Design™: A Brand New Brand for Unbranding Branding by Jack Moore

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A Brand New Brand for Unbranding Branding.

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Welcome to Design™a brand new brand for unbranding branding. Design™is a presentation series that seeks to investigate the corporatization of design, and question designers’ complicity in supporting systems of late-Capitalism, even investigating the mass prevalence of brand design as a practice of graphic design. Design™ is for the designer, both young and old who are tired of just feeling like logo-machines, who feel that the industry has lost focus on the creative side of the industry that is not tied to a reliance on corporate capital. The presentations in this series will touch on a variety of topics related to the mission values of Design™. Vucci™first will discuss the power that design and branding has and how it can impact society, both positively and negatively. Present a case study illustrating this in a historical context. Jack™ will discuss how design has blurred the lines between fact and fiction, and why we need more authenticity and transparency in our branding language and design practices. Miky™ will discuss people who practice social justice through graffiti and street art, emphasizing those who practice more instinctively and with pure intentions. Jia™ will discuss how designers can build their skills and tools to free themselves from branding solely for capitalism, and why the industry should move in this direction. How designers can design more socially conscious work.

Team™ Vucci™

Jack™

Vucci was born and raised in the Bay Area where she was exposed to the drastic wealth gap at a young age. She realized early on the role that design and big brands play in perpetuating this gap. Since then, designing for a cause has always Vucci’s her passion.

Jack Moore is a graphic designer, writer, and MFA candidate at ArtCenter College of Design. He was born and raised in San Luis Obispo, California.

In her presentation, Vucci explores how design, if used with malicious intent, can be used as mind control and result in violence. Vucci stresses the importance that we as designers must be cognitive of the power our creations hold in society, and must choose our projects wisely because of it.

Working mainly in brand and print design, he is concerned with the ethics and moral dilemmas of being a designer in the digital age. His presentation “Truth & Branding” concerns the need for transparency in brand design, and the responsibility of brand designers. www.jackmoore.design

See more on her website: Vucci.design

Miky™

Jia™

Haozhe(Miky) Li is a graphic designer focused on print and editorial design.

Jia Deng is a graphic designer and MFA candidate at ArtCneter College of Design.

He was born and raised in Shenzhen, China. Currently attending school in ArtCenter College of Design pursuing his MFA degree in graphic design.

Her Presentation “Anti-Modularized Design Education” talks about how today’s design education became modularized and mass produced, and what we can do to change the situation.

Today, in his presentation, I will be talking about the relationship between branding and street art and also will be explaining why street art is the best weapon against branding. Find out more at www.limikyrocksowell.com

www.jiadesign.online

Individual Presentationsâ&#x201E;˘

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Jackâ&#x201E;¢

Truth & Branding How to Increase Transparency in Branding By Jack™

Hello, my name is Jack Moore and I want to get real about branding. Specifically about the place truth should have in branding. Brands are a very important part of our lives, since the Industrial Revolution and beyond what we’ve bought and who we’ve bought it from has played a massive role in what it means to define one’s self in a capitalist economy. We’d all like to believe that Giving the World a Coke is an answer to world peace. That when you spray yourself with Chanel no.5 you become even more yourself. Or that you are not insignificant for driving a beetle instead of a nice sports car. We are so loyal to our brands that 66% of consumers would stay with their brand of choice rather than choose a more similar but more innovative competitor [1]. But, its important to distinguish that a brand and a company are not the same thing, though they are often used interchangeable. Brands historically have been the consumer-facing image that the company presents. A sort of interface for the consumer to interact with a company. But, brands are no longer an interface for a company, they are its face. For example in “2006 there were almost 60 thousand new products introduced. And that’s more than double the previous two years. These products speak to an overwhelming new number of brands, and types of company outreach to consumers. We can blame this on the market diversification of Late Capitalism, which has seen a brand rise to meet every market niche. With this growth in mind consider these prerequisites for a companies survival outlined by Professor Klaus Schwab, founder and chairman of the World Economic Forum, which he says are: profitability, growth, risk protection, and earning public trust. [2] The first three are largely internal matters. The matter of public trust, is mainly external, lying with the audience of a company’s brand. Consumers believe that trust is incredibly important to their relationship with a brand. And why shouldn’t it be. Brands are integral parts of the stories of our lives. But, why is trust so important to a brand’s survival? Like I mentioned before, the late-capitalist concept of the consumer-brand relationship comes down to the motto of You are what you buy.

