What is Space Branding? [Plus, 5 Brilliant Ways to Use It]

As a top executive, you understand that branding is more than just a logo or a tagline – it's about creating a cohesive and memorable experience that inspires your customers and drives profitability. But have you considered how the physical environment plays a role in your overall brand strategy?

Enter space branding – the customization of structures to offer unique, memorable brand experiences that will have your customers and guests talking about you long after they've left. As a CMO or CEO, you're driven by exceptional campaigns that your customers, visitors, and fans won't forget. Space branding projects are designed to inspire awe, boost awareness, and generate earned media, ensuring that your brand becomes the center of attention long after an event or visit has ended. So if you're looking to take your brand experience to the next level, it's time to explore the powerful possibilities of space branding.

“It’s the nonverbal things that you might not necessarily think about in your space that convey who you are as a company.”

ERIC CUP

CEO, BRIDGEWATER STUDIO

But First, What is Space Branding?

Space branding is the custom fabrication of branded structures including sculptures, bridges, pop-ups, graphics, and digital installations on existing buildings that help boost brand awareness, tell the story of a place or a company, and generate customer engagement.

5 Creative Ways to Use Space Branding

On or Within Existing Buildings

Doritos Triangle Tracker Digital Projection Campaign

Brands that have physical destinations, corporate offices, or other existing structures that are frequented by customers or in a highly visible location can leverage space branding via digital projection mapping, lighting displays, or LED screen installations. These multimedia interactives can use the building as a canvas or a backdrop to create a custom visual experience for viewers. This kind of space branding can enhance or even reconfigure how a space operates without changing the physical structure.

Graphic signage and custom murals are other ways to leverage space branding on or within an existing structure. These non-digital approaches are more appropriate for locations where there isn’t room for big projectors, the infrastructure required for digital installations is lacking, or the environment isn’t suited for bright lights or moving displays. 

Via Pop-Ups & Larger than Life Displays

Jimmy Dean's “Roll-Up” Pop-up

Another opportunity for space branding occurs with retail pop-up activations, oversized product displays, and exhibition or trade show booths. All of these types of brand experiences involve creating unique brand environments that surprise and delight customers and facilitate meaningful and direct interactions with audiences. 

Within Sports Venues & Cultural Institutions

United States Marshals Museum

For giant stadiums and arenas, space branding can promote the home team, showcase pride in the city, and provide plenty of photo-ops for the throngs of visitors who enter that space. Sports venues also have ample structural real estate both within and outside the arena to celebrate specific athletes, show off the team colors with lighting and other visual displays, or even pay homage to the specific sport that happens there. 

For museums and cultural institutions, space branding offers a way to reflect an organization’s ethos – from sophisticated art museums to playful children’s museums to technology-driven science museums. By using the facility’s external physical structure to help tell the story of the space and showcase specific exhibits, cultural institutions can build awareness and attract new audiences in a unique way. 

As Bespoke Branded Structures

Fulton Market District, Chicago, IL

Municipalities, neighborhoods, institutions and even brands can also create entirely new structures for space branding. Examples include bridges to welcome travelers to a city, place markers to delineate shopping or arts districts, and wayfinding signs to help visitors navigate parks. Whether it's an innovative new office that doubles as a iconic Seattle landmark like Amazon Spheres or a custom archway that welcomes students to a university campus, branded structures are a creative way to make a lasting impression.

Through Sculptures & Art Installations

Chicago Children’s Museum’s Flyboy Sculpture

Another creative use of space branding is via custom sculptures and other art installations for plazas, courtyards, and gathering spaces. These attention-generating activations can help communicate brand values or a workplace’s ethos while generating awe and inspiring selfies. Another trend is to incorporate a character sculpture that is associated with the brand. For example, Google has a giant replica of a T-Rex skeleton in the Googleplex, affectionately named Stan, who is often decorated for events and holidays. 

Sculptures and art installations are a lasting way to inspire and engage audiences, employees, and the broader community while conveying something deeper and more meaningful about the brand or institution. 

Ready to Put Space Branding to Work for Your Organization?

Space branding offers a multi-faceted approach for executives to bolster brand awareness and engagement. By incorporating branded elements onto existing buildings, constructing bespoke environments that embody your brand’s persona, creating pop-up activations and large exhibits that draw attention, using art installations to promote creative interaction, or leveraging the popularity of museums and sports venues, you can create memorable experiences that resonate with audiences. These strategies not only leave lasting impressions but also foster customer loyalty, ensuring that your brand remains at the forefront of consumers' minds long after their interaction with your structural branding efforts.

At Bridgewater Studio, we aren’t afraid to think big when it comes to brand activations. We’ve employed space branding in projects ranging from retail pop-up activations to iconic oversized art installations to social media buzz-generating digital projection campaigns. If you are ready to explore space branding for your company, book a no-obligation strategy session with Bridgewater today.