Industry guest: Stephen Cowles from Dalziel + Pow at IFA Paris in Shanghai
November 30th, 2011 § Leave a Comment
Stephen Cowles, Managing Director at Dalziel + Pow was keen to come to IFA Paris in Shanghai on November 19th to talk about their store design and brand identity to students from the MBA/Masters in Fashion Business.
Since 1983, Dalziel + Pow, one of the largest retail consultancies, is focused on brand definition and brand environments, notably retail store design and brand communications.
The presentation was about what makes a good brand experience exemplified through differentiation, customer engagement and design efficiency. He included several concrete brand examples to illustrate all of those stages. For example, a case study on a brand, in particular, helped the students understand the process and stages of brand design, including conceptualization, words, colours and textures and how it translates physically into the store design. Mr. Cowles also shared his extensive vision on by brands by referring to a brand as “not only a logo or a colour; it is an attitude, it is what’s make it desirable” and how Chinese perception of a brand is very different in comparison to other nationalities.
When asked how it feels to live in Shanghai and how it has been so far, Stephen Cowles said to be inspired by everything that surrounds him. He thinks “you have to get inspiration from what’s around you and store it in your brain. It helps a lot when you will have to look for new concepts and ideas when it comes to design”.
It seems that, to be creative and think strategically, one has to be sharp and absorb every piece of surrounding information.
It seems that, to be creative and think strategically, one has to be sharp and absorb every piece of surrounding information. To succeed in branding, it will be imperative to build upon your core skills in design and drive imaginative innovation from your local environment.