19 For this stage of the global capitalist economy, brands rely on the fact that you are not just buying their product….

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You’re buying the lifestyle their product can offer.

So, its obvious that it has not been a priority for brands to present the actual values and activities of a company authentically to the consumer.

But We have to consider brand’s who’s authentic image might not be popular with consumers.

We saw in that montage that some of the biggest brands in the world practice this duplicitous style of branding.

This is indeed a catch-22. With consumers having every kind of brand imaginable to choose from, how can any brand indeed please everyone.

And I’m sure all of us can name so many other brands that we have directly experienced being deceived by.

And it makes us beg the question of whether brands should be obligated to reflected a company’s ethics? Well, 88% of consumers say yes they should.[3] And 75% say they value trusting a brand over adherence to trends.[4] That is why brands create a false image to appeal to consumer’s ethics rather than confront the problematic nature of the company in the brand language. Out of fear of losing their consumer’s highly profitable trust. But this is not sustainable, especially considering the diversification of the consumer market. Consumers are losing trust in brands, regardless of how forthcoming they are or are not. A change must be made in order to save the soul of brand design. Brands must be transparent even to their detriment. While this seems counter-intuitive it increases trust, and emotional connection to a brand. Adding humanism to corporate design. But, how often do brand ethics represent a company’s actual values?

This deception has come to be known as “trust washing.” A term coined by Edelman to describe the action of a brand presenting a false image of itself to win over the trust of consumers. If so many of the biggest brands in the world are doing this, then we gotta imagine “What’s the Harm in continuing to do this?” 50% of consumers can spot trust washing in company branding. 45% of consumers say a duplicitous brand could never regain their trust. 40% of consumers say they’d stop buying from that brand altogether. 34% of consumers don’t trust the brands they buy from.[3] So, how do we move forward? What can be gained from honest branding? Branding is about creating a consumer-facing interface that communicates a companies values and promises of product and/or services. If a brand promises this apple then we expect that’s what will be delivered. But often times, brands promise this, and in reality deliver…

Footnotes 1. Source Forbes 2. Professor Klaus Schwab, founder and chairman of the World Economic Forum 3. Edelman 4. Datamonitor

20 … This. If a company knows they can only offer a rotten apple but promises otherwise they are setting up an inherent distrust between themselves and the consumers. But what happens when a brand communicates that they have a rotten apple upfront in an honest manner?

sucks” campaign, which breathed a much needed dose of humanism into a brand which consumers saw as out of touch and uncaring. Lets take a look at this campaign in action.

To consider this metaphor in practice, we are going to look at a case study of Domino’s Pizza.

The reaction to this campaign was overwhelmingly positive. Consumers both felt moved by the frank honesty that Domino’s offered up to them,

Dominos is the largest pizza chain in the world. It has over 17,000 locations spread out across 90 countries on every continent except Antartica. We’ve all most likely had a domino’s pizza in our lives. And historically this image is the promise that they sell to consumers.

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And appreciated that they were in on the joke that their pizza was not known for its sophisticated taste. They really began to start a dialogue with their customers, even individually addressing people who had specific criticisms about the brand and the product.

When in reality it often looks like this. And customers have frequently voiced their dissatisfaction with Domino’s over this false promise. Especially with the rise of the internet, and the ability for consumers to hold brands accountable we are seeing that… A brand’s promise… doesn’t match its reality. But as we saw earlier, plenty of other huge brands have been similarly called out for deceitful branding and messaging. So did Dominos have any repercussions from this. Oh yes! Big Time. in 2008, Domino’s stock was still selling for less than $3. And between 2008 and 2009 Domino’s closed 120 domestic stores. So how did Domino’s look to solve this problem? Through creating a new brand language that was transparent and created a dialogue with its customers. Basically it owned up to the bad. In 2010 Domino’s created the “our pizza

