than the competition of market growth produced by incorporating new consumers. More than fighting for a market share of the existing market, it was a question of dominating most of the future market. This is what is known in marketing terms as a market development strategy rather than fighting for a share. The position proposed for achieving this strategy was the following: 1. Faced with the existing fast food formulae, we wanted to place our brand as a more original alternative, more modern and closer to our own habits and tastes. 2. Faced with traditional bars, we had to take
a position as the more modern alternative, with more novelty and more fun (when
I say traditional bar, I mean not only those that offer sandwiches —most of
them— but also those which offer combined courses and three-course meals).
Faced with both of these, the answer ought to be a proposal of greater quality. At an objective public
level and according to this strategy, we ought to target not so much the usual
fast food public, but rather those who «only went once in a while, with the
children» or almost never.
This public was made up
of collectives such as:
- Young people from 18-20 on who give up traditional fast food «because they're too old for that sort of place». - Employees, office personnel, professional
workers, secretaries from all social classe, at lunch-time, mid-day, or odd
hours, either to eat quickly or take out.
- People, couples, or groups looking for a
place to have something quick while or after shopping, going to the cinema, or
doing errands.
- People passing by and impulse buying.
- Parents with children, in the evening or during
the weekend, to eat on the premises or take out.
Quite definitely, to interest this public which, in principle, was not a fast food consumer, we had to create a brand with values they could identify with. We wanted to associate the brand with values like informal, innovative, original, near, quality, nice, and functional. The challenge to take up
was the creation of a strong brand carrying an added value for the product and
differentiating us from the competition.
Starting from here, we
began the creation process. The first thing we had to do was formulate a
concept of over-all image for the chain and, from this, begin a process of
multi-disciplinary design to answer all programme needs from a formal
coherence, and always according to the brand strategy and the concept
formulated.
The creation of the
programme was placed around the use of our own product as the axis of identity
visualisation.
 A crunchy baguette, just baked (by means of a pre-cooking system which was non-existent at that moment), represented an innovation we could capitalise at the image level. The product, magnified, omnipresent, turned into the central axis of brand identity and, above all, of the sales point, while fleeing from any accessory or gratuitous element. When describing the design
process, I will refer more extensively to the sales point, but first I must
briefly expose the creation process for the rest of the areas which make up the
visual identity of the chain, as they are an indivisible whole which cannot be
understood without an over-all view.
The first step was to
find a name for the chain. For this, we set up a process of creative search
route generation, according to the attributes and identity signals to be
transmitted. By means of a methodology of our own, hundreds of alternatives
came up and were evaluated for ability to achieve proposed aims. Originality,
ease of understanding, pronunciation, and memory were, of course, highly
recomendable values for the name.
The process concluded
with a short list from which Pans & Company was chosen.
The name chosen brought
up a series of interesting connorations:
- It had the capacity of describing the product concept: a sandwich is made of bread (pans) above ail, plus any ingredients you want to add. - Pans & Company wanted to be, from the
beginning, a place to have delicious sandwiches, in company.
- It gave an idea of a chain, of a commercial
firm.
- It established more than a name, a name
system, which could derive towards a product name, but also a communication.
Once we had found the name, the next step was to develop the design in ail key areas of chain identity (product, surroundings, personnel, and visual communication). The design of the visual
expression of the Pans & Company brand had to have an enormous visual
strength in its graphic concept. Besides, it had to express, if possible, the
product concept.
But if Pans tk Company
was to be an innovative chain, its brand had to be stressed from the beginning.
Thus, the design was not limited to the conventional, but we developed a System
of Visual Identity, capable of identifying the chain, beyond incorporating the
Pans & Company logo.
This system is made up
of the logo, a symbol (the baguette), a chromatic code, and a graphic code.
At the chromatic level,
faced with the use of one «corporate colour» only, Pans & Company decided
on a code made up of four colours, which give the chain visual resources which
are greatly useful for giving establishments a young and merry image. The
colour for wrappings and service material (glasses, mats, bags, and even
personnel uniforms) were definitely designed to be elements giving life and
merriness to our establishments.
The graphic code, with
an enormous visual strength, is a grid which works to visually join all the
pieces and has a standout role both in graphics and in decoration.
