{"id":7907,"date":"2022-07-04T03:26:28","date_gmt":"2022-07-03T23:26:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/brandloungeme.com\/?p=7907"},"modified":"2022-10-19T09:15:05","modified_gmt":"2022-10-19T05:15:05","slug":"turning-cold-into-gold","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/brandlounge.me\/blnew\/ar\/turning-cold-into-gold\/","title":{"rendered":"\u062a\u062d\u0648\u0651\u0644 \u0627\u0644\u0628\u0631\u062f \u0625\u0644\u0649 \u0630\u0647\u0628"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Transform caught up with Brand Lounge\u2019s Ibrahim Lahoud and Mo Saad to uncover the secrets of their work with cold logistics company Coco on the eve of the Transform Awards MEA. The UAE-based consultancy had high hopes for its work, entering the Coco project across many different categories.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The Dubai Design District, like most of this fantastical city, appears in the distance like a particularly deceptive mirage rising from the dusty earth. For its visitors, who are likely waning from the determined grip of the Arabian sun, the shade cast by the contemporary, shimmering offices is a welcome sight.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Even in the midst of a powerful sandstorm, which has engulfed much of the Middle East on the run up to the Transform Awards, the dark outline of the world\u2019s tallest building can still be made out a couple of kilometres away. Amongst many things, the imperious Burj Khalifa serves these once barren lands as a branding device, signalling the new wealth and limitless ambitions of the emirate.  \"alt\"<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is therefore no wonder that Brand Lounge has chosen this omphalos of design, art and fashion as its home. Safely inside and shielded from the sapping and stultifying heat in a neatly kept air-conditioned office, the jovial Brand Lounge team can be found crowded around a comfortable communal area drinking coffee.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But don\u2019t be fooled by the relaxed environment. A plethora of trophies of all shapes, sizes and colours cram almost every shelf in the office. It\u2019s the eve of the Transform Awards Middle East and Africa, and the consultancy has high expectations of adding to its illustrious collection having entered five of its projects this year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe\u2019re hard on ourselves,\u201d admits Mo Saad, head of design and creative impact. \u201cSometimes it\u2019s not that healthy, but most of the time it has a good outcome.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He joins Ibrahim Lahoud in the latter\u2019s office, which also boasts shelf after shelf of Transform Awards trophies. Despite the apparent success of most of the consultancy\u2019s projects, favourites still exist. For the director of strategy and head of insights, a project he and Saad worked on over the previous year with a company that sought to revolutionise the concept of cold logistics stands out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Brand Lounge\u2019s project with Coco, as it came to be branded from the words \u2018cold\u2019 and \u2018controlled\u2019, was entered into six categories for the Transform Awards MEA, including \u2018Best use of packaging\u2019 and \u2018Best use of copy style or tone of voice\u2019. With ample food and service delivery competitors across the UAE, creating a brand from scratch which could garner serious recognition in this saturated market was to be no small feat.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lahoud says, \u201cI think when we looked at it from a strategic point of view, we saw an opportunity to change the perception of the landscape. We really wanted to get [Coco] closer to the actual end user themselves and we tried to rethink the whole strategy from that perspective.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Through adding a bit of \u201cemotion\u201d to the sector, Lahoud and Saad hoped to make cold logistics more approachable. Being a start-up run by younger businesspeople, Coco was particularly open to ideas in a way that established or \u201cconservative\u201d \u2013 as Saad phrases it \u2013 businesses might not be. \u201cThese are the projects that gives us the liberty to explore,\u201d he adds. Both the consultancy and its client agreed that engineering a disruptive brand was to be Coco\u2019s best chance of generating success in what was deemed a functional and boring sector.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Utilising pop culture references and witty phrases, the tactics for Coco\u2019s tone of voice revolved around making use of succinct sentences. Phrases like \u2018Cold rush\u2019 on delivery bike bags and \u2018Freeze mobile\u2019 on vans helped foster a sense of humour novel to the industry, all while still letting the customer know critical information about its services.\"alt\"<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIf you look at most of the businesses within the delivery and cold logistics sector, they try hard to tell you that they will deliver on time, but you always can sense negativity,\u201d says Lahoud. \u201cThere\u2019s a question begging itself: \u2018why, do you screw up sometimes?\u2019 That’s how the pop culture fits in. It states what Coco does in a funny way without having to [worry] customers.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The strategy for the packaging designs also thought outside the box. Research undertaken by Brand Lounge at the start of the project clearly indicated few competitors attempted to make its packaging special. In a sea of dull, predictable cardboard boxes with no messaging, Saad saw an opportunity for Coco to stand out. He took inspiration from UAE-based e-commerce firm Noon and the fight it has put up against Amazon.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Saad explains, \u201cNoon focuses completely on its delivery and the experience of when you receive your package; they spend way more money on it than Amazon does. It’s the exact same platform, but you always get a note that says, \u2018Thank you for ordering from Noon.\u2019 Why would they invest so much? It’s additional costs, but they do it because the way you communicate with the end user is important. It says a lot about who you are and what you value as a brand.\u201d

Unable to change the shape of the packaging, Brand Lounge instead decided to play heavily on the typography, forging a symbiosis between the typographic logo and the messaging typeface. This allowed the consultancy to utilise the tone of voice it had so carefully curated. An interesting lens feature was added to the packaging to represent the cold contents contained within.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But how could this fun, vibrant identity be translated from the physical packaging to the digital world? The idea of synergy, as opposed to pure consistency, forms an important part of Brand Lounge\u2019s thought process as a consultancy. For instance, while individual aspects of the brand \u2013 like the colour palette or the typography \u2013 may be maintained across platforms, the team will refuse merely copying the identity across platforms. Instead, a vast array of witty phrases and visual designs are mixed and matched to keep the brand fresh, including on the logistics app and social media.\"alt\"<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI think this was my favourite project over the last year because the tone of voice was so different from anything we’ve done before,\u201d Saad says. \u201cWe don’t typically put all our strength into creating an entire identity that is based purely on its tone of voice. You’ll notice that the identity of this brand is very simplistic. Yes, it has a graphic device and, yes, it has the right colours and everything. But what really made the brand very special was how it speaks.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cBusinesses and brands are about people,\u201d adds Lahoud. \u201cI wish all clients realised this. If you go on the street and ask consumers who don’t know what the brand does to just look at it and they say ‘eh’, that’s it. That’s what your brand is worth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI think what we’ve learnt from Coco is that there are no boring businesses, there are boring brands,\u201d he concludes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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With Coco yet to commence its operations, Brand Lounge\u2019s work remains unknown to the general public. However, the project received a mixture of trophies at the Transform Awards the following evening, with Brand Lounge scooping up a gold and silver award for Coco\u2019s packaging and tone of voice, respectively. The consultancy even had time to add a bronze award in recognition of Coco\u2019s typography and pick up a highly commended award for \u2018Best visual identity from the transport and logistics sector\u2019.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

While room will be made on Brand Lounge\u2019s shelves to accommodate the COCO project\u2019s success, time will tell as to whether space can be found for Coco in a city already filled with iconic brands.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n

Posted by Transform Awards<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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