Rebranding Branding: Build emotion, create a connection

Pulse 95 radio station under Sharjah Media Corporation has won two awards at Transform MENA: Silver in Best Strategic or Creative Development of a new brand and Bronze in Best Visual Identity from the technology, media and telecommunications sector.

The permanency of a brand relies on its ability to change. After reading Sharjah Media Corporation’s brief for Pulse 95, the team at Dubai-based Tonic agency realised that this new radio station needed to have more than a willingness to constantly change, it needed to be disruptive. “That was the easy part, now we needed to figure out how to get there,” says Giovanni Bordé, Creative Director at Tonic International. He explains, “The first thing we focused on is music because music is versatile. It evokes feelings of happiness, sadness…it brings to mind memories of places and people. Most importantly it has substance. But we knew we had an even bigger challenge; how to make Pulse 95 ever-changing but still be one brand in the hearts and minds of people.” Then came the fun part: giving Pulse 95 a personality. “What we ended up with was a brand device that reacted to the sound of music, giving it the ability to live across every format. It shifted this otherwise static logo into something dynamic; it could almost willingly adapt and change to its environment. Most importantly it brought across emotion, and with emotion comes connection and with connection comes trust. We managed to materialise that element that differentiated Pulse 95 from everyone else.” Gavin Stradi, Associate Creative Director, goes on to say, “What we’re mostly proud of about this project is that it’s a clear representation of how we think brand building should be tackled. It humanized the brand which was quintessential.” The way people perceive brands is changing, the way people interact is changing, and the whole approach to a product is changing too. This is a great opportunity for new brands to stand out as some existing brands aren’t picking up on this – unfortunate, but fortunate for us. Those who are wise and brave enough to be part of this transformation are the ones who disrupt and make an impact. “Our job is getting harder, our competition is getting bigger, and the way people see brands is not what it used to be. For us it’s a simple formula: Be different, or be invisible,” Bordé concluded.