Brand Authenticity

Authenticity is a perception. It is also a socially constructed interpretation of the essence of what is observed.

In a branded environment, there is a promise of an authentic experience, yet all the possible perceptions of a consumer may not be considered. By designing a branded environment which activates a connection with consumers by adding a co-creation experience, the brand will be able to achieve the perceived authenticity in the branded space.

Adapting the model of co-creation into a framework for designing experiential branded environments will enable a brand to achieve visitors’ expectations of authentic engagement.

Client: STARBUCKS

“It’s not unusual to see people coming to Starbucks to chat, meet up or even work. We’re a neighborhood gathering place, a part of the daily routine – and we couldn’t be happier about it. Get to know us and you’ll see: we are so much more than what we brew.”

Starbucks has been perceived as one for high-income, white customers, and often as a gentrifier in the local community. Through designing an experiential space which creates a connection within the local people, Starbucks will be able to correct the misperception of the brand. In addition, it will lead the brand to achieving the authenticity from the local community, and ultimately from their consumers. 

Venue: East Harlem

Thirty eight percent of the people residing in East Harlem are living below the poverty line. Also, only 14.4 percent of them are white, compared to 32.3 percent in all of New York City. As a result, there is only one Starbucks in the entire East Harlem area—inside the Target store. As the mission of the brand is serving the existing community and creating a positive impact on it, the area can be seen as a huge opportunity for the brand to achieve an authenticity.

Co-creation with local seniors

East Harlem is one of the most likely places at risk for senior isolation based on the number of seniors living alone and the level of need among the senior residents. By designing the experience that can solve the problem of senior loneliness, the brand can achieve perceived authenticity from the local community, ultimately leading to rebranding in accordance with Starbucks’ original mission.

No Brand, No coffee

Starbucks will co-create an experience with seniors in East Harlem, and visitors (consumers) will observe and participate in the experience. The brand will neither be directly connected nor exposed to the consumers. Seniors will be a medium for creating a connection and exposing the brand name.

Graphic elements at the site will expose the brand in a subtle way. The Starbucks’ fonts will be used instead of the Starbucks’ logo. While the color palette is extracted from the color of bricks in East Harlem, the materials of Starbucks interior will be used to subtly reveal the identity of Starbucks.

Project Overview

By using the voice of the seniors, this project introduces the stories of the neighborhood to the locals of East Harlem. Through a learning experience in the storefronts and an exhibition in the community garden, the street will become a gathering space for the local community.

Setting the project

Community garden as a core After the community garden is completed, it starts to function as the center of the project. The entire co-creation process will be observed by visitors, before and during the event.

Select the stars “First, we look for people who are highly networked within their communities. Second, we look for people who are ready and eager to commit in a way that works for both them and the institution. You need folks who are ready to show up.” -Nina Simon, From an interview with Chang

Senior: Co-create the experience

Curate the class Interviews and meetings will be held for the purpose of co-creating the experience. For example, the goal of those meetings is to allow them to apply specialized knowledge and skills they already have, to extract related stories, and to create materials for the class they will teach.

Senior: Co-create the exhibition

Wall of Stars ‘Wall of Stars’ displays seniors’ stories by showing their pictures in a timeline format with their objects representing their lives and the class that they will teach. This wall will be co-created with seniors under the following rules: a senior should be in the picture, the picture should tell a story about either the senior’s life or neighborhood.

Visitor: Participate in an exhibition

Wall of Stars Visitors will have the opportunity to write their thoughts, triggered by the objects and pictures, on comment tags. Over time, the exhibition will keep on growing through the tags, as those become an inseparable part of the experience. Through this exhibition wall, visitors will understand not only seniors’ lives, but also the history and culture of East Harlem.

Tickets and questions The tickets will contain question stickers which generated by the seniors. They will write an answer and stick it on their clothes. This sticker will prompt a conversation with seniors and other visitors during the entire event.

Visitor: Take the class

Introduction(Small Garden) Small Garden in front of the storefront will briefly introduce a senior’s story, and offer a space to sit and talk to each other prior to the class. This garden will pull the lively mood from inside of the storefront to the street and help activate it.

Connect with seniors Visitors will bring their tickets from the community garden, and use them to take a class with the senior. The tickets with the answers will prompt their conversation. The senior will customize the class based on the answers from the visitors. The wall with the pictures and objects behind the senior will represent the entire life of the senior, and support the senior’s storytelling. The screen on the wall will show the senior’s Instagram page, so that people can keep in touch with the seniors after the class.

Share Stories Visitors will take a picture through the camera on the wall, print the pictures, leave a comment, and put them on the wall. The collected pictures will create a new photography exhibition for the next visitors.

Connect with other visitors Before and after the class, visitors will make conversation with other visitors. They can connect with each other in the sitting area in the storefront or in the Small Garden in front of the storefront. They will begin to create a network, and revisit the space to take the class again or other classes.

Co-create the archiving space

Wall of Memoirs In this space, there will be 30 cabinets that will contain seniors’ objects. Visitors will be able to see the local seniors’ objects in the cabinets. By reading the label on the cabinet, visitors will learn a short story of the seniors from East Harlem. This includes the information about where they are from and why they settled in this area. The wall will remain after the event and act as a core of the local community.

Revisit the event After the class, they will connect with the seniors through Instagram and be able to check the schedule to take the class again, or other classes from other seniors.

For three months, 18 seniors will teach in six storefronts, and the exhibition cocreating process together with the learning experience will be observed by the visitors.

Community Garden as a gathering space After the experience, and after the brand is gone from the site, a community garden will be the center of the community, and offer a gathering spot for local people as well as the seniors from the area. The ‘Wall of Memoir’ will be a monumental element of the community, and the impetus to the community connection.

After the project 117, the next project in different areas will be announced through the website of Starblocks. The website will archive all the stars who co-created with Starbucks, and convey their unique stories.

After all the series of projects, Starbucks will be perceived as an authentic brand that cares about and supports the local communities.

Project and Thesis Conclusion

Through the research, interview, project, and prototyping, my thesis concluded with suggesting the design framework for brands to achieve the perceived authenticity from their consumers as below.

• Engage with leaders from the consumer group that best represent the group and know its needs

• Form a connection between the brand and the leaders, to act as co-creators with the consumers 

• Share stories from the co-creators to establish similarities and connections between the co-creators and consumers

• Design an experience that allows for co-creation of a solution with consumers, based on the needs of the group

By showing the example of Starbucks’ branded environment, which provides the co-created educational experience with seniors, the project offers a direct and systematic application of the thesis for the brand. 

This thesis and exhibition project confirms for me the possibility to achieve a perceived authenticity through the design framework, and the practicality of realization in the real world. Furthermore, it shows an opportunity for any brand that wants to correct their misperception or achieve perceived authenticity, to apply the framework to their project.