Footnotes 1. Edelman 2. Edelamn 3. Forbes

A huge part of this campaign addressed the issue of consumers waiting too long for their order to be made and then delivered. They created an online tracking system so that consumers had transparency about the status of their order, and did not have to worry that Domino’s would be unreliable in their promise of fast and convenient Pizza. Part of the campaign included asking customers to share pictures of their pizzas. This addressed the barrage of pictures of bad pizzas that consumers angrily shared, while also inviting them to engage in a dialogue and hold Domino’s accountable. Additionally humor was a big asset to their brand overhaul, letting the customers know that Domino’s could laugh at their mistakes as well. Even their pizza boxes are offer frank, honest, and funny takes on their brand, creating a dialogue with their consumers. On this box for their line of artisan pizzas they bold display the disclaimer “WE’RE NOT ARTISANS” and continuing by saying “We don’t wear black berets, cook with

21 wood-fired ovens or apprentice with masters in Italy.” So… did it work? Big time! After the “our pizza sucks” campaign Domino’s saw a two billion dollar increase in global revenue. Domino’s stock has since reached 89x higher than pre-turnaround levels It went from a low of $2.83 per share and topping out at $252+ per share in May 2018) thanks to an epic campaign that generated over one billion free PR impressions What looking at domino’s shows is that a brand can be honest in a effective way. Humor, and creating dialogue with consumers goes a long way towards rebuilding trust. So with Domino’s success as a case study in mind, lets revisit some important points. Brand’s should be forthright with their intentions. They should always listen to their consumers as the guide for how they should conduct themselves. Consumers are already so cynical of branding. As we saw, 35% inherently do not trust brands. So using it as a platform of authentic transparency and communication can help to further restore the relationship between the consumer and the brand. If we as brand designers, and strategists look to do this moving forward We might just be able to save the soul of brand design.

McCann (USA) “Buy the World a Coke” 2/12/1971 TV Advertisement

“I’d Like to Teach the World to Sing (In Perfect Harmony)” is a pop song that originated as the jingle “Buy the World a Coke” in the groundbreaking 1971 “ Hilltop” television commercial for Coca-Cola and sung by The Hillside Singers. “ Buy the World a Coke” was produced by Billy Davis and portrayed a positive ... In 2018, Coca-Cola in Spain re-recorded the music giving it a contemporary .

Coco Chanel (French, 1883-1971) Chanel(France) Chanel no.5 1921 Perfume

Chanel No. 5 was the first perfume launched by French couturier Gabrielle “Coco” Chanel in 1921. The scent formula for the fragrance was compounded by French-Russian chemist and perfumer Ernest Beaux. The design of its bottle has been an important part of the product’s allure. Coco Chanel was the first face of the fragrance, appearing in the advertisement published by Harper’s Bazaar in 1937.

Doyle Dane Bernbach (1949/USA) VW Lemon 1959 Magazine Print Ad

Following the success of “Think Small”, the advertisement titled “Lemon” left a lasting legacy in America—use of the word “Lemon” to describe poor quality cars. “Lemon” campaign introduced a famous tagline “We pluck the lemons, you get the plums.”

Crispin Porter Bogusky (USA/1988) “Our Pizza Sucks” August, 2010 Pizza Box Packaging

On this box for their line of artisan pizzas they bold display the disclaimer “WE’RE NOT ARTISANS” and continuing by saying “We don’t wear black berets, cook with wood-fired ovens or apprentice with masters in Italy.”

Crispin Porter Bogusky (USA/1988) “Our Pizza Sucks” August, 2010 TV Advertisement

And appreciated that they were in on the joke that their pizza was not known for its sophisticated taste.

Crispin Porter Bogusky (USA/1988) “Our Pizza Sucks” August, 2010 Billboard

In 2010 Domino’s created the “our pizza sucks” campaign, which breathed a much needed dose of humanism into a brand which consumers saw as out of touch and uncaring.

They really began to start a dialogue with their customers, even individually addressing people who had specific criticisms about the brand and the product.

