The Monash Chamber Orchestra Chronicle Part 2 - The Strategy and What I had Learnt from the Project
Note: This article is a continuation of the last article titled "The Monash Chamber Orchestra Chronicle - Navigating through the Jungles of Projects". Meanwhile, my friend Amanda Ng had notified me that Monash University continues to supports MCO on their musical endeavour.
Started with Intention, Ended with Gratification
Flashback from the last article: I am an avid believer that the ability to “design” is a learnt skilled, not talent, but to be able to study design is a "gifted talent"; thus, it was my wish during that time to accept pro bono project that would help benefit communities in anyway possible.
I remembered my conversation with my belonged friend on her struggle in creating a strong brand for her orchestra. As the (now former) president, she wanted Monash University to recognise the orchestra team as a growing community of passionate musicians that would perform on any official occasions willingly. But funding was a problem, and it is a fundamental artist problem.
Emcees practicing script few hours prior to the performance. The university-level activities are often a testament that amateurs from different fields could gather and do great things, including me as a practicing photographer and videographer.
Is it an issue of recognition from administration? What I knew was, there are things to do to secure funds, starting from (the laziest way possible a designer could think of) new branding and merchandise. Why is that lazy?
Designers always forgot that branding is always an integral part of any business or organisation (even for non-profits). I doubt that a new logo and proper corporate identity system is going to reduce the friction of a business and marketing effort. Without actually produce (or instill) actual value into a brand to make it relevant and authentic, merchandise are just visuals begging to be forgotten. A namecard will not help to close a deal, but actual sales and call-to-action communication does.
"What is fascinating about music is its best ability to convey emotion in such an unobstrusive, yet grand method. Music helps us to imagine the given context, yet it demands for attention & understanding." An excerpt from The Musichronicle.
This is when sex actually sells better than nothing. No one would buy things that they can resonate, but sex is the bottom limit of brand resonation. Meaning that, unless you have nothing to sell as your brand, selling sex is always the least ideal option you should opt for.
So I told them I was going to help them to do "re-brand"
Sorry, how did we ended up talking about sex?
I was so wrong about the idea of “re-branding”. What was envisioned then looked nothing it is right now due to (1) during halfway of the project, I realised that there are more meaningful things to do for them instead of a new logo and merchandise (which I did few anyway), and (2) I was too busy for exhibition, so I chose to focus on their story instead of the visuals.
I would really like to apologise on all the promise to create the merchandise, which I succeeded in doing almost none of it. However, my observation as a photographer revealed several key insights regarding the less popular orchestral culture.
The ambient of practicing (exam) hall every Wednesday evening. The strings (violin, viola, cello) usually come earlier to practice because they made up a big portion of the orchestra. Here, a violinist seen polishing the tightening the violin string before practice starts.
Firstly, a culture never really dies, nor revive - As long as it is preserved, a culture is just a matter of impact it generated in the society. Unlike new businesses or startups which (usually) adhere to Fick's law of diffusion, an existing culture like an orchestra (or even your grandmother ritual) does not usually starts off as "innovator" and ends with "laggards", Thus, only if a new music genre is created, a genre will never really "dies off".
Secondly, it is more important to help brands stay relevant than being authentic - so important that I would personally regard it as a threshold of brands' survival. Brands which performs empathy on its demographic will understand what needs to be done to either "keep up to trend" (which is very shallow thinking, not recommended), or to innovate and conquer the audience. In this case, it is important for me to let Monash Chamber Orchestra understand that majority of their audience who are (really educated) students cares about topic like human right, love among humanity or even peer pressure / suicide. From there, MCO would be able to curate their content based on the relevant / respective topics to audience interest.
Friendship moment at the backstage. One violinist helping out her friend to fix her dress.
Art museums are generally good in doing this, especially The National Gallery which does a great job at educating the audience through stories of paintings. Legacy artworks and masterpieces do leave us lots of lessons to resonate with the modern world, aren't they?
Just recently, I saw a meme about Beethoven's persistence was because that he does not listen to what other people say. Pretty bad example of brand relevancy, but you get the point. *giggles*
Half an hour before musicians are required to leave the backstage to gather outside the hall (preparation for walk-in).
Thirdly, branding is a tool, not a bland term of what needs to be done - for graphic design studios, designers would still be sticking to their job on graphic design, and that is understandable; however, startups need to think beyond that. Contemporary branding is almost nothing different than advertising, because it is about perception-building. Start thinking what needs to be done to build certain perception, even if it is a process with multiple stages. I will elaborate it further below.
