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Traditional Brands Meet Hip Target Groups
The TestLab group at the Bikini House in Berlin © Amelia Stier
Traditional brand names and young target groups – these two often don’t see eye-to-eye. But it seems only logical that even rockers with full-body tattoos might be interested in baby creams and that athletes might also be inspired by high-quality blister bandages. At least this is the case when you consider the ideas developed by 15 design students from the renowned Art Center College of Design in California on behalf of the healthcare company Johnson & Johnson. TestLab Berlin is the name of this innovative project organized in collaboration with Berlin Partner GmbH. The project’s key question: Where does the millennium generation stand on questions of health and wellness?
Delving Deep Into the Scene
The “millennium generation” refers to young people in their twenties. The first task of the students was to get to know their target group, its interests and its constitutive components. These young international designers were divided into five groups, each of which placed special emphasis on one of the following areas: music, sports, fashion, organics and body modification. The beginning of the 14-week project involved a comprehensive research phase – online and in real life. “The students weren’t supposed to be mere tourists, but rather to immerse themselves in each scene,” explains Professor Nikolaus Hafermaas, head of the Department of Communication Design at the Art Center and initiator of TestLab Berlin. For example, the fashion group attended the Berlin Fashion Week and the body modification group got tattoos and piercings. The information garnered by the students about their target groups was captured in videos, photos and interviews, among other media.
Well-Known Experts Offered Support
Professor Nikolaus Hafermaas and Chris Hacker with two TestLab participants (from right) © Photo: Amelia Stier
After gathering information and knowledge about their respective target groups, the students then turned their attention to nine traditional brands in the Johnson & Johnson group, which acted as the main sponsor of the project. Each one of the five groups chose a brand and sought out ways to bring the brand together with their target group. The students received support in their efforts not only from mentors who accompanied them, but also from a number of external experts, such as Chris Hacker, creative head at Johnson & Johnson, René Gurka, managing director of Berlin Partner GmbH, Susanna Dulkynis from the design office of EdenSpiekermann, Florian Dengler, creative head at Metadesign and Sissel Tolaas, the internationally renowned scent researcher and artist.
“What works in Berlin, works all over the world.”
The results were five innovative campaigns with one thing in common: they all involved the headquarters of the TestLab project, the Bikini House, which is located directly at Berlin’s Zoologischer Garten train station and scheduled to open in 2012. “Berlin is the perfect place for a project such as this,” explains Professor Hafermaas. “The city is young and hip. What works well here can be applied to cities all over the world.” This is why this project was also already the fifth in the series, and further installments are planned.
For more information on the TestLab Berlin project, please visit their Website.
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In Demand:
Why is it important to encourage strong ties between Berlin and international institutions? Why the Art Center?
Nadine Jüdes, head of the Creative Industries Unit in the Capital City Marketing Department at Berlin Partner GmbH: "International exchange is important in terms of encouraging progress and cross-fertilization. We have so much to learn from one another! Berlin also encourages this kind of exchange in its network of sister cities, institutions and strategic partners.
The Art Center College of Design is an internationally prominent design education institution, which means that it’s only natural that we collaborate in this field. Our cooperation with the Art Center also allows us to expand even further on our work with our sister city of Los Angeles. The goal of projects such as TestLab Berlin is to promote awareness of Berlin as a creative metropolis and as a leading design city with a strategic international perspective.”
