Project Overview
The Cascade Studio team was commissioned to create a strong brand for Mandela Concerts which would inspire investors and artists to get involved.
Mandela Concerts is a series of global concerts which will be taking place next year (2018) to celebrate what would have been the 100th birthday of Nelson Mandela. Proceeds will be going to support children literacy projects in Africa.
Project Commissioner
Project Creator
Team
Dominique Allnutt, Associate Director, Marketing, Salamanca Group
Jennifer Adler-Potts, Head of Creative, Cascade Studio
Matt Burgin, Senior Creative, Cascade Studio
Project Brief
Long Walk to Freedom, a Mandela family company, has partnered with industry experts to form Mandela Concerts. The goal is to stage a minimum of 6 concerts across at least 3 continents reaching an estimated 2 billion people. The concerts will be streamed back to Fan Parks and Townships across South Africa as a huge, free celebration for the South African people. It will be the largest single day music event in history; to celebrate what would have been Mandela’s 100th birthday celebration; and, raise money for A Long Walk to Freedom to improve child literacy rates across the world.
Although the goal is to promote this poignant event, Mandela Concerts is to become a legacy brand through the organisation and delivery of future concerts and evolution into other activities. The brand needed to be versatile enough to grow both laterally and horizontally accommodating sub brands.
Salamanca Group worked with Cascade Studio to create the bones of a compelling brand identity which would secure the investment required and lay the foundations for the consumer events.
Project Innovation/Need
We started by creating a dynamic pattern which brought in elements of literacy, maths and South Africa. This allowed us provide a modern colour palette whilst reflecting the nature of the project and its heritage.
The logo, typography and approach were then easy to combine before being rolled out to the pre-launch materials.
Due to restrictions on the use of photography including Nelson Mandela, we stylised images, giving them an artistic illustrated feel.
Design Challenge
The design challenge was to create a brand that would meet consumer expectations whilst inspiring investors and artists to put their weight behind the initiative. All without generating excessive cost for the fledgling initiative.
Having thought about the music and concert marketplaces, we decided that success would not just involve money or music but also merchandising which is where profits are generated more than through ticket sales. Creating the brand pattern and colour palette brought this opportunity to life.
The resulting prelaunch materials included:
- Logo
- Brand Guidelines (www.mandelaconcerts.com/brand-guidelines)
- One page holding website
- Stationery
- Powerpoint Presentation
Effectiveness
"Cascade have evolved the original Mandela Concerts logo developed in South Africa into a modern brand prepared for the international stage. Their work has been instrumental in getting the brand consumer ready. They really got into the brand and challenged thoughts and, as a result, have developed a stronger image to support the global icon and his legacy. We look forward to rolling out the excellent work to date across our marketing campaigns."
Dominique Allnutt, Salamanca Group
Graphic Design - Identity and Branding
This award celebrates creative and innovative design in the traditional or digital visual representation of ideas and messages. Consideration given to clarity of communication and the matching information style to audience.
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