In the beginning of 2000, says Alexander Schoenfeld, creative director of Landor Associates' Hamburg office, the demand for corporate identity design in Eastern European markets was decidedly under the radar. Need or perhaps awareness was just not there.
But since then, the mood has changed rapidly. Clients who want a more global presence are welcoming professional design into their business plans with open arms - and ears.
One of the biggest pluses of working with this emerging market, notes Schoenfeld, is that clients there are listening.
"Some clients may not be perfectly used to the pitching and open market procedures that we use, but they have strong top management people who are very interested in good work. They really listen. They work by the book, think it through, and do what they should for their brands," he says. "The effect is very successful."
For many clients in Russia, Romania, Hungary, Belarus, and other Eastern Europe, using design to create a modern, global presence is a new and somewhat novel experience. They want to do things right and learn from their experiences.
In Western markets, clients sometimes want to imitate the marketing and/or identity of a category leader, making the designer's job all the more challenging. By contrast, Schoenfeld says that clients in these emerging markets are much more courageous.
"They really listen when we say that they have to differentiate themselves. They understand that it is necessary to do it that way," the creative director adds.
An excellent example of a client who listened to Landor advice and then acted in its own best interests in Interpipe, a leading manufacturer of steel pipe and wheels in the region of Ukraine. It had a gray and unremarkable identity that spoke dimly of its Communist era origins.
But the identity it carries today, courtesy of Landor's Hamburg office, provides a much different experience. Dominated by yellow, its logo and accompanying system are solid, bright and definitely part of the larger 21st century world. (More details of this project can be found in "LogoLounge 5," to be published by Rockport Publishers in Spring 2009).
Before Landor starts to develop a new brand, its teams facilitate workshops with the client and define a "brand driver platform" as a foundation for the new design. This platform is a means to derive the right aspiration and metaphors that fit the new brand and its strategy. Schoenfeld says it especially helps to keep everyone on track during the design development phase and away from subjective reasoning or taste.
"When the first creative routes where presented [to Interpipe,] the client didn't see himself immediately in the new design. In this situation, we used the driver platform to remind everyone what we were trying to develop," he says.
Ukrainian steep pipe and wheel manufcturer Interpipe's industry and history could be perceived as cold and gray. Landor created a bright, forward-looking identity that brought the company global attention.
Playing out the Interpipe logo shape in holiday cards.
KLW is a division of Interpipe that makes steel wheels. Its logo has a definite familial tie to the main company, yet it still has its own sense of freshness.
A KLW exhibition display using the new identity.
The new opportunities in the region bring with them new challenges. Schoenfeld outlines some specific insights he and his team has gained while working in the region.
Work with local experts If a designer is not a native of a particular area, he absolutely must work with people who live there, particularly for copywriting.
"You really have to have friends there," Schoenfeld says. "You need to have contacts ready, a translator, and native people on your design team, too. You cannot develop English copy and have it translated into Russian or whatever. The notions and hints between the lines of the Russian language, for example, are so subtle. Designers can easily underestimate this."
But developing friends here can take time. Get into the mode of developing trust with the people you meet there, and in two or three years, you may have genuine and trusted business friends, he says. How businesspeople operate in the Western world - where a quick handshake and meeting can establish an entire relationship - does not work here.
Be aware of technology limitations While a client may wish to use professional design services to improve his business, there is no guarantee that local vendors will be able to support these efforts. For instance, a designer may create a fantastic new logo and identity system for a client here, but the printing, paper, and photography available locally to the client may not be able to execute the project properly.
"Especially in Eastern Europe, photography is not executed at highest standards - technically, in terms of styling, cast and posing photography lacks often professionalism" Schoenfeld says.
Another instance is when an outside design firm creates the work and a local or regional agency must implement it.
"That often goes in the wrong direction," he says. "The local partner may think the work is too international and retrofit it in a style that they are more accustomed to. This will lead to disappointment for everyone."
Understand the business culture Doing business in Eastern European countries often means working with ex-pats of all kinds, Western businesspeople who are there for the same reason the designers are: to profit from an emerging market.
But in the background - and usually in charge - is the original family structure. "There is usually some kind of oligarchy or patriarchy in place still, and those heads are used to making all of the decisions. Some clients have new management levels and boards of directors who are making decisions, but not all. It's just not as open of a decision - making process as in the West."
Shifting human resources Strong human resource teams are not always in place, Schoenfeld says. People are coming and going quickly as these companies grow and change, and the designer can frequently find himself presenting to different people.
"It is important that you have a defined procedure that defends an objective foundation for your work and make sure that the work is judged on that. They are looking for a professional partner who can show them the reasoning for the design," he says.
Be aware, too, that there is always some sort of backstage negotiating going on - you are definitely playing by different business rules here, he adds.
What cannot be changed, for now One thing that Schoenfeld's team did not understand when it began working with clients here is the real hesitancy people in this region retain for voicing their opinions. When the time came in projects for the Landor team to train management and employees to become brand advocates, the reactions were extremely reserved.
"We explained to them that we want the employees to make suggestions on improving the work environment or industry, but they would not do it, not even if we offered to pay them. They fear that what they say will be turned against them," he says. "They are in a culture where not having an opinion is much safer than speaking up."
Centravis, a Ukrainian steel tube manufacturer, also has a new identity, created by Landor Associates. Pink may not be a color commonly associated with such industry, but in this context, it creates a warm, very human component to the identity.
