Summary

Branded Environments are becoming more common every year.

In fact, 70% of people in the United States like when brands deliver a well designed experience wherever they are.

But what exactly does that mean?

If someone were to research the topic, they would find articles, company bios, and thought pieces covering the topic; however, in our experience these resources are all repetitive and full of meaningless buzzwords.

Here, we’ll try to differ from the rest by using real world examples, logic, and data to answer the following questions about Branded Environments:

Branded Environments are intentionally built environments that serve as the physical embodiment of a brand.

They are often created for a specific purpose and audience in mind.

These multidisciplinary spaces utilize various creative and architectural elements to elevate the brand as a whole by choreographing the information and functionality of the space in hopes of cultivating an entertaining and authentic experience for the user.

Branded Environments are no longer only for multi-billion dollar companies. Here are a couple of places and facilities in which someone might find themselves in a Branded Environment:

• Stadiums

• Hospitals

• Airports

• Stores

• Offices

Some of the most powerful companies in the world are using Branded Environments to drive brand recognition, customer loyalty, employee retention, and revenue.

Apple’s brand image is expressed as sleek, modern, and top of the line. Their store designs are meant to mimic their brand from the tables and displays, right down to the available products inside. Whether we realize it or not, Apple has handcrafted that in-store experience for their visitors in hopes of eliciting similar emotions that will ultimately strengthen their overall relationship with their customers.

Disney has also developed a solidified brand that can be seen throughout their parks, stores, movies, and merchandise. It is easy to identify and reflects the core essence of the company: playful, interactive, and adventurous. By utilizing different multimedia, Disney focuses on bringing these characteristics into a physical environment to create a memorable experience for their visitors.

Branded Environments are quickly become organizations’ biggest assets.

ATHLETICS

Today’s competitive athletic landscape has colleges racing to construct the best Branded Environments they can imagine and produce. 

Often referred to as an Arms Race, collegiate athletic programs are building more elaborate and expensive Branded Environments within their facilities in an effort to set themselves apart. Projection mapping, immersive technology, and wall-to-wall designs are developed in order to keep up with their rivals. 

Why? Because investing in better recruiting and an improved fan experience generally yields more revenue.

Benefits of Branded Athletic Environments:

Better Recruiting

Samford University Center of Sports Analytics surveyed nearly 1,200 parents and 700 NCAA Division I student-athletes in order to determine that an athletic program’s facility quality is the second most important variable driving college choice over the last two years, on average.

New stadiums, locker rooms, and player areas are all part of bringing in recruits. Clemson is putting in a mini golf course. South Carolina has plans for sand volleyball courts, laser tag, bowling, barber shop, and movie theater.

In 2018, the University of Texas spent $43.2 million on facilities. It seemed questionable until they converted that investment into $214.8 million in revenue, delivering them the title of highest earning athletic department that year.

Improved Fan Experience

Entertaining fans has become a cornerstone of in-person athletic performances. Kiss Cams, giveaways, fan races, and other interactive activities keep the fans’ attention focused on the event and encourages them to come back by providing them with an experience they would only have gotten if they came to the event.

Positive experiences like these offer enormous growth potential. Consider that:

• 72% of fans will share a positive experience with 6 or more people

• 86% of fans are willing to pay more for a great customer experience

• 73% of fans point to customer experience as an important factor in purchasing decisions

For these reasons, Gartner, a global research and advisory firm, predicts that by the end of 2019, more than 50% of all organizations will redirect their investments to customer experience innovations.

HEALTHCARE

Branded Environments in healthcare focus on the patient experience.

Healthcare facilities can be a hectic and stressful environment for all involved. Branded health spaces aim to promote joy and positivity throughout a facility with their design and function.

Whether it is easily accessing information through wayfinding techniques or providing calming and restorative distractions, patient dignity and satisfaction are critical to a healthcare organization’s success.

Benefits of Branded Healthcare Environments:

Higher Revenue

• Hospitals that deliver superior customer experiences, on average, have a 50% higher net margin than those who deliver average customer experiences.

• The lifetime value of a single patient is estimated at $1.4 million. A bad experience causes patients and their money to leave.

• A 10% increase in customer loyalty could generate more than $22 million in revenue

Improving Clinical Outcomes

Higher patient experiences correlate to better long term care, prevention, and disease management.

• When reporting positive interactions, diabetic patients exhibited increased self-regulating ability and a higher quality of life

• Heart attack patients with a more positive Experience of Care reports had better health results after a year of discharge than those who had more negative reports.

Minimizing the Risk of Litigation

Using a five step scale from “Very Poor” to “Very Good,” a study found that each one mark decrease in reported patient scores resulted in a 21.7% increase in probability that the healthcare provider would be named in a malpractice suit.

Employee Satisfaction and Retention

• In a study, patient experience improvement efforts resulted in a 4.7% decrease in employee turnover as well as improving staff productivity, recognition, and overall satisfaction.

• Another study found that for one hospital, these increased patient experience efforts resulted in the decrease of nurse turnover from 21% - 7% which had led to an estimated $3 million in savings over 5 years.

CORPORATE

One of the most common places Branded Environments occur is the corporate market. Successful companies see branding as an investment that leads to higher returns across the board.