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Anti-Modularized Design Education. From History to Now By Jia™ Since we are all in design education program. The topic I’m gonna talk today, is about modularized design education, which I’ll explain further in my presentation. Since we are all in artcenter, what do you think of ArtCenter? You know, my Mom is always afraid that I can not find a job after my graduation Because I’m in an art design school. Well… Mom, I’m in the hardest and coolest design school okay? It’s a school that takes my sleep time to let me build up my skills in a very short time. And whenever I’m ready to fly? I will be kicked out. And Calarts! ArtCenter and Calarts are definitely 2 big figures in the California design education industry. ArtCenter is much more structured and focusing on commercial. Like us, in the graduate graphic design, we are doing branding and commercial stuff all day long. Even for the typography class, we are taught to do the most trendy style, which is definitely good for us to get a job. Compared to us, Calarts students have more freedom to do whatever they want, so they are more creative. But freedom is not always good… Overall, from the impression these 2 school gave us. We can say ArtCenter is more focusing on professional business-minded practice. And Calarts are all about free-spirited thinking and experimentation. ArtCenter is too commercial, and Calarts is too free. How does design education become like that? Then we must start from the history of design education. The modern design education history is about 100 years. Going back to the industrial revolution. The goods are mass produced. This uncertainty of the quality of mass produced products led to the result that people became concerned about the loss of traditional skills. And thus the Central School of Art and Design grew directly from the Arts and Crafts movement. This was the first design school. The students of central school were creating the crafts based on their own styles, trying to protect the personal styles and the craftsmanship from the mass production. Sooner after ww1, Germany abolished the monarchy. It triggered an art grow scene. That’s when the famous bauhaus established. Bauhaus was opened in 1919 in Germany. They had 207students in the first year, ended up with 114 students. In 1933, they were closed from the pressure of Nazi. Bauhaus was the first modern design school and has huge influence on design education. So, what was bauhaus trying to do? Still, going back to the industrial revolution. The goods are mass produced. However, Bauhaus chose a different way from the central school of art and design to approach the modern society. During the industrialization progress, more and more people came to urban areas, and devoted to the mass production life. It led to a rise of middle-class population. And those people had their desires. They desired for beautification! They were tired and bored of the ugly city life. They wanted something well designed to light up their life! So bauhaus went to design for mass production. So one of their problem is, what kind of

35 beauty suited modern life? The challenge not only come from how it looks, but also what is the appropriate material to use for urban masses. So it’s more like a scientific challenge rather than simply aesthetics. And their principle was “Form Follows Function”. They emphasized practical skills, crafts and techniques. From that on, design is not about personal styles, but to solve problem for a modern industrial society. If we look at some of their works. Those are really simple and functional pieces. They tended to integrate the raw material with their minimalism aesthetics. There are lots of brands still practice that principle. Like Uniqlo, a simple but well made clothing brand, and Muji, a brand people always buy Stationaries from. Ikea, famous worldwide brand of furnitures and home accessories.They all practice the “form follows function” principle, they emphasize more on the function and keep the form very simple and basic. As I said, Bauhaus formed today’s design education, they still have huge influence on today’s design school. In ArtCenter I heard a lot about Bauhaus. And even one of mine instructors said that all we doing now at school is the same as what bauhaus did. So it made me curious, how did they teach their students? Under the first director of school, he encouraged the students to produce their own creative designs based on their own subjective perceptions. It was still more focus on the personal art style. From the second director, they change to a more objective view. They shifted the emphasis from artistic issues to technical ones and developed exercises on construction, balance and materials. Classes were taught in non-artistic disciplines such as mathematics and materials. They were developing model types for industry and crafts specialists. So looking back to the different styles of design education we have today. ArtCenter is more following the design rules and design education models. Which means it’s more objective. Follows what bauhaus established. And Calarts are more emphasizing personal creativity development. They teach design in a subjective way. In ArtCenter, if we take a look at the terminologies and methods we learned at our branding class. Empathy map, user centered design, user journey map… We’ll find out, all of our education is about teaching us how to use these models. As I mentioned in the Bauhaus section, they were developing model types for industry