Cultivating Unity among Community - Disperse of Culture
The challenge of finding correct niche exposed few case studies that worth a moment of googling. You may have already found the common point between blue collars and coffee culture, Millenials and Hypebeast culture, or even fashion and LGBT.
My deduction is, culture does not exist solely by its own, much like civilisation are driven by desire of almost anything (starting from needs to want), the key to existence is relevancy, and developed via authenticity (self-differentiation). This is commonly true among organisations or product, that people would use cash to determine its value, in this case - an orchestra concert ticket.
Fellow committee will gather after the practice session to cross-check booking information, remaining tickets and sales performance. Organising an orchestra isn't just about passionate towards music, it is also about passionate to share the teamwork joy with others - something you almost impossible to find in group projects in university (?)
This does not mean that orchestra should be outspoken about LGBT or even politics (as many did). An architecture is impressive partly due to its craft, while another half lies within the story of the building, e.g. Taj Mahal is the symbol of love. Maintaining brand relevancy requires values to be instilled into organisations and products, to create a community that shares similar ideas.
"It is important for me to let Monash Chamber Orchestra understand that majority of their audience who are (really educated) students cares about topic like human right, love among humanity or even peer pressure / suicide. From there, MCO would be able to curate their content based on the relevant / respective topics to audience interest. "
That is why it is hard to tell off a Leica camera user. Just almost impossible, because photographers-of-the-kind treasure the experience of photographing with it like Henri-Catier Bresson once did.
3F Formula as a benchmark to Startup’s Success
As the fundamental problem of Monash Chamber Orchestra during the time revolves funding and recognition (fame), with the addition to fostering an orchestral culture to maintain its relevancy. This three-step branding can be summarised as below, as ordered:
Fame - focuses on awareness of the brand through introductory book and film under one roof of the Behold and Be:hold campaign. “Behold’ focuses on engaging patrons with returned incentives such as merchandise, while “Be:hold” signs new Monash musicians up to expand its community.
Funding - is the way MCO could identify its touchpoint to collect funds, which in the moment of this writing, the book and the film, titled “The Musichronicles” which touches the hardships of fellow MCO musicians behind the scenes of concert-making. Membership or patron subscription programme could be introduced to aid funding.
Foster - Foster a culture of orchestra when audience is mindset-ready to accept orchestra music as an alternative music genre of daily life. Merchandise with positive vibes and wordings are introduced to maintain its relevancy. MCO should remain general and down-to-earth toned when creating merchandise with positive message. The idea of introducing authentic typeface “Chamber Display” would help audience recall and associate the positive statements with the brand.
Fun fact: The photo and video materials gathered during the five weeks of research phase were intended as Monash Chamber Orchestra's marketing material. However, my obsession with the team grew so much that I had decided to compile them into a book and documentary film to tell their story as passionate musicians through my point of view; thus, the born of "The Musichronicle".
Things to take away from this project
This project, titled “The Musichronicle” is no doubt my final and finest academic branding so far, although I do realise the rough execution of illustration and documentary do have rooms of improvement. I came to realise that branding does not represent the fixed criteria of to-do-list that has to be executed through graphic design. As design strategy should be tailored according to the needs (and wants), branding, for me, became a guideline to morph people’s perception towards a brand.
Of course, I do not deny that designing corporate identity is essentially the job of branding, as the visual representation of a company do reflect the value of an organisation; but it is also the time for us to step up our game to think what is more relevant for an organisation to achieve their desire. To cultivate a culture takes time and dedication, and it might be heard within its community only - but that does not define the success or failure of the branding, as long as its value is justified, the rest is marketing.
Double Bass player peaking into tuba during practice session.
Orchestra, like art museums, isn’t something known-for in Malaysia. To create something out of nothingness used to be the job of marketers and advertisers; as such, Malaysian Philharmonic Orchestra uses online advertising to reach out audience (I was targeted after doing too much research regarding orchestra culture, damn cookies!).
I really wondered if locals will attend a nearby orchestra concert as a pastime just like shopping, or is it just a rich man’s pleasure. You may argue that this is a matter of preference, thus, the disperse of orchestra culture among public is necessary, especially for people in-seeking for life refinement.
Additional Note: If you are interested in purchasing "The Musichronicle" introductory book upon viewing the documentary shots here, please feel free to contact me via email (fsk1997@gmail.com). All payments are to cover printing and design / production costs while promoting Monash Chamber Orchestra.
Meanwhile, enjoy the documentary film created in conjunction of the branding project and their second annual concert. All footages were intended as marketing material, but later compiled as a documentary film. Please pardon the hasty video production.
