Cactus' new neighbor | Cactus advertising marketing communication design agency Denver Colorado

11.02.07: Cactus' new neighbor

Photo by Mark Leffingwell, courtesy of the Daily Camera

Just this past weekend, Cactus ' new neighbor, the Museum of Contemporary Art Denver, opened the doors to its new building. The building was under construction for about a year and was designed by British architect David Adjaye.

The building itself is made of translucent glass that during the day makes the structure look like an oil slick, reflecting the facades of the neighboring structures. At night the building takes on a very different feel. Lit from within, the building glows and comes to life.

While watching the building of this incredible museum, I started thinking more about architecture as an advertising vehicle. It¹s certainly in practice in several forms, whether Starbuck's or Apple's mega stores with cool features like glass stairwells or aluminum shells, or the Rockwell Group creating a series of lounges for Coca Cola, but why not take experiential marketing an extra step? Why not make branding a covert operation?

Why not begin to brand elements that are innocuous enough to be completely non-intrusive but distinct enough to be remembered and cherished? A great example of this is patterns by high fashion brands like Louis Vuitton or Sonia Rykiel . Another example I heard about was Jay-Z trademarking and branding a distinct shade of blue that is now showing up on clothes and cars and everything in between. They¹ve begun permeating their brand into people¹s lives without them even flinching, and in many instances, thanking them for the privilege.

In a market where people are screaming to be heard and gain awareness, others seem to be more successful in gaining brand affinity and equity by whispering or sometimes saying nothing at all.