and crafts specialists. And we became who use the smart people’s modulars but not quite understanding. We are under a modularized design education, we just learn the skill sets and follow the rules. We are like machines being tuned to work for commercial world. Our designs all look like ArtCenter style. Instead of design for mass production. In the modularized design eduction, design itself become mass production. We are outputting the same stuff. Also what the modularized design education does is to train the students to work for big companies, like Google, Apple, Nike… This is a pic directly from one of my branding class. We can clearly see. On the very left is the climax of the design value. It is “Design is a key strategic element in the business model.” So we are taught that the value of our design is to be approved by our dear capitalism. …… Yes, money is all good! For Sure! But do we really want to train our students to only know how to design for capitalism? Of course our students need the basics skills to survive. But as our other group members presented, design is a very powerful tool. We should never just satisfied by teaching our students the skill sets but also how they can use it to change the industry or the society. Of course our students need the basics skills to survive. But as our other group members presented, design is a very powerful tool. We should never just satisfied by teaching our students the skill sets but also how they can use it to change the industry or the society. So our design education should balance the innovation and rationality. We have the skill sets that will help us feed our selves and also the thoughts to change the world. So, ArtCenter and Calarts should be friends. The professional business-minded practice should combine with the free-spirited thinking and experimentation. We should educate the students for the future. Yes, we can not just get out of the school and change the world. But when our students reach certain position, at least they will think of it and know how to do it.

36 1851 Great Exhibition at the Crystal Palace.

Visitors to the Crystal Palace, a marvel in its own right, were treated to demonstrations of cutting-edge technology of the day, including electric telegraphs, microscopes, a prototype facsimile machine, a revolving lighthouse light and an early submarine. This was the first, and perhaps the only time that such a large scale effort was made to promote technology to the masses. The event, masterminded by Prince Albert, made a profit of ÂŁ186,000 (equivalent to tens of millions today).

Arts and Crafts Movement(1859-1910).

Arts and Crafts, an international design movement that started and grew between 1860 and 1910, continued itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s influence into the 1930. Led by William Morris during the 1860s, the Arts and Crafts movement was inspired by the writings of John Ruskin and Agustus Pugin and started in reaction to the impoverishment of the decorative arts. Starting in the British Isles, the movement eventually spread to Europe and North America. The movement stood for traditional craftsmanship. The Arts and Crafts movement is known to be anti-industrial as it was started as a reaction to the machine-production of styles.

Central School of Art and Design 1896. Artist: unknown.

Central School of Art and Design grew directly from the Arts and Crafts movement. This was the first design school. The students of central school were creating the crafts based on their own styles, trying to protect the personal styles and the craftsmanship from the mass production.

37 Evan Rawn. “Infographic: The Bauhaus Movement and the School that Started it All “ 28 Nov 2014.

Born out of a larger cultural movement following Germany’s defeat in World War I which left the country ripe for regrowth without the previous constraints imposed by censorship, the core of Bauhaus philosophy were the principles of craftsmanship and mass production, which allowed for the movement’s rapid proliferation and a production model that would later inform contemporary design companies such as Ikea.

The Bauhaus art school building designed by architect Walter Gropius in 1925. Photo by claudiodivizia

The Bauhaus art school iconic building designed by architect Walter Gropius in 1925 is a listed masterpiece of modern architecture. The Staatliches Bauhaus, commonly known as the Bauhaus, was a German art school operational from 1919 to 1933 that combined crafts and the fine arts.[1] The school became famous for its approach to design, which strove to combine beauty with function and attempted to unify the principles of mass production with individual artistic vision.

Moving Machinery, Great Exhibition, 1851. Artist: unknown.

The Great Exhibition of the Works of Industry of All Nations or The Great Exhibition (sometimes referred to as the Crystal Palace Exhibition in reference to the temporary structure in which it was held), an international exhibition, took place in Hyde Park, London, from 1 May to 15 October 1851. It was the first in a series of World’s Fairs, exhibitions of culture and industry that became popular in the 19th century.

