A study on architectural implementation of brand identity and place characteristics appeared in flagship stores

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A study on architectural implementation of brand identity and place characteristics appeared in flagship stores

- Focusing on cases of Korean and Japanese flagship stores -

Jang Ik-Soo, Koo Young-Min

Abstract

This thesis discusses about an architectural implementation of the flagship store which is a physical substance of the place marketing in commercial architecture. The flagship stores which are being built around the world as a unified design language of global corporations, are a symbolic space that has gathered strength as a new marketing strategy to represent the brand as a way of the marketing strategy of place, and to cope with the rapidly changing market environment. Therefore, brands are nowadays competing with each other in designing the best and proper flagship store, which reaches the top of the commercial space design with its high-end completeness and detail. This study attempts to investigate cases on architectural char - acteristics of brand identity in flagship store in East Asia region, and to examine the possibility of architectural platform to create a new sense of place when the manifestation of commerciality precisely calculated is implemented in architecture.

Key words: brand identity, place characteristic, flagship store.

This research was supported by Basic Science Research Program through the National Research Foundation of Korea(NRF) funded by the Ministry of Education (NRF 2018R1D1A1B07048054)

Джан Ик Су, Ку Ян Мин

Университет ИНХА, Инчхон, Корея

ИССЛЕДОВАНИЕ АРХИТЕКТУРНОЙ РЕАЛИЗАЦИИ ФИРМЕННОГО СТИЛЯ И ХАРАКТЕРИСТИК МЕСТА, ПОЯВИВШИХСЯ В ВЕДУЩИХ МАГАЗИНАХ

- основано на примерах корейских и японских брендовых магазинов-

Абстракт. В этом исследовании обсуждается архитектурная реализация флагманского магазина, который представляет собой физическое воплощение маркетинга в коммерческой архитектуре. Флагманские магазины, которые строятся по всему миру в едином дизайнерском стиле, для глобальных корпораций, являются символическим пространством, которое набрало силу как новая маркетинговая стратегия, которая позволяет представить бренд как способ маркетизации места и справиться с быстро меняющейся рыночной средой. Таким образом, бренды в настоящее время конкурируют друг с другом в разработке лучшего и самого правильного флагманского магазина, который достигнет вершины коммерческого пространственного дизайна с его высококачественным наполнением и деталями. В этом исследовании предпринята попытка исследовать случаи идентичных архитектурных характеристик бренда во флагманском магазине в регионе Восточной Азии и изучить возможности архитектурной платформы для создания нового восприятия места, когда точно рассчитанное проявление коммерциализации реализовано в архитектуре.

Ключевые слова: фирменный стиль, характеристика места, флагманский магазин.

Introduction

Background and Purpose

As smart phones has become routine and online distribution channels based on the Internet and SNS are emerging, the market based on traditional offline commercial facilities is being shrunk. Moreover, as the O2O business which is online to offline connection, has become a new trend and consumers also have turned to be smart enough to manage voluntary exchange information about products, companies are beginning to seek for new marketing methodologies.

Emerged from the point of integrating the brand identity with the space, place marketing is a marketing methodology that designs the spaces which deliver the brand image of the company and induce the consumers' experience through an interaction among 'marketing - consumer - design'. In recent market situations where there is a need for a physical place in which the image of the brand can be transmitted to the consumers in an integrated way beyond the usual commercial space, Global companies are constructing the flagship store competitively in major places around the world as a space for effective place marketing.

This study intends to examine the characteristics of architectural implementation of brand identity appearing in the flagship store, and to investigate the attempts to create the sense of place as a regional symbolic space rather than the architectural limit of representing brand image only and space design as a marketing tool. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to explore the possibility of commercial space as a collaborative urban platform by exchanging information, sharing experience and education, beyond the function as a simple distribution channel in a city. flagship store marketing asia

Scope and Methods of the Study

Based on the theoretical considerations about the place marketing and the flagship store, the study attempts to analyze the characteristic cases of six flagship stores constructed in Korea and Japan, and to bring about the characteristics of architectural implementation through the analysis. Focused on how to differentiate the exterior skin design or reflect regionalism in order to promote brand identity and image, in particular, the study examines whether a flagship store can be built as a symbolic place of the region, where brand producers and consumers are communicating with each other.

1. Theoritical Study

1.1 Definition of Flagship store

The flagship store was started from a typical store that collects and sells a variety of branded products in one place as a part of the functions of companies and brands, which inform consumers of the identity and value of their businesses and brands. The flagship store is being transformed into a space that raises brand awareness and enables communication between business and consumers, while gradually establishing differentiated brand identity and synergistic effects of sales, and providing product experience opportunities related to the latest trends [3, p. 356].

1.2 Types and Features of Flagship Store

The flagship store is planned by selecting its type according to the characteristics of the brand and marketing strategy. What has been attempted for more effect in recent years are, however, to analyze the specific characteristics of the city and the area in which the store is to be built, and even the special lifestyle of the consumers, to plan and operate it appropriately to suit the needs of the consumers, and to incorporate the brand flagship store socially and culturally [6, p. 19]. According to R. V, Kozinets et al. (2002), the flagship store, a new paradigm of brand marketing, can be categorized into the following four types according to the type of construction. (Table 1)

Table 1. Types of flagship store

2. Characteristics of architectural implementation of flagship store

2.1 Differentiation of the exterior design

Required to perform commercial functions for a large unspecified masses, contemporary commercial buildings demand architectural expressions with high recognition and discrimination more than other types of buildings [5, p. 12]. In recent flagship store design, accordingly, not only the space composition but also the outer skin that encloses the space are utilized as the interface between inside and outside, namely the notion of facade, to become active marketing methods including securing visual perception and transmitting brand related information.

