You might notice over the next few months that AAM starts to look a bit different.
Perhaps not so much on stage, but our brochures and programmes, website and social media, posters and flyers – if you’ve become familiar with any of these over the past few years, you are likely to notice the roll-out of our new visual identity. Aspects of this are inevitably subjective, and we’d love to hear whether you love it, hate it, or are indifferent about it. But this is an opportunity to talk more about the why, and a little about how we got to this point.
Our new visual identity is the result of more than two years’ work on AAM’s brand strategy. ‘Brand’ can mean different things to different people. Daryl Fielding, a trustee of AAM, has literally written the book on ‘Brand’, and defines it simply as:
‘the combination of product or service and reputation, which creates preference. In other words it’s “the thing” plus what people think about the thing.’
In AAM’s case, our brand is therefore a combination of our ‘product’ (our concerts, recordings and other work) and what people think about AAM.
Sitting in one of the orchestra’s concerts, as our outstanding musicians transport an audience to some extraordinary place, the role of ‘brand’ may seem almost a little frivolous. But if our shared goal, which it surely is, to encourage as many as possible to experience an AAM performance, addressing ‘what people think about the thing’ is just as important as ‘the thing’ itself.
Our work has been extensive: our independent researcher has spoken to AAM audience members and to those who attend classical music concerts but who have never heard of AAM. And because people can give different answers in different situations, our researcher has spoken to people individually and in groups.
What they told us was both thought-provoking and honest. Those who have been to AAM performances are clear: the orchestra is world-class, but the way we ‘present’ AAM – and in effect our brand – doesn’t always reflect the way our audiences like to describe the orchestra, with words like ‘bold, ‘elemental’, ‘spirited’ and ‘joyful’.
Concert-goers who did not know AAM gave us more food for thought, even if not entirely surprising. How do we persuade someone to give AAM a go when, in their mind, all they can hear is the theme from Blackadder? (This was actually one of the kinder responses.)
There’s much more to this work, of course – too much to detail in full. We’ve looked how other orchestras present themselves – what they look like, their ‘tone of voice’, how much they charge, where they perform and what music they play. We’ve explored where AAM ‘fits in’ to the musical landscape and where our potential new audience members have come from. At the end of it all, though, comes our ‘manifesto’ – an articulation of what we think AAM should look like, where it stands in the world, and how it can relate to its audience members.
And so we come to the most prominent outcome of this process: our visual identity. Over the years, AAM’s visual identity has seen multiple transformations. Even in the last 15 years, we’ve gone from ‘simple modernity’ in the early 2010s, to paint-splodges later in the decade, and more recently the slightly antiquarian, sepia-toned branding.
The exception to this is, of course, the logo – an asset that has lived through a multitude of redesigns over the orchestra’s first 50 years. The swirls of the AAM logo have some recognisability, by virtue perhaps in part of its longevity. It’s refined, a bit fiddly, and possibly a bit ‘academic’ – and can struggle to stand out when it’s used, both in print or online.
Our new visual identity therefore aims to reflect more closely what AAM represents. It’s bolder and more spirited, more elemental. There’s something still ‘ancient’ about it, and yet it’s fresh. There are new colours, a vibrant and luxurious combination inspired by interiors from the baroque and classical periods, while our concerts are represented by a distinctive presentation of recognisable ‘old masters’.
Not everyone will like it. Change is often unwelcome, and elements of a brand’s visual identity are subjective. But much of this work is not subjective and provides a strong foundation for the changes that are being made. We are not only excited to have the opportunity to start working with our evolving brand, but hugely proud of the enormous amount of work that’s been done in getting this right – thanks in no small part to those who have got us here.
Daryl Fielding – trustee & brand lead
Ginny Pickles – design
Mark Stockdale – audience research