Group Activityâ&#x201E;¢

Culture Jam Intervening Brands with a Transparent and Authentic Advertising Campaign. So often brands are not transparent about their true practices and beliefs when presenting themselves to their consumers. And it can be quite enraging when you lose trust in a company because they have been lying to you. This has led to a culture of social and corporate critique of capitalist practice through design and rhetoric. One notable example of this movement is Adbusters. The Adbusters Media Foundation is a Canadian-based not-for-profit, pro-environment organization founded in 1989 by Kalle Lasn and Bill Schmalz in Vancouver, British Columbia. Adbusters describes itself as â&#x20AC;&#x153;a global network of artists, activists, writers, pranksters, students, educators and entrepreneurs who want to advance the new social activist movement of the information age.â&#x20AC;? Characterized by some as anti-capitalist or opposed to capitalism, it publishes the reader-supported, advertising-free Adbusters, an activist magazine with an international circulation of 120,000 by the late 2000s devoted to challenging consumerism. You are be tasked to create a culture jamming intervention inspired by the work of Adbusters. Your team will create culture jamming messaging about the brand, and design a poster that expresses this. Participants will be divided into three groups and assigned a brand. They will then receive a brief outlining the company, along with materials to create a poster that depicts an authentic ad campaign for it.

Learning Outcomes for the Group Activity

After watching the presentations of Brand™ viewers will have been exposed to many different points of view concerning capitalism and alternative practices of how branding can be enacted. Often times it can be quite frustrating when one hears call to action suggestions about how one can change the world. You may not know what the next steps might be. This group activity will help to alleviate this anxiety from participants and give them actionable next steps on how to change the world. The group activity will allow for participants to enact the skills that they have learned in the presentation, and give them a framework of how to move forward with this knowledge, and idea of the process involved with it.

Activity Guidlines Member Roles

Materials

• Member 01 assigned to Group 01 • Member 02 assigned to Group 02 • Member 03 assigned to Group 03 • Member 04 assigned to document and take photos of activity.

• Poster boards • Generic stock photography, printed out on laser paper. • Brand specific photography and assets, including logos. • Markers • Scissors • Glue sticks

Group Activity Brief Team One

Brand United Airlines

You are be tasked to create a culture jamming intervention inspired by the work of Adbusters. Your team will create culture jamming messaging about the brand, and design a poster that expresses this. Read the brief on the company below and then form an authentic culture jamming intervention campaign. Use the materials provided to create the poster associated with it.

Brand Overview Founded: April 6, 1926, USA Headquarter: Chicago, USA

United Airlines, Inc. is the third largest airline in the world. It operates a large domestic and international route network, with an extensive presence in the Asia-Pacific region.

Brand Facts • Bigger business class cabins. • Has the most global route network. Not only that, but they’re willing to try ultra long haul flights, which American Airlines and Delta shy away from. Service was minimal • Economy plus doesn’t add anything to the experience, just cost more money • Flight attendants are grumpy and most should retire • United has an excellent app. It’s better than Delta’s, and way better than American Airline’s. It’s great for everything from push notifications to viewing upgrade status to making changes. • MileagePlus miles are easy to earn. • The United Express Flight 3411 incident happened at Chicago O’Hare International Airport on April 9, 2017, when David Dao Duy Anh, a Vietnamese-American passenger, was injured while being forcibly removed from a fully boarded, sold out flight to Louisville International Airport. • The airline proceeded to kill a passenger’s dog and send another pet dog to the wrong destination this week. The former caused some customers to call for a boycott of the airline. • United made its employees furious for a weekend in March when it announced that it would turn their quarterly, performance-based bonuses into a lottery that would allow a small

percentage of them to receive cash, a vacation package, or a Mercedes-Benz C-Class each quarter. • A passenger was forced to hold her two-year-old son on her lap for four hours after his seat was sold to a standby passenger in July. United said the incident resulted from the child’s boarding pass being improperly scanned. The airline later refunded the passenger for her and her son’s tickets. • A passenger was forced to hold her two-year-old son on her lap for four hours after his seat was sold to a standby passenger in July. United said the incident resulted from the child’s boarding pass being improperly scanned. The airline later refunded the passenger for her and her son’s tickets. • An infant became overheated on a United flight in June and was eventually hospitalized after waiting on the tarmac for over two hours on a delayed flight. • When it refused to let passengers fly while wearing leggings.