 When creating the brand, there were genetic information codes, «identification tics» the chain could count on for all visual manifestations, such as wrappings, posters, object design, or visual communication. As to the sales point
identity, the concept bases on which the design rests are the following:
1. The product: the windows full of baguettes and magnified sandwiches on the walls are the stars in every premises. 2. We had to differentiate and innovate regarding
everything which was in existence; for this, we had to flee from clichés
existing in hamburger joints, even though they were sometimes useful from the
functional point of view.
3. Giving more potential to the counter as the
central visual element, always facing the entry to the premises, is an aspect
which intends to encourage impulse buying.
4. The use of traditional materials with an
innovative concept was another key aspect when creating the sales point
identity. Wood and marble are outstanding elements in the premises. However,
their layout, together with a lighting concept out of the ordinary in fast food
spots, give these establishments a warm, young (but not excluding) atmosphere,
with more quality.
5. Lighting is «discriminate», giving value and
hierarchy to the different elements and avoiding the uniform visual chaos which
tends to be seen in this kind of establishments.
6. Visual separation between dining area and
kitchen was another basic criterion followed when designing the prototype premises
project. Quite different from hamburger joints, where the kitchen is visible
from the counter, in the Pans & Company premises its view only allows us to
see that the product is made at the moment, without allowing a view of the
actual making of it nor of the machinery to make it, as we were trying to refer
to the craft aspect, fleeing from any connotation of industrialism.
When creating chains, it is basic to take serial criteria into account. Sometimes it is necessary to give up ideas which are brilliant but cannot be serialised. We must also understand that if we have to work in very different architectural surroundings, we have to have total application versatility for applying the elements. Supports on which to
work on identity (what we call visual tics) must be few but impacting and allow
memory beyond the different circumstances where they can be found. Thus, the
counters and their exhibition of baguettes, the gridwork floors, the yellow in
posters, and the magnification of product images, give Pans & Company
premises a strong impact image which is memorable and exclusive.
The integral creative
process for the Pans & Company
identity finished with the creation of a Corporate Manual which guarantees the
correct development of identity in the future, in all areas (graphics, product,
space) independently both of internal or external teams that could intervene at
any moment and the surroundings where it must be applied.
Once the corporate
identity and its expression had been created, the basis for a brand image
construction was laid. However, the image was reinforced with publicity
communication and brand management by company marketing experts.
At this stage, the
communication carried out by the brand
was basic, especially during the first years, for strongly rooting both in the
formal and conceptual nature defined in the project for creating identity. Once
more, the product was the axis of brand communication and its visual
expression, beginning with the chromatic codes (the colour yellow), the graphics
(the grid), decisively contributed to fix this perception. In this way, we
achieved publicity which, besides selling, also created a brand.
Since then, company
initiatives such as sponsoring events like Pans & Classics and Pans &
Bikes, have reinforced this image of a unique and differential brand. We must
say that the brand is a vehicle for significance and thus must be kept up by
the company. Only thus will identity end up becoming a brand image.
The Pans & Company
image has been, without a doubt, a basic element in the chain's commercial
success; it now has more than 100 establishments and has begun to expand
outwards.
Even though many
imitations have later appeared, the brand image achieved by Pans & Company means a real
barrier for possible competitors interested or trying to enter this market.
Besides, this chain has
become an obligatory reference as an innovarive model as well as an efficient
corporate identity which will doubtless be followed by many companies, and not
only in the world of distribution and fast food.
As the image is
enormously important in the chain's strategy, we have recently considered the
need to evolve and optimise functional and communication aspects which will
allow setting up the standard as to image. Thus, we have carried out succeding
optimisation in basic signs, in counter design, in communication supports at
sales points, in visual separation of space, in greater space for freezing,
and, altogether, in all aspects which can be developed, so as to keep up this
competitive advantage.
The commercial success
obtained by this chain has destroyed several clichés:
1. That success is not incompatible with quality in design (which has won several prizes in local and foreign competitions). 2. That it is possible to reach the public by
innovative proposals.
3. That when work is accurately carried out,
there is no reason to fear foreign competition.
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Sobre l'autor
CONRADO LLORENS
Director General de SUMMA, Barcelona.
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