Date: October 2014

Client: Alexander Stroikov, one of the first private construction supervisors in Russia. In 20 years, he has gone from being an apprentice to founding his own construction company New century. New Century has been designing private housing including country houses, cottages, mansions and cottages since 1997.

Alexander believes that anyone is capable of building their dream house if approaching the process responsibly. His mission is to help people take well-thought-out decisions and make sure their dreams come true.

Team: Yulia Los – project manager Katerina Puzakova – strategist, copyright, management Kirill Moskalev – art direction, design, production supervisor Olga Lyora – personal Stylist Sergey Afansyev - photographer Anna Komissarova – texts and SMM Natalya Poluyanova – PR and promotion

Goal: Building a personal brand “turn-key” i.e. developing brand strategy and brand identity, forming personal style, shaping and implementing communication policy as well PR and promotion strategies.

Building Alexander’s personal brand was a logical and a timely step in developing his career and moving on to the next level. A high-class expert in construction with experience and progressive views, Alexander knew that he needs some means of promoting construction ethics that a lot of people in Russia are yet to experience, to change the industry from within and help more people build their dream houses. Brandme came to the rescue.

Next we got down to forming a strategic brand platform - cornerstone of any personal brand. The platform outlines the mission, values, functional and emotional benefits of a personal brand and the client’s cherished desire that the personal brand is going to address.

<aside> 💬 “We always start with personal diagnostics when creating an archetype-based brand. We define the leading archetype, specify the mission, life and professional principles. Alexander Stroikov archetype is undoubtedly the Sage. He is intelligent and thoughtful, calm, insightful and has an analytical mind,” says Ekaterina Puzakova, strategist at Brandme.

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From verbal concepts we turn to visual images. Behind Alexander's brand identity we put three different ideas. A heraldic logo with a monogram associatively links Alexander’s name with success. Graphic drawing of the letters “A” and “S” resembling the image of a pair of compasses refers us to Alexander's main occupation. Marbling paper used in the past on covers of encyclopedias alludes to Alexander's archetype (the Sage).

Static and the slender composition of the logo conveys a sense of strength and stability that characterizes Stroikov as a reliable business partner and could be associated with the sturdy buildings that he builds.

<aside> 💬 “At our first meeting, Alexander made it clear that he was ready to put his trust in us. This made me want to give the project all I've got. The uplifting atmosphere of collaboration and creativity has been a big part of the project throughout the year”

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Brandme agents were looking all over the world for the right marbling paper. Moscow, Milan, Istanbul... They were about to give up when finally it was found in the US where it had been imported from Bangladesh. Self-sufficient as it is, the original marble texture of the paper implies professionalism, luxury and makes a direct connection to building and construction.

And yet, marbling paper found on the other side of the world is only the tip of an iceberg of our creative capabilities and perseverance in achieving our goals. Every single card was 100 percent handmade. Truly unique, thought out to the last detail these business cards could not express better Alexander's attitude towards his clients and his work — individual approach and careful attention to detail.

Artifacts

It took us about six months to develop and manufacture the whole personal identity package — envelopes, letterhead, packages, folders and presentation templates.

The result was definitely worth the wait. We tried to anticipate everything and even ordered stamps and jewelry lapel pins.

Hobbies can tell you a lot about a person and your hobbies definitely play part in shaping your image in the eyes of the audience. Alexander Stroikov enjoys sailing, so we decided to add his yacht and his regatta attire to his personal brand identity.

60 page brand book

We started to expand the brand's internet presence with Stroikov's personal website. How it came to be you can find here.

Next, we launched branded pages in social networks like Facebook and Linkedin that immediately became full-fledged communication channels of their own. Based on current marketing objectives, we formed a media plan together with Alexander to identify the main topic of the posts, headings, language of the posts and their frequency.

His readers gave emotional and immediate feedback to Alexander's advice in the field, his expert opinion on recent events and industry trends, case studies and snippets of his personal life. The promotion of Alexander Stroikov's brand was not limited to social media. He was filmed for numerous videos, gave interviews and was the case study for several publications in industry magazines.

<aside> 💬 Alexander feedback: “I want to sincerely thank Ekaterina, Olga, Kirill, Natalya, Anna, Sergey and everyone who I have had a chance to work with. Thank you for being so understanding and mindful of the set goals. As once a wise man said: ‘A journey of a thousand li starts with a single step’. I took this step with the very right people.”

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