How to create a brand for an on-demand ridepooling service
Insights into the love story… uh I mean, branding processes behind kvgOF Hopper.
I work as a designer for door2door, a startup based in Berlin tackling public transport issues. In summer 2019, we helped our client Kreisverkehrsgesellschaft Offenbach mbH (kvgOF) bring on-demand ridepooling to their streets: the ‘kvgOF Hopper’ was born. For those interested in how our design team develops brands for these new services, I have put together an overview of our processes.
When it comes to branding a service that will be used by the entire public, it isn’t as straightforward as one might think. On the whole, ridepooling shuttles do not have a specific target audience; no age range, gender, taste or style. So when developing a brand that will become an essential tool for an entire region, there are a few methods that need to become second nature. To understand public transport operators and their needs, we have to get to know them, see their best and worst features, create something beautiful together and let it go again in the end — just like in any other great love story.
“So, your dating profile said you like long walks in acorn forests?”
Kicking off the branding process with research on the operating area is probably the most crucial step of the entire process, as it allows us to obtain a good understanding of the region, its history, who its residents are and how they will benefit from the new service.
Sending out a survey directly to those who live and work in the area helps to build a clear identity that can evolve into a strong brand and create an emotional attachment between the users of the service.
The region is, in effect, the ‘target audience’. There are two key research methods that our team uses to aid the development process; however, elements of these methods can be combined to best suit the branding situation.
- The ideal situation would be to visit the region in person, in order to get a sense of the culture and what life is like there. Interviewing the locals* can provide more detailed insights, and taking photos of the geography can give an understanding of how things could look like as a user from inside the shuttle. * If interviewing locals is not possible, sending out survey forms to clients is a good alternative.
- If this is not possible, we unbox our MI6 skills with the help of our best friends: Google & Instagram. Most towns or public transport operators will have a social media profile where they post photos of the towns and their events. Wikipedia will also offer insights into the region’s history and culture, while the demographics (e.g. gender, diversity) are pretty easy to google.
We based our definition of key features on desk research, which included reviewing various online resources, and a survey that was sent to a sample group of district residents. Sending out a survey directly to those who live and work in the area helps to build up a clear identity that can evolve into a strong brand and create an emotional attachment between the users of the service. Simple questions such as “How would you describe your Kreis (district) in 3 words?” or “How would you describe the typical citizen of Kreis Offenbach?” can provide valuable insight into the local culture and identity. Our surveys for Kreis Offenbach revealed the frequently recurring phrase “Stadt im Grünen”, city within a green landscape.
We had discovered that citizens actually considered their district, which consists of multiple small towns in and around a forest, to be a forested “city”. Our desk research further showed that the local affinity to the forest has deep roots — even the district’s crest prominently features an oak tree. To reflect the importance of nature in the local cultural identity of Kreis Offenbach, our logo concept featured a bouncing squirrel. This stage is not only important for the further process but also gives us the opportunity to start an emotional bond with the region and the soon to be created brand.
Keep them (pin)terested.
Armed with a good understanding of the region it was time to create visual concepts for the new brand. Usually, three concepts are a satisfactory number to evaluate a range of directions that are safe to explore. However, it is important to remember that the service will be a long-lasting brand that needs to stand the test of time. The service will likely begin in just a couple of towns within the region, but over time it could expand to the whole district. Therefore, the concepts needed to be adaptable and we had to take other towns into consideration.
Creating mood boards is just like a brainstorming exercise; it enables new ideas to be created through a sensory experience.
Within our design team, we make use of mood boards to help both ourselves and clients visualize the potential directions the brand could take. We will often pull inspiration from existing brands or photographs for a collage that conveys a visual style and feel. Creating mood boards is just like a brainstorming exercise; it enables new ideas to be created through a sensory experience. It allows the client to understand how we, as designers, visualize the service to be, and they, as clients, can understand if it communicates their positioning and values accordingly.
Sometimes the client may prefer an entirely new visual identity for the new service, separate to that of the public transport operator (PTO), while other clients prefer the service to be an extension of the PTO, and therefore the brand would need to reflect this. The former enables the brand to be more flexible and creative, bringing new ideas and themes to the region. The latter provides some recognition for the region by raising awareness of who the shuttle belongs to and thus, feeling less foreign for the region’s inhabitants. Either way, good branding provides credibility and inspires trust. Once this step is done, it’s time to get serious.
“Will you keep your name or take theirs?”
Once the overall visual identity has been formed for the new project, it’s going to need a name. We selected a team made up of German and English speakers from the design, marketing, and sales departments, and introduced them to Kreis Offenbach via our research findings. Three key features stood out to us from our research that we presented to our team, which they then brainstormed to create new keywords and, eventually, a name.
These key features were:
- The unique geography of the region: along with its history of vast oak forests, Kreis Offenbach is made up of low-ranging hills & forests, and the flow of the river Main naturally separates the region from Bavaria.
- The need for quick, reliable transport: the region has a rich and diverse culture and is open to change. This direction would embrace innovation and modernity.
- The connecting neighborhoods: looking at all the towns within the region on a map, they look like little islands in a sea of green forest, hence the phrase “Stadt im Grünen”. The new service would be a solution to connect all of these areas.
The name kvgOF Hopper takes inspiration from the aforementioned sea of green, as the new shuttle would be connecting the small Offenbach towns with one shuttle, hopping from one station to another. The proud parents, kvgOF and door2door, were delighted with the new name.
If you like it, then you should put a logo on it!
We have the idea, we like it. Now we need a logo to make it official. Since the logo will be seen on all materials and will most likely be the first impression a user will have of the service, the creation of the logo is a crucial stage within the brand development.
The process starts with sketching out as many ideas as we can possibly muster, always with our mood board directions in mind. Gradually, we start seeing themes and trends within the sketches. At this point, we narrow down and refine these trends until we can create our first iteration of the two logo concepts, which we then send off to the client as first drafts. Once a concept has been chosen, we continue to refine by adding colors and tweaking angles until it’s final. Our new-born brand has been shaped and is ready to explore the world.
Congratulations! Is it a magenta or a cyan?
The branding for the new-born project is almost ready, it’s all coming together nicely. The final step for the branding process is to create supporting visuals for the logo. For kvgOF Hopper, this included choosing the brand colors and font, and creating a set of illustrations that could be used across all materials, e.g. the vehicles, the app, and posters. Depending on the theme and feel of the brand, the medium of visuals can differ. Maintaining a continual conversation over the entire development process allows the joint vision to remain in focus and come to life.
They grow up so fast…
We love creating brands for our clients at door2door, knowing that in the end, the users of the service will see it as something approachable and easy to use. If you were to see a striking, playful shuttle drive by, like those of kvgOF Hopper, it would doubtlessly catch your attention over a simple shuttle with just a plain logo on the side. This creates more awareness, which in turn, leads to more usage. We cannot wait to see how our new-born kvgOF Hopper grows and expands to its full potential, and we hope that it puts a smile on everyone’s face when they see it in the streets.
Want to read more about our in-house branding at door2door?
Check out these blog posts written by our design team!