Benefits of Branded Corporate Environments:

Recognition

Golden Arches, Mouse Ears, and a Checkmark are all iconic representations of their respective companies. People know and identify them instantly.

Brand and customer recognition produces loyalty, differentiation, and an immersive experience that reinforces what the brand itself represents: its vision, core values, and culture. 

With the idea in mind that 60% of people are more likely to purchase from familiar brands and around 90% of those decisions are made subconsciously, recognition is an integral part of corporate strategy. 

Sales and Profit

Just like the earlier examples, when someone walks into an Apple Store or one of Disney’s amusement parks, they know what to expect.

Brands who are consistent across their Branded Environments see 23% increase in revenue on average versus brands who are not.

Attract Resources

Branded Environments play a huge role in attracting investors and funding by communicating the company’s image and business model. They can provide value, build trust, show market standing, and demonstrate integrity which are all vital to securing new funding and capital investment.

The opposite also holds true. In its annual study, eVestment, a market intelligence and investment data software, concluded that negative customer experiences can be up to 4.5 times more detrimental than their counterparts.

Employee Success

Everyone has an image of what their ideal working environment would look like.

• Salesforce offers meditation rooms and workout classes.

• Ben and Jerry’s gives out three free pints per day.

• Patagonia provides onsite yoga, bikes, and volleyball courts, as well as encouraging midday surfing.

Creating that sense of purpose and satisfaction to maximize work performance and productivity are exactly what Branded Environments offer: the transformation of an interior and/or exterior space into an engaging and inspirational space for a happier employee.

Employee happiness has been shown to increase sales by 37%, productivity by 31%, and accuracy of tasks by 19%.

RELIGIOUS

Branded Environments in religious settings operate differently than most other areas. Whereas athletic, healthcare, and corporate entities have more of a focus on revenue goals, religious organizations tend to spotlight other areas of importance.

Benefits of Branded Religious Environments:

Invite Participation

Branded Environments have the ability to elicit participation and shape engagement through storytelling. Religious environments aim to increase these qualities in their leaders, volunteers, members, and visitors. 

Creating a space that is inclusive and diversified while promoting content comprehension and accelerating discovery is one way to provide that experience to the institution.

Improve Visitor Flow

Founded in 1995, the North Point Ministries network serves more than 30,000 people each week. With that much information and floor space, creating a Branded Environment with easy wayfinding techniques became a necessity.

Wayfinding helps someone get from Point A to Point B as efficiently as possible - helping them “find their way” - which is integral to people who may be experiencing the space for the first time.

Wayfinding signs serve to educate and orient people before guiding them through their surroundings and enhancing their understanding of the new environment. These navigation solutions allow people to travel safely, securely, and efficiently.

Inspire & Energize

There is a fundamental human desire to believe and be involved in something bigger than ourselves. 

Bringing people together in worship is a special thing. A religious Branded Environment should inspire everyone in attendance and energize them towards their own personal spiritual growth. 

Cultivating an experience for people to feel connected and encouraged is an asset for religious organizations everywhere.

The Notre Dame Cathedral was a symbol of inspiration to the Paris community. Even after its demise in a fire, the church continued to receive support from all over the world. Inspiration and energy breed action. Today, the church has already begun the repair process.

Since Branded Environments are customized for their story, audience, and space, this question is harder to answer than the others; however, it is not entirely impossible.

When quoting a Branded Environment, there are three major factors that affect the price.

Square Footage

Often, materials are priced by square footage; therefore, the difference between branding a single wall vs. an entire stadium is staggering. How big the Branded Environment is directly correlates to the cost of material, production, and installation.

For example, the material wanted by a client might cost $15 per square foot. If we were to put that on a 10’ x 10’ wall the cost would be $1,500 in materials alone.

In contrast, South Carolina’s new Football Operations Center we spoke about earlier is expected to be over 100,000 square feet which would cost $1.5 million in material costs.

Taking accurate measurements to find the correct square footage will result in the most accurate quote available.

Desired Materials

Branded Environments can be created from a multitude of differing materials each with different price points. Here’s a list of popular materials:

It’s important to note that the design of the environment plays a role in the pricing as well. Larger than life designs frequently yield larger material cost.

Keeping the client’s vision, budget, and timeline in mind, our project managers and estimators work together to develop the highest performing and cost effective solution for each project. 

Production & Installation Details

Lastly, how something is made, delivered, and installed is the last step in the pricing puzzle. Anyone who has worked on Branded Environments will testify that there are various ways in which something can be created in a workshop. 

Details such as quantity and technique will both heavily influence a production’s team capacity to complete the work on time. Whereas details such as equipment needed and number of workers are factors contributing to the cost of installation. 

For example: Painting a piece of acrylic can cost less than wrapping it in vinyl, and taking a bucket truck to install something 15 feet off the ground will cost more than the same thing being installed at eye level.

Branded Environments are created to tell a story within a physical space and then tightly integrate that story with the audience who experiences it.

At SB Creative, our goal is to take a brand’s story and forge an immersive environment built to deliver an unforgettable experience.

Connect with us today to bring our innovative ideas and expert execution to your next project through our imaginative designs, quality production, and professional installation.