Group Activity Brief Team One

Brand Zara

Brand Overview May 24, 1974, A Coruña, Spain Headquarters: Municipality of Arteixo, Spain Founders: Amancio Ortega + Rosalía Mera

Zara is a Spanish apparel retailer that specializes in fast fashion (an approach to the design, creation, and marketing of clothing fashions that emphasizes making fashion trends quickly and cheaply available to consumers). Zara produces products including clothing, accessories, shoes, swimwear, beauty, and perfumes. The clothing retailer has more nearly 3,000 stores, including its kids and home stores. It has stores in 96 countries.

Brand Facts • Brings high-fashion, runway-attire concepts to affordable and accessible pricing.

swastikas. They quickly removed it from stores when customers pointed it out;

• Zara prides itself on giving consumers the ‘latest fashion trends’ every 13 days!

• Zara released a striped children’s shirt with a yellow star that was pulled for its resemblance to a prisoner’s uniform.

• The promotion of such rapid consumption is inherently harmful to both people and the planet.

• The same month that the striped shirt went viral, Zara also apologized for another T-shirt design featuring the text “White is the new black,” with black letters on white fabric.

• Zara is one of the biggest international fashion companies, and it belongs to Inditex, one of the world’s largest distribution groups. • Zara is renowned for its ability to develop a new product and get it to stores within two weeks, while other retailers take six months. • In July 2016, complaints were made against Zara that they had been stealing designs from multiple independent designers for their products. • Zara released a handbag that featured four embroidered

• Zara has a strict ban on fur, angora and on stocking products tested on animals. • Zara does use leather and down (feathers - to stuff jackets with, etc.) without stating their sources.

Group Activity Brief Team Two

Brand Chick-Fil-A

Brand Overview Founded:May 23, 1946 Founder: S. Truett Cathy Headquarters: College Park, Georgia Area served: United States, Canada, United Kingdom

The chain’s origin can be traced to the Dwarf Grill (now the Dwarf House), a restaurant opened by S. Truett Cathy, the chain’s former chairman and CEO, in 1946. The restaurant is located in Hapeville, Georgia, a suburb of Atlanta,and is near the location of the now-demolished Ford Motor Company Atlanta Assembly Plant, for many years a source of many of the restaurant. In 1961, after 15 years in the fast food business, Cathy found a pressure-fryer that could cook the chicken sandwich in the same amount of time it took to cook a fast-food hamburger. Following this discovery, he registered the name Chick-fil-A, Inc. The company’s trademarked slogan, “We Didn’t Invent the Chicken, Just the Chicken Sandwich,”refers to their flagship menu item, the Chick-fil-A chicken sandwich.

Brand Facts • Service: One of the biggest reasons for the success of Chickfil-A is their impeccable customer service. • They sell chicken sandwiches which are burgers with chicken filling and patties. In a situation where there is a lot of talk about the dangers of red meat, this helps the fast food outlet a lot. • Restaurant ambiance: Chick-fil-A try to make their ambiance as inviting as possible with the usage of warm colors, writing on the walls and pictures of employees. • Chick-fil-A pays their employees much higher than the industrial average and also gives them a lot of opportunities for career advancement. • The WinShape Foundation, a charity of Chick-fil-A founder S. Truett Cathy, stated that it would not allow same-sex couples to participate in its marriage retreats. • Chick-fil-A gave over $8 million to the WinShape Foundation in 2010. Equality Matters, an LGBT watchdog group, published reports of donations by WinShape to organizations that the watchdog group considers anti-gay, including $2 million in 2009,

$1.9 million in 2010 and a total of $5 million since 2003, including grants to the Family Research Council and Georgia Family Council. • WinShape contributed grants to the Fellowship of Christian Athletes, and Exodus International, an organization noted for supporting ex-gay conversion therapy. • High prices: In comparison to their competition Chick-fil-A is priced higher. Though their services and food justify the prices that are being charged the brand is not very popular amongst the lower and middle-income groups in the US. • Customer retention: The fast food industry is growing faster than it can contain and thus customers have no dearth of choice. There is hardly any customer loyalty and thus relatively expensive fast food joints like Chick-fil-A are finding it immensely challenging to retain customers.