Making the Brand: Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month

Before we deep dive into the good things, enable us to introduce ourselves. We’re Josephine Tansara (Art Director), Edward Yeung (ACD/artwork director), and Jillian Menor (ACD/copywriter), three creatives on the Brand and Creative crew behind this 12 months’s Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month (AAPIHM) marketing campaign. We had been tasked to give you a strategy to rejoice API creators and the group, throughout a time when it’s exhausting to rejoice. And but, this was our wonderful alternative to create one thing we aren’t solely keen about, however one thing that we really feel is deeply rooted, relatable, and ownable throughout the API diaspora. Now, we get to share part of our tradition with you all. By sharing what AAPIHM means on this local weather, the pondering that led us to our inventive narrative, the exploration of our design language and the unimaginable work that introduced all of it to life, we hope that this challenge not solely educates, however conjures up us all to come back collectively in a time when it issues most.

Every May since 1977, Asian and Pacific Islander historical past, tradition, and achievements have been well known and celebrated by thousands and thousands throughout the United States. In the previous, inventive achievements of the group had been usually overshadowed, underestimated, and undersold. But this 12 months, it actually appeared like we had been lastly getting the popularity we deserved. From Parasite dominating the Academy Awards to Awkwafina successful the Golden Globe for Best Actress in The Farewell to Riz Ahmed sounding off on what it means to be a brown man within the leisure trade, Asian creators had been gaining vital visibility in Western media. It actually appeared like 2020 was our 12 months. However, the rise and unfold of COVID-19 turned all the pieces the other way up. The rising menace of coronavirus started stirring up each day information studies of anti-Asian assaults, harassment, and hate crimes within the nation. Regardless when you had been younger or outdated, an immigrant or American-born, it appeared just like the API group was being unjustly focused. Even members of our crew have skilled xenophobia whereas being out in public, from getting known as racial slurs to being bodily shoved. Just for being Asian. And on high of all of it, for the primary time in our lifetime, the nation was being pressured to enter lockdown to decelerate the unfold of the virus. How within the hell had been we imagined to give you a marketing campaign all about celebrating our tradition once we couldn’t even go exterior?!

Oh, hey, there. This is the place we are available. Spotify’s international Asian group teams, SPACE and Desis, initially reached out to us on B&C to give you a visible id and platform marketing campaign that unites, empowers, and celebrates Asian and Asian American creators. One of the unique concepts was to throw a celebration in New York City. Mind you, this was pre-lockdown (sigh, keep in mind these days?). After social distancing turned mandated mid-March, and after listening to numerous each day information tales about Asians getting attacked…we realized that we had been lacking a way of group. We wanted one thing larger than simply your normal occasion. We wanted to make a press release. We had a voice that needed to be heard and it was time to let the world know. So we wrote the next manifesto to hold forth for us:

Asian American and Pacific Islander Month

is about amplifying the rising voices who’re redefining tradition. 

Now, greater than ever, do these voices have to be heard.

This is our time to be happy with the place we come from.

To unite, empower, and rejoice.

Not solely Asian creators, however their followers throughout the globe.

Together, let’s drown out the detrimental. 

Turn up the constructive. 

And defy the noise.

Let’s present the world…

Our roots. Our sound.

And there it’s. OUR ROOTS. OUR SOUND. Our anthem. Four phrases that pay homage to the deeply rooted historical past that paved the way in which for our sound of immediately. It wasn’t only a line that felt ownable to the API group – it was one thing we wished to share with everybody, irrespective of the race or ethnicity.

For the second 12 months in a row, this 12 months’s design was headed by Josephine, with Edward contributing to push the boundaries of the artwork course. Initially seen as an inside marketing campaign, the 2020 ask was to highlight and rejoice all the Asian group by a visible refresh that might give the present platform the voice and persona it deserves. Last 12 months’s design delivered to life bits and items throughout the broad spectrum of Asian cultures and influences, however this 12 months, we took it even additional ensuring the visible felt extra relatable and playful by incorporating classic posters, journal covers, and different promotional supplies present in API tradition. Doing so helped us create a design that not solely feels contemporary and up to date, however genuine to our inventive narrative.

Using Spotify’s coloration palette, we picked and paired colours that really feel daring and vibrant, capturing the wide selection of tradition throughout the diaspora. We highlighted every artist by framing them in the midst of the composition, conserving them in full coloration, entrance, and heart. We then surrounded them with design parts that might not solely complement the colour palette, however are additionally representational of objects that abstractly seize the character and richness of Asian tradition. For instance: orchids, hummingbirds, lotus, turmeric, and dragonfruit.

We additionally pushed the visible id and system of this 12 months’s design, exploring what it might seem like utilizing artist pictures, kind and enjoyable, playful head cutouts. This 12 months’s exploration gave us extra room to play on-platform, out of residence, social, and merch (which you’ll see in a bit.) Not to gasoline us up, however doesn’t all of it look beautiful??? 😍😍😍

On to the work! One of essentially the most rewarding elements of this challenge was making a group inside our personal crew. Many groups had been so keen to leap in and assist deliver the challenge to life—B&C, ERG, markets, advertising, editorial, social, ALM, PR, social, and others. To say this was a crew effort is unquestionably an understatement, so from the underside of our inventive hearts, thanks all. 

For the primary time ever, we launched an AAPIHM hub on-platform, which was an enormous feat, contemplating that making a hub wasn’t even a part of the preliminary ask. Working carefully with editorial, we additionally created the Sound of Our Roots playlist, highlighting API artists of the previous who revolutionized sound for the long run. Celebrities and influencers like Awkwafina, Hasan Minhaj, Lana Condor, and Gold House took over our owned and operated Amplify playlist, whereas different high playlists like Beast Meets West, No Borders, and Desi Hits had been visually rebranded to suit inside the marketing campaign.

Another massive win for us was launching 16 items of out-of-home in three main cities: New York, Philadelphia, and Toronto. We had been extraordinarily lucky to get large publicity in Times Square and Penn Station. Mama, we made it!

On social, we labored with 18 artists, together with Steve Aoki, NIKI, Rich Brian, Tokimonsta, Riz Ahmed, mxmtoon, Eric Nam, and Raveena, to create liners sharing how they’re celebrating their API roots on Instagram. While many artists fortunately shared the work on their social channels, Riz Ahmed even recorded himself rapping an excerpt from his monitor, “Where You From,” off his newest album The Long Goodbye.

On Instagram, followers might showcase their API delight with a vibrant, unique filter with three colorways.

Along with creating long-sleeve T-shirts, bandanas, and stickers for our inside crew, we additionally created unique customized incense and tea to reward artists and influencers—remodeling our marketing campaign into one thing that individuals couldn’t solely see and really feel, however odor and style, too.

And that’s our present! Not dangerous for a marketing campaign that was initially solely going to be an inside challenge, eh? We had sooo a lot enjoyable engaged on this (possibly an excessive amount of enjoyable lol.) One of a very powerful classes we realized all through this course of is to maintain pushing for the work you really imagine in. Because each every now and then, you would possibly have the ability to spin a small challenge right into a marketing campaign that’s been featured in over 11 press items together with 2 Billboard options (1 & 2) and an article in People, with over 700 million social impressions. And to our Asian and Pacific Islander household studying this—be happy with your roots, irrespective of the place you’re from. We’ve received a voice and it’s lovely. It’s as much as us to make use of it.

Thanks for studying!

Much love from Josephine, Edward, and Jill 🙂