You need a clear concept matching your brand identity to deliver a more positive, direct, concrete brand experience through merchandise. Since merchandise is a physical product, it's even more important to have a clear concept that captures the essence of your brand and the mood of your design. Let's take a look at a case that DiiVER designed and produced.
DiiVER created event merchandise kits for Instagram's 'JustLikeItAllGram' campaign. It was important for the kits to be literally 'Instagrammable' and unique in composition. DiiVER utilized the campaign visuals and designed merchandise kits that fit the purpose of each kit, resulting in the following outcomes.
1. Personalized Kit <JustLike(It)AllGram'>, where service essence meets personality
For the celebrity kit, we drew concepts that reflected the essence of the product/service and the characteristics of the target. We defined Instagram as a medium for sharing their unique lives and talents through content. We analyzed that celebrities who are active in partnerships are the best targets for the service.
Therefore, we decided to create a package that looks like a personalized kit and gift. We used the "JustLikeItAllGram" campaign as the kit concept and the most essential message. We placed an acrylic welcome card designed with each celebrity's name at the top of the kit to be seen as soon as the box was opened. In addition, instead of shipping on the same schedule, we arranged individual shipments on a schedule that allows the celebrity to experience the "JustLikeItAllGram" message.
We proposed a photo-print camera and a paper frame as the main configuration, reflecting the target audience's active use of photography. In addition, we included removable stickers with Instagram emoji designs to encourage users to customize their cameras and upload photos.
We also focused on designing a visual identity that is instantly recognizable on Instagram, so we used white as the background color for the packaging and other products to better represent Instagram's UI and gradient design, and since the brand's logo and campaign main visuals are self-explanatory, we designed in a way that utilizes those visuals cleanly.
2. Season Greeting, a meeting of seasonal issues and selfie culture
As a release event kit for Instagram users, we actively utilized the seasonal issues at the end of the year and the beginning of the year. In addition, Instagram users want to share their extraordinary lives and experiences, so we wanted them to actively participate in the event to have an 'Instagrammable' kit and upload a selfie immediately after receiving the kit. Therefore, we conceptualized the kit as Instagram's Season Greeting kit, organized it with calendars, diaries, stickers, masking tape, Etc., and designed it to best show the brand identity and campaign visuals, just like the celebrity kit.
For the calendar, the main component of the Season's Greetings, rather than going with a regular calendar, we considered making it available with a magnetic stand to be used consistently and efficiently. In particular, we designed a set of three magnets with the most popular emojis to encourage users to experience the Instagram brand while using the calendar.
The diary was titled "Just Like yr2022 Gram" and used the campaign visuals to experience the message. The brand identity was implemented through merchandise by designing a version of Instagram's gradient visual to interpret the passage of time by month in 2022.
We proposed emoji stickers and masking tape to reflect the characteristics of the target audience, who like to decorate their diaries and props for self-satisfaction and selfies. We proceeded with the design and production after actively utilizing the campaign visuals.
Conceptualization There are many directions to go with ideation, but we've introduced two ways to achieve a clean result. However, it's essential to strike a balance, as you don't want to be too heavily weighted towards the seasonal issue and lose sight of the brand or focus on the brand and fail to capture the hearts and minds of your target audience. If you're asking us how to strike this balance, we'd say that if you're clear on why you're creating the merchandise, you'll see the direction because it's all about where you're going.
