Brandland
Context
Brandland is the launch version of the Norwich Brand Cluster project from the previous cohort at Gateway to Growth. In early 2022 the Brand Cluster was made public, going live with the new name ‘Brandland’. The core principals of Brandland remain to establish Norwich as one of the UK’s top 3 cities for brands. Capitalising upon the city’s ethos of independence and forward thinking, the project offers a whole host of opportunities for the city’s thriving small, medium, and larger brands.
Task / Brief
The tasks set for the interns were largely centred around a combination of marketing/media work ahead of the 2022 launch, in conjunction with the initial stages of event organisations.
- Central Brandland Work – Organising core team meetings to keep all key players up to date, preparation for the reveal of Brandland’s social media channels, and research into relevant brand-related stories and longer-term strategy options.
- Webinars – The promotion of a series of online seminars held throughout 2021/22 with discussion focusing on a variety of important topics in the sphere of branding and small business.
- Brandland/Creative UEA Joint Conference – This collaborative event between Brandland and Creative UEA was held in June 2022 at The Enterprise Centre. It required the organisation of the event itself and making the necessary arrangements for identifying key contributors and marketing the event as well.
- Brandland Exhibition – This exhibition, slated for a pilot run in later 2022, will be a public event aimed at showcasing the rich brand heritage Norwich boasts. It will be organised alongside the History of Advertising Trust.
- Brixton Finishing School – This collaboration aims to allow for the expansion of this London talent agency into the Norfolk and Norwich region to enhance the opportunities for spotting and developing potential talent in the region.
Outcomes
Brandland was able to launch successfully in January 2022 with Gateway to Growth running the social media channels to aid with the launch. Over subsequent months, both digital and in-person events were organised and run by the team, including the first annual Brand Next conference with Creative UEA in June 2022 which was a roaring success. Brandland is now looking to establish itself as a paid membership organisation and to capitalise on the momentum built thus far.
Testimonial
“Without Emma and Marcus, Brandland - the new network for people working in branding in Norwich - wouldn’t exist. They’ve run our events, including all the marketing, tech and logistics, culminating in our sell-out conference at UEA in June 2022. They’ve managed our steering group, Team Brandland. They’ve created our website, and run our rapidly-growing presence on social media. They’ve made a podcast too. Constantly ‘can do’, constantly enthusiastic, always undaunted. And they’ve got better and better at it all too - so they’re now experienced and confident in a whole range of business skills.” – Prof Robert Jones, UEA/NBS, Founder of Brandland.
Personal Insight
“Being able to be a core part of the launching of Brandland enabled us to develop a whole host of skills ranging from web design and copywriting, to events organisation and implementation. Robert’s trust in us gave us the confidence to be optimistic about what we could achieve in this project and ensured that we have been able to fit in such a significant amount of work in less than a year.” – Emma and Marcus.