Ted Baker. Group Meeting 18/02/13

This afternoon myself and Ross met to brainstorm some ideas and lay down things the direction we had in mind with relation to the brief guidelines, and perhaps more importantly, things we wanted to avoid.

Off the bat we were both in agreement that we wanted to avoid any overused cliches of 'britishness' that could be easily fitted to this campaign. For example:

• Tea parties
• The Queen
• Ted 'Bakery' (Scones etc)
• British Idioms such as Tally-Ho and Pip-Pip

After affirming these things as no no's, we began to list and discuss different aspects of each culture and also what Britain and America share. We both felt we didn't want to project an image which could be seen as poking fun at the British in order to appeal to the Americans and to get an easy tick next to the box for humour. It needs to be more subtle whilst still projecting a certain cool and charm about our British way of life. 

British Culture & Associations

• Sunday Best
• Pigeons
• Music> Rock 'n' Roll> The Beatles> The Rolling Stones> The Who> Jimi Hendrix
• Michael Caine
• James Bond> Shaken Not Stirred
• Hitchcock
• Sherlock Holmes
• Monty Python
• David Attenborough
• Union Jack> Red & Blue
• Britpop> Oasis> Blur> Wonderwall

American Culture & Associations

• Burgers
• Milkshakes
• Fries
• Muscle Cars> Hotrods
• Freedom> Liberty> Brave> Eagles
• Guns> Cowboys
• Gambling> Poker> Vegas> Atlantic City
• Bourbon> Whiskey Bars 'Saloons'> Prohibition

Shared American & British Culture & Associations

• Explorers
• Flags> Red, White & Blue
• Democracy> Free Speaking
• Atlantic> Across 'The Pond'
• Music Types
• 'The War'

These are only brief but it has given us an important plateau to which we can base our concepts knowing we are on the same wavelength. We plan to work separately on some concepts and then come back together on the wednesday the 20th. Though we both have shown a keen interest and can see a large potential in the concept 'Across the Pond'. Both in a literal, cultural and conceptual term.  

Ted Baker. America & The Culture.

<Some American Facts and statistics (Quantitative research)>

<Looking into the American Culture>

Ted Baker. The Brand.

We have logically designated research topics in order to utilise our time. This results in 4 main topics to begin with: the brand, American culture, British culture and the relationship between the two. These will undoubtedly create further avenues of research we can follow but it seemed a good starting block to better understand the context and audience.

<insert analysis about the look and the brand>

Background:

'No ordinary designer label'.
Having launched as a shirt specialist of some repute in Glasgow Ted Baker quickly became the place to buy some of the very best contemporary men’s shirting around.

From the beginning Ted has had a very clear, unswerving, focus on quality, attention to detail and a quirky sense of humour, so much so in fact that the first stores used to provide a laundry service for every shirt purchased – something that gained the quickly growing brand the title of ‘No Ordinary Designer Label’. Everything produced under the Ted Baker name has his personality woven into its very heart.

As you would expect from Ted, the approach to marketing the brand remains the same as it was from day one … primarily by word of mouth and out of the ordinary marketing. What other brand would give away Paxo stuffing at Christmas, a can of chocolate bunny hotpot for Easter, or even special world-cup 2006 football cards, Roy of the Rovers style? Ted remains one of the only brands to be built into an international designer label without an advertising campaign.

As Ted chooses not to advertise, he must do everything he can to support the collections in a more consistent, different and fun manner. We hope you’ll agree our new ‘no ordinary designer website’ does this down to a tee.

• 
  
• Ted Baker is one of the fastest-growing leading lifestyle brands in the UK.
• 
  
• The collections have expanded rapidly since its beginnings as a menswear brand in Glasgow in 1987.
• 
  
• Today Ted Baker offers a wide range of collections including: Menswear, Womenswear, Global, Endurance, Accessories, Fragrance, Skinwear, Footwear, Eyewear and Watches.
• 
  
• Ted Baker has a portfolio of stores in the UK and the USA and is also present in leading department stores.
• 
  
• After signing three new territorial license agreements in 2006 and initially opening stores in Hong Kong, Singapore and Dubai we've continued our expansion in 2007 with the opening of a further store in Hong Kong, Singapore, Bangkok, three in Kuala Lumpar and two each in Dubai and Jakarta. We also have locations in Taiwan and Bangkok.

Reflections:


The Empire:
<insert issuu about ted baker barber shop, kids range, events etc>