WASE brand intervention workshop – Bridging the Gap programme
Attendees – workshop and follow up:
Tom Fudge, Founder and CEO, WASE
John Boult, Associate Professor Design strategy MA programmes
Chris Holt, Senior lecturer, Design
Nam Sharma Project Manager, Ben Walter Project Co-Ordinator, Andy Cripps Entrepreneur Director, Co-Innovate Bridging the Gap Programme
Sarah Harb*, Anna Keszthelyi, Ferrante Schinardi, Giacomo Branchi, Melvin Stoltze,
MA Design Strategy & Innovation, (*MA Design & Branding Strategy) - winning student team.
Background
Bridging the Gap is a programme that supports early stage, London based SME businesses. It does that primarily by stimulating their innovation capability and placing the customer at the centre of their growth plans. BtG is part funded by Brunel University London and ERDF (European Regional Development Fund).
Client
WASE Technology are a client of the Bridging the Gap (BtG) programme. They have developed some innovative technology that processes waste water, generating energy and biofuel and providing sanitation and access to toilet facilities for people in developing countries.
Process
On the 4th December, John Boult and Chris Holt, with help from Ben Walter and Andy Cripps, ran an all-day brand intervention workshop for WASE Technology. The 54 students from the MA Design Strategy & Innovation and MA Design & Branding Strategy courses worked together, grouped into 8 teams, in the atrium of the Michael Sterling building.
Founder and CEO of WASE, Tom Fudge, a Brunel University alumnus and current PhD researcher was the commissioning client and was present all day. The workshop aim, at his request, was to examine the current WASE brand and visual identity and develop strategies and implementation suggestions for its development, refinement and focus appropriate to each of its target sectors and customers.
He started the day by presenting the background to WASE and its technology, customers, goals and ambitions. Through the morning, he worked with each of the student teams, answering their questions and providing more information as their thinking developed.
The day was structured around a series of prompts on a brand intervention worksheet. These allowed the teams to express their opinions and ideas on topics like: the WASE brand and brand values, its vision and mission, the consistency, relevance and maturity of the brand.
At the end of the day, and in collaboration with John, Chris and Andy, Tom judged each team’s thinking and ideas. A shortlist of two teams was arrived at and they were each invited to present their ideas to the judging panel for 10mins. This decided the final winners who received Amazon vouchers as a prize.
The winning team then reconvened a week later (11th December) to talk through their ideas in more detail with Tom, in order to refine and focus them and to begin to explore potential routes to implementation and further work with WASE in 2019.
From Tom, the client's, perspective it was really rewarding. Not only did he get new ideas, but also said that talking to the students opened up new thoughts and challenges in his own mind...
John Boult, Associate Professor, Design strategy, MA programmes
Entrepreneur Director