46: Building BFT brand with Saurav Roy (Case Study)

Episode 2 of 5 featuring Saurav Roy. He is the design director for Idea Spice Design This is a 5 part series with Bharat Flooring and tiles and Audiogyan. In the coming weeks we will be talking with various artists, heritage conservationist, brand creators, illustrators and architects associated with Bharat Flooring & Tiles. Those who don’t know what is Bharat Flooring & Tiles, (btw, we will be calling it BFT throughout the series). It’s a company formed in 1922 which is leader in quality cement flooring and has been primarily making customised, handmade cement tiles. The timeless elegance and durability of these tiles make them works of art and an invaluable part of the country’s architectural heritage. It started as part of the Swadeshi movement and with over 90 years of reputation, BFT is now the most preferred choice of interior designers and architects across India, You can find relevant links in the show notes about BFT. Today I have Saurav Roy with us on Audiogyan. Roy graduate of National Institute of Design, Ahmedabad. He is the design director for Idea Spice Design - an international design consultancy based out of Dubai and Mumbai. Ideaspice is primarily focused on business design and placemaking, Roy has been working with entrepreneurs and retail center developers for the past 17 years. He is also the co-founder of knotandtuft - a design platform that brings designers together to create handmade carpets. He is also the co-founder of halffry - a monthly platform that brings creators from various fields to talk about their process and their passion. Today we are here to discuss how brands are made but more importantly how did IdeaSpice Design Studio re-created this 100+ year old brand Bharat Flooring & Tiles. https://www.bharatfloorings.com/ Questions SR: After 17 years of brand building, how do you define an intangible thing called “brand”? What all parameters do you engage while dealing or building a brand with any client? Market share vs Loyalty? After sales vs Honesty and more…? We can start by tell us this and setting some context to the over all conversation. SR: How do you differentiate between branding and giving just a face lift? SR: I am sure it must have been relatively easy to make a brand 20 yeas back. What has changed in the last 15-20 years w.r.t brand building? How do you make your client’s brand heard in this noisy world of today? FV: What made you engage with Ideaspice? How did it all began? What was your brief like given to Saurav? SR: Can you share what was the process of brand building for BFT, a company which has been established in 1922. How did it all come about? SR: The new brand looks vintage yet very contemporary. What do you think - What characteristics make it look like that? FV: What made you lock on this variation? I am sure there must have been multiple iterations. SR: What was the process of sharing the brand guidelines? BFT has multiple sub brands like, Heritage, Terrazzo and more... SR: What all departments / verticals you plunged into to find the nuances of this old company / factory. And then what were the steps so that the new brand seeps into the entire ecosystem and each employee feels a part of the new brand? FV & SR: What learning would you like to share since we hardly get a chance to hear, client and agency talk face to face. How much brands should indulge in the creative freedom of agency and how much agency should keep upping about the over all progress to maintain excitement yet pacifying with trust. FV: Can you live with the new brand for next 100 years? 🙂 SR: What would you change if given a second chance? 🙂