Hive Brand Rationale

hive.

W E D R I V E YO U T H R I V E .

BUSINESS RATIONALE 1,096 WORDS D E S N 376 5 - B R A N D C O M M U N I C AT I O N S 2 0 11 2 7 3 9 0

Fleur Robinson 201127390

07/12/20

Contents.

Research & Motivation

PAGE 3

Creative Exploration

PAGE 5

Outcomes

PAGE 6

References

PAGE 7

Research and motivations.

The modern approach to brand conceptualisation embodies the process of research into the existing market and key players within. Initial findings suggested the courier industry is a heavily competitive, flooded market with key players such as Royal Mail, Hermes and Yodel possessing 66% of the UKs total market share (Statista, 2020). It is evident however, that the services offered between these companies show little differentiation, with limited distinctive values communicated. The research into this field proved the inability to differentiate the product offering of Hermes, Yodel and DPD for example, and therefore pronounced a loud call for a courier service that targets a niche market with a unique value proposition.

Furthermore, visual research into these market leaders revealed there was a lack of variety and flair in the branding of each. The visual identity of these courier companies could be described as monotonous: the consistent use of primary colours is reflective of the more corporate brand personality, exemplified specifically by; Royal Mail, Yodel, DPD and DHL. These competitors also seem to adopt the same typeface, predominantly incorporating bold sans serif fonts to formulate a homologous logo. Similarly, the advertising campaigns of these key players lacked distinctive differences with not one competitor producing a distinctively memorable campaign, instead these companies are reliant on repeat custom from large entities who utilise their service to distribute goods.

3.

Following this research into the existing courier market and the identification of opportunities, the external environment was analysed to establish current market trends and how these can be used to inform the conception of a business that fills a void in the market. This research first highlighted the rising trend of environmental consciousness in response to the sizeable emission of green-house gases in the transport and logistic industry, creating a continually increasing carbon footprint as more people switch from shopping in-store to online. It was found that competitors such as Royal Mail and Yodel are addressing this issue with Royal Mail reducing carbon emission by 29% to 2005 (Brown, 2019), yet this further exemplifies the distance from operating as a carbon neutral company. The implications of Coronavirus on this sector were also researched, whereby the national lockdowns led to a large increase in online shopping, creating a “spike of 66% in daily e-commerce sales in the height of lockdown” (Hillier, 2020). Moreover, the coronavirus pandemic has given rise to the trend of shopping small; supporting independently owned businesses. Small businesses have arguably felt the largest impact of the pandemic, leading to governmental urge for people to shop with independent stores to help businesses rebuild following the ramifications of the virus (Sillitoe, 2020). This unfolding trend of shopping with independent retailers was identified as an opportunity for the courier industry; a niche market to serve which offering a specified consumer base – a market that is not currently served by an identified key competitor.

These findings informed the background research of the brand conceptualisation and birthed the notion of Hive. The research was extracted to build a service that holds clearly defined core values, which can be communicated through the visual identity of the brand.

4.

Creative exploration.

As stated by Ruzzier (2013, p.122), “the central importance of a brand lies in the visual features”. To initiate the process of creating the brand identity of Hive, the core values of the brand had to be defined; these core values are rooted in environmental consciousness, community and connectivity as well as communication; building relationships with each consumer.

The key components of the brand identity are the name, logo and symbol, combined to identify the services offered by Hive (Ruzzier, 2013).

The nomenclature is based upon the brand values, with the term ‘Hive’ being representative of the community and connectivity merits of the business. A ‘Hive’ by definition is “a place in which people are busily occupied” (Lexico, 2020), which further reflects the hub of small businesses Hive aims to serve. This name was developed from the initial idea of nomenclature expressive of Bees, such as ‘A to B delivery’ or ‘Bumblebee’ this was due to the process of pollination by Bees – representative of the delivery or spread of parcels and products across the country. To further support this ideology, the slogan of ‘Hive’ was decided as ‘We Drive. You Thrive’, a short simplistic sentence that is suggestive that small businesses who use the services of Hive are given a greater opportunity to thrive, as orders are delivered and fulfilled not only quickly but also environmentally friendlily. Finally the logotype of the business utilises a cursive script font, whereby the conjoined letters are representative of the connectivity offered by Hive; the network of small businesses.

5.

Outcomes.

Hive has been developed as a rational response to the lack of individuality and thus opportunities that lie within the courier industry. Hive is a door-to-door environmentally friendly courier service, operating to link small businesses with their customers. Integrating core values of community and connectivity throughout the business model. The target consumer of Hive is independent business owners who sell through e-commerce channels. Hive offers a convenient and sustainable alternative to the use of standard postal services: orders are collected by Hive and distributed across the country through the fleet of electric vans.

The promotional campaign of Hive is primarily digitally focussed but complemented by the use of print media and billboard advertising to heighten awareness of the brand in the appropriate setting for the target consumer. These small billboards will be placed in bus stops and around town centres and high streets, where small businesses are more likely to locate their shops due to the lower rent rates than in city centres. The posters used within these advertising channels feature the ‘Hive hub’ a composition of hexagonal shapes each embodying the workings of small businesses, a direct way of addressing the target audience of the brand and defining the core values of Hive.

Research into the characteristics and operations of small businesses highlighted that social media is a core tool used to increase brand awareness, and thus creating a dual purpose of these platforms for Hive: the promotion of the brand and also the building if connections with the target audience of small businesses. Instagram is the key channel for the promotional activity of Hive.

The #ThriveWithHive is employed and use is encouraged through each touch point of the brand including the billboards, social media accounts and website - a method of encouraging traffic to the social accounts of Hive. In addition, a take on the slogan of ‘Thrive with Hive’ is ‘Jive with Hive’ and assisting #JiveWithHive, used to promote the Hive playlist available to listen to on Spotify and advertised on the back of the Hive delivery vans through a scannable QR code. It is suggested that posts on social media that utilise hashtags receive over 12% more interaction (Nicholson, 2017), and are therefore necessary in increasing engagement and discoverability (Bagadiya, 2020).

6.

References.

Bagadiya, J. 2020. How To Use Hashtags Effectively in Social Media Marketing?

[Online]. [Accessed 6 December 2020]. Available from: https://www.socialpilot. co/blog/how-to-use-hashtags-effectively-in-social-media-marketing Brown, L. 2019. Climate change: How green is your parcel? [Online]. [Accessed 1 December 2020]. Available from: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-47654950 Hillier, L. 2020. Stats roundup: coronavirus impact on marketing, ecommerce & advertising. [Online]. [Accessed 1 December 2020]. Available from: https://econsultancy.com/stats-roundup-coronavirus-impact-on-marketing-ecommerce-advertising/ Lexico. 2020. Hive. [Online]. [Accessed 5 December 2020]. Available from: https:// www.lexico.com/definition/hive Nicholson, C. 2017. 5 ways to organically boost engagement on Instagram. [Online]. [Accessed 6 December 2020]. Available from: https://www.huffpost.com/ entry/5-ways-to-organically-boost-engagement-on-instagram_b_59642097e4b0deab7c646b41 Ruzzier, M. 2013. A modern approach to Brand Conceptualisation. Transformations in Business and Economics. 12(3), pp.121-134.

Sillitoe, B. 2020. Covid-19: Government urges consumers to shop locally. [Online].

[Accessed 4 December 2020]. Available from: https://www.essentialretail.com/ news/shop-local-week/ Statista. 2020. Distribution of courier parcel market in the United Kingdom (UK) in 2017, by company. [Online]. [Accessed 24 November 2020]. Available from: https://www.statista.com/statistics/882352/parcel-couriers-market-share-uk/

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