Table 2. Characteristics of faqade differentiation

As such, the architectural exterior design has large and small effects on the expression of the exterior skin; that includes natural connection to interior space by obscuring the boundary between the inner and outer spaces through the cognitive change of the visual perception [7, P 62]. It is also well used not only as a marketing element that differentiates the brand image but also as a means to maximize consumption by stimulating the consumers⁴ psychological aspect.(Table 2)

1) Louis Vuitton Flagship Store, Roppongi, Japan

The Louis Vuitton Flagship Store in Roppongi, Japan (Aoki Jun. 2003) expresses the three-dimensional volume of architecture in two-dimensional painting. In other words, the architectural exterior is planned in the form of a flat facade to be so seen as a light membrane wrapping the inner space, and embodied to reveal the brand identity while at the same time hiding the sense of volume by using transparent glass patterned logo of brand.

2) Swarovski Flagship Store, Tokyo Ginza, Japan

The Swarovski Tokyo store, designed by Tokujin Yoshioka, actively introduced crystals and created an interior space reminiscent of a forest of crystals. In addition, the store space itself is planned as a showroom, which induces a natural and consumers' sensible experience.

3) Dior Flagship Store, Cheongdam-dong, Seoul, Korea

The flagship store of Dior designed by Christian de Portzamparc, named as`House of Dior', embodies the identity of the brand through visual differentiation against the urban context that is shaped by the grid of Gangnam through the atypical facade design.

2.2 Reflection of regional characteristics

1) Hermes Flagship Store, Gangnam, Seoul, Korea

Hermes Seoul Flagship Store, Maison Hermes Dosan Park (2006 RDAI), has an elevation that combines ceramic, glass and iron based on a common design code from around the world. What stands out is the plan of ` <sup>D</sup>'borrowed from the korean traditional house, `Hanok'. It is designed to harmonize the two elements that symbolize the tradition and modernity, and to envelop with the golden distinctive glass to work as a landmark against the surroundings.

2) Aesop Flagship Store, Samcheong-dong, Seoul, Korea

Aesop defines the brand's flagship store as a `site of communication'. By establishing an organic relationship with the local, the store pursues relaxation, empathy, and authentic communication, and builds up a physical and emotional atmosphere to communicate with customers in the store. The Aesop Samcheong flagship store, which was created through a collaboration with the Torafu Architects' Office in Japan, embodies the philosophy and value of Aesop, instead of a simple space for purchasing products.

3) Apple Flagship Store, Garosu-gil Road, Seoul, Korea

The Apple Store Garosu-gil Road, designed by Norman Foster, was the latest built one in comparison with the other Apple flagship stores in Asia. Based on Apple's philosophy of branding, it is a new building that is designed to save architectural details and to express the maximized physical properties of materials in spite of ignoring its function and economy.

Table 3. Reflection of regional characteristics

Conclusion

Throughout the study, we reviewed the sites where a new type of program becomes an urban typology through the change of social and economic activities. As the change of social system and patterns of mass production and consumption has created a`department store' program that combined products and spectacular spaces in the mid- 19th century, today's place-based flagship stores are also ultimately aimed at satisfying the citizens' potential desire of consumption.

Throughout the analysis of the characteristics of the flagship store installed in Korea and Japan, we became aware of the fact that the company reflects the surrounding urban characteristics along with the architectural method of delivering the brand identity through the flagship store.

Even though some cases showed the classical limits of one-dimensional image representation in association with brand identity, we also found that recent brand flagship stores were struggling to reflect locality in size, material, and spatial characteristics.

In addition, by being designed to act as a new place in the region, instead of just architectural implementation of differentiated brand image, the flagship store is able to find a possibility as an architectural platform that forms place character as the symbolic space of each region beyond the tool of the place marketing. Such possibility implies the utilization as a platform space for urban areas where collaboration and education are made, and creation of another type of community space.

References

[1] Robert V. Kozinets et al. “Themed flagship brans store in the millenium: theory, practice”, prospects Journal of Retailing, 2002.

[2] Keller, Kevin Lane, “Strategic Brand Management”, 4th edition, Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice-Hall, 2012

[3] Lee Soo-Youn, Lee Hyun-Soo, “A study on facade design of flagship store based on space marketing”, KSDS Conference Proceeding , 2010.

[4] Lee, Jin-young, Kim, Sung-wook, Jeon, You-chang, “A Study on the Architectural Image of Contemporary Architecture and the Brand Marketing”, Journal of the Korean Institute of Interior Design 22(1), 2013.

[5] Kim, Ju-Hyun, “Experiment of Facade Surface”, plus, 2006.

[6] Choi, Hye-Jung, “Characteristics of Flagship Store Designs with Local Marketing Identities”, Kun kook Univ. master thesis, 2009.

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