nested brands, minimal brands

Love Saves The Day is a little coffee shop inside Vox Pop records in the Northern Quarter of Manchester. It's a great place. And it's a great example of something I've been thinking about ever since Fruitstock - the phenomenon of one brand nesting inside another. It's not a new thing, think Starbucks and Borders or er, another example that doesn't come to me right now, but I think it's a skill that more and more brand owners are going to have to learn.

Because it's not particularly easy for either party. I think Innocent got it very right at Fruitstock - the other brands there seemed right and appropriate and I think Nike have tended to get it right at Run London. But I've also seem horribly inappropriate partnerships and nesting arrangments. (Though none of these examples occur to me right now either.) The other thing I like about Love Saves The Day (and it is only a coffee shop, I mustn't get too carried away) is the way they've created an effective brand with a really small amount of physical stuff. One logo thing, some bags, some stickers.

The bags make the sign.

 

The stickers turn generic cups into branded cups.

It's clear adding sustainable value is going to be a core skill in building brands over the coming decades, so creating attractive brands that are about maximum idea and minimum stuff seems another good discipline to learn.

Comments

[Gavin Heaton]

What a great name for a coffee shop. It is easy to get carried away with the efforts and creativity of "branding" ... but a strong name with plenty of room for interpretation goes a long way. Oh, and I presume they make great coffee?

[Dino]

Hi Russell,
What kind of music does Love Save the Day carry? (I'm asking because the expression has been part of underground house and disco culture for a long time.)
"Love Saves the Day" is also the title of one of the definitive books of the disco decade, real disco, not the village people. highly recommended.

[dboy]

Brand links ups are def great ideas...but wasn't Fruitstock set up by innocent? And Run London by Nike? I'm liking the Nike iPod partnership.

[Kim Curry]

Another example of Apple nesting well -- I-Pod and BMW Mini Cooper. The folk at Apple are just A-class Brand Stewards.

[Nicholas]

Love Saves the day is a wonderful place in a wonderful part of Manchester that oozes Mancunian charm and attitude in equal measure!

In answer to gavin, yes they do, and in answer to dino, Vox Pop, the record store which houses LSTD stocks a great selection of second hand (and some new) vinyl from soul, jazz, disco and house to folk, rock, indie and Madchester.

[Dino Demopoulos]

thanks nicholas,
sounds great, and just the kind of place i'd spend too much time and $$ in.

[Steve Bowbrick]

Aren't you describing a 'concession'? Like in a department store. Hive brand. Many brands under a useful umbrella. Very postmodern. And have you ever bought a walkman or a camera from one of those no-brand shops on Tottenham Court Road where every single salesman is his own company and he just rents space from the top guy? Not the same, I suppose. Not a brand in sight. And, actually, I think Apple is an awesome brand but the company's really quite old school in the way they armour the brand against messy cross-fertilisation. Control freaks. Is that the definition of brand steward? I wonder if a fortress brand like the iPod is a good model for the distributed future?

[Team Fortress 2]

Brand links ups are def great ideas...but wasn't Fruitstock set up by innocent? And Run London by Nike? I'm liking the Nike iPod partnership.