The “Brand Story” that we work towards.

We define “Brand Story” a little differently from others. Our brand stories are not about ad campaigns molded into a story, nor are they simple retellings of established stores’ histories.

The brand stories that we believe form the limitless connections between people and brands.
By adapting to changes through time, and by constantly updating values and behavior, brands can refortify new connections. As a result, closed and personal, one-of-a-kind histories will form between a brand and its fans. This is what we call a brand story.
Therefore, a brand story is neither something that can be carried out overnight, nor does it involve one-sided input from a brand.

In exchange, once a brand story begins, it holds formative experiences, individual memories of the brand, and personal attachment. All of these pieces work towards creating an intimate bond between brands and people. Examples of strong brand stories include “Calpis Water”, which evokes images of childhood summers to all regardless of age or year, and “Oronine H Ointment”, which recalls memories of mothers with just its scent.

A deep interest in people and an understanding of their desires are essential in creating these bonds between brands and people, as well as an approach that investigates the inner workings of each person. Brands that can emotionally connect with people will generate empathy and warmth, evoke honest needs and desires, and will lead to the creation of one-of-a-kind brand stories.

Before we are consumers, we are human beings.

It is said that times have changed, and that it has become more difficult to sell products. However, this difficulty is not due to changing times, but rather the limitations of marketing strategies of the past. Simply analyzing the market and a product’s competitors to assert superiority is insufficient in generating sales. What is left behind in quantitative analysis are the real, living emotions of individuals.

Before questions of purchasing a product or not, there are questions of personal preference, of emotion, and deeper, more complicated questions of feelings and sentiment. We look for these layered elements of emotion and desire in people’s lives that go unaccounted for when looking just at the numbers.

Looking at the person, rather than the consumer. Through this process, we will find the secrets to forming deep connections between brands and people. This is what we believe.

Making a strong brand through “meaningfulness” and “creativity”.

“Branding is the tangible and intangible activities that lead to lasting support from people”. Our definition at Bannistar is simple. Logos, advertisements, websites, events, even the brief moments of taking a product in your hand... a brand is the summation of memories and experiences that form through these various touch points, and branding is the continuous activities that offer these memories and experiences. This is why it is crucial to bring out the true essence of a brand, find the right way to embody this essence, and deliver it directly to each customer.

“Meaningfulness” and “Creativity” are key in this process.
“Meaningfulness” is the purpose and significance of a brand to people and society. "Creativity" is the way of representing a brand and making it tangible.
Without Meaningfulness, a brand could not sustain a solid foundation, and without Creativity, a brand’s charms would be left untapped. Our mission is to participate in all parts of these processes and to connect these activities to positive results.

Sole reliance on reason has become obsolete in this internet age, in which it is said that 70% of a consumer’s purchasing decisions are made before entering the store.
Investing in mass advertising also falls short in creating an emotional bond sensed when a brand feels truly yours.

People do not select brands simply because of price, function, or storefront visibility. We believe that in order for a brand to be favored and supported lastingly, it must foster the emotional bonds between people and the brand.

What is most important in this process are touchpoints between people and brands. Long ago, these touchpoints were advertisements and point-of-purchase advertising.
The objective of branding design is to actualize a brand’s unique values through touchpoints, and to deliver these touchpoints to the target. Touchpoints have diversified, from brick-and-mortar stores, to websites, to parts of everyday life. Bannistar works on brand design as the most crucial touchpoint, while providing a holistic approach to other touch points to foster deep connections between brands and consumers. What Bannistar designs is not product packaging, but the brand itself, using packaging as a starting point.

Did you know that there is an association between what women like to drink and their ideal romantic partner? This is a clear fact, obtained through data analysis of people’s intentionality (=personal taste and values). As shown by this example, there is a mysterious correlation that cannot be measured by numbers between a person’s mind and their consumption behavior. We believe that turning our interest towards this “mystery” is an important element when setting brand values.
Why? Because we want to prioritize the deep, emotional connections between customers and brands. We don’t want to “make them buy a product” through temporary communication; we want to have customers to grow connections with products built on the strong foundation of empathy. The analyzing methods that Bannistar utilizes provide many hints on strengthening bonds between people and brands. Understanding everyday truths and the causes of unconscious purchasing behavior. Through original methods, “Bannistar Scan™” performs these roles.

We developed “Bannistar Scan™” by applying our expertise in fields such as personality measurement and behavioral psychology. This is a tool to observe/analyze tendencies in consumer behavior and predict future purchasing behaviors.
Beyond the collecting of quantitative/qualitative data, we conduct thorough multivariate analysis of variables such as consumer emotion, purchasing factors, and buying behavior factors in order to sample customer types. What sets us apart is that we derive individual intentionality, rather than group intentionality, through the sum of various buying behaviors. In addition, we look at factors from a design viewpoint, and not only report present situations, but predict future buying behavior changes as well.

Bannistar Brand Podium™

Bannistar Brand Podium™ is a platform that defines brands through various theoretical/emotional methods, clarifying their distinctness and establishing their uniqueness. Brand Podium™ is also a supporting tool to manifest and fortify brand-customer relations, future goals, visions, and strategies. Brand Podium™ orients and integrates diverse elements of brands, drawing out your highest potentials, like an orchestra conductor.