Q&A: How Environmental Branding Promotes Collaboration

By Dennis Kaiser

Employers are paying closer attention to the office space they provide, since attracting and retaining people is more important than ever today. The emergence of creative space as a recruitment tool has led to a host of envelope-pushing ideas. But the big question is, how can companies adapt the ‘cool just to be cool’ theme into functionality and productivity?

One of the ways architects and designers are introducing better workplaces is through environmental branding. Connect Media spoke with Kelly Taylor, founder and CEO of Metropolitan West, a proponent of innovative systems that enhance collaboration. Here’s her insights in our latest 3 CRE Q&A.

Q: As companies implement a creative office design to boost employee productivity and retention, how can they reinforce their image and “cool factor” through environmental branding?

A: Environmental branding refers to reflecting an organization’s brand through the design of its physical exterior or interior space, and it’s a powerful tool that often goes overlooked in a traditional marketing mix for most companies. Architecture firms, property managers, and others who install creative office workspaces are well aware of it, though, and its benefits in recruiting and retaining employees, and increasing worker productivity. Our “peerhatch” writable wall surface product was part of an award‑winning workplace design at the worldwide “EDQuarters” for Edmunds in Santa Monica, which features a 6,000-lb. installation of 1966 and 2016 Corvettes rotating above the reception area. When you see that type of environmental branding, there is an undeniable “wow factor” that immediately attracts people.

Q: How can environmental branding become more than nice imagery, and actually contribute to collaboration?

A: A lot of environmental branding is meant to be seen more than used. It’s a giant photo or image, logo, text treatment, or textured surface that offers a nice look, but it has very little function otherwise. That can be a lost opportunity for organizations with employees who miss the chance to engage with the brand in the physical space where they work every day. What if that space was actually used by employees regularly? It would marry environmental branding with the collaborative nature of creative office design. That was our thought process when we developed peerhatch, the industry’s first graphics‑infused writable wall surface. Our contribution to the Edmunds EDQuarters was the largest writable wall surface in the world, with more than 10,000 square feet of custom‑designed wall coverings for employees, partners and visitors to collaborate.

Q: What should architects, property managers, and others consider in their environmental branding design to get people to use it for collaboration?

A: We’ve designed and installed decorative wall coverings, glass film and other custom film for environmental branding for 25 years, and the three takeaways from that experience can be summed up as follows:

1. Know the Brand: Get to know your clients’ brand, core values, business goals, and culture to determine the right type of design for their environmental branding.
2. Find Out Where Employees Collaborate: Understand how and where workers will use collaboration tools like writable wall surfaces, and let that knowledge guide your design process.
3. Focus on Function over Form: Engaging with a branded element at work, such as a writable wall surface, will change the way that employees experience an organization’s brand. Look for ways to add that experiential, functional element to your space design.

For comments, questions or concerns, please contact Dennis Kaiser