Brand Identity And Elements of Balenciaga

Cristóbal Balenciaga is well-known in fashion for his exquisite craftsmanship and revolutionary designs. He deserves his nickname, The Master. Even today, his creations still have a significant impact on fashion trends. Balenciaga is like an orchestra conductor as his musical direction continues to drive the world of haute couture. People love Balenciaga for its excellent quality, craftsmanship, and chic designs. They always attempt new partnerships and collaborations, have a tremendous digital following, and their accessories never fail to impress. It is easy to see why Balenciaga’s popularity has grown so much. This blog will focus on uncovering Balenciaga’s success on a deeper level. 

What is the identity of Balenciaga?

With its excessive success, there will be a long answer to uncover the identity of Balenciaga. Thus, let us reveal a few points. 

• Cristóbal Balenciaga was the company’s founder, and he believed in creating a reputation based on excellence, value, and originality. He worked hard to ensure that the brand the public saw was true to what it set out to be during the 1950s and 1960s. This remains the case today, with a commitment to delivering their customers the highest quality products and premium status.
• The incredible artistry of the fashion guru skyrocketed the company to the top of its field in no time. Credit is due to the talented mastermind behind the creative designs, as his works were essential and elegant yet made a grand statement with their minimalism.
  Since then, the industry has chosen the brand’s iconic simplicity as inspiration. In 1997, the company faced a significant transformation that became essential to its legacy.
• As a high-end luxury brand, they provide quality and durable products from top-notch raw materials. Regarding shoes, bags, and clothes, they feel it is paramount to strive for increased sustainability.
  That is because these items may face more arduous conditions, and the type of material we use plays a big part in how they look and feel. Therefore, utilizing high-quality raw materials is the foundation of producing beautiful new designs.
• Cristóbal Balenciaga is remembered as a great innovator with a legacy of perfectionism still admired by many today. In 1939, his inventions made a considerable impact and won the praise of the French press. Before long, their collections were in demand all over the world.
  Balenciaga’s beautiful balloon skirts, high-waisted baby doll dresses, and exquisite sack and chemise shapes, all without detachable waists, influenced the industry and significantly contributed to fashion. Unfortunately, 1968 marked the end of Balenciaga’s design career, but his legacy of high-quality designs prevailed.
• In 1972, after founder Cristobal Balenciaga sadly passed away, the brand endured a period of decline. However, the family company, bogart group, purchased the rights to the well-known fashion brand, and its return was marked in the Fashion Week calendar. Nicolas Ghesquiere took over the administration and set the tone for the iconic brand’s comeback.
  The success story was cemented when Demna Gvasalia stepped in as creative director in 2015. His visions and purpose breathed new life into the brand, and it has since exceeded expectations to reach the highest heights in its 101-year history.

Balenciaga’s Brand Positioning

Now, what is the brand positioning of Balenciaga? Let’s look at Balenciaga’s Instagram page to investigate it further. 

This Instagram page is simple and luxurious, appropriately reflecting the overall brand image of Balenciaga. 

We witness runaway photos of models showcasing different Balenciaga items. 

There are a few hints we get from Balenciaga. The first one is that its items have a comparably high price. 

The second hint is that it has set a vision since the beginning and is following it to this day.

The third hint is that Balenciaga has some psychological aspects with its simplicity but, at the same time, mysteriousness. 

The ebook “8 Steps” provides a great understanding and insights of a deeper understanding of how to communicate better with archetypes. After going through the book, you will have the whole story behind all the branding inquiries. 

But before getting to the book, let us determine the archetype Balenciaga belongs to; the Magician. 

• The desire of the archetype is the understanding of the essential laws of how the universe or world works.
• The goal of the archetype is to turn dreams into reality.
• The strategy of the archetype is to create a vision and experience it.

Other brands that belong to this archetype are Dyson, Dysney, and Tedx. 

The messaging levels of the archetype are the following.

1. The archetype calls for hunches, synchronistic or extrasensory adventures.
2. The archetype enjoys enchanted moments and incidents of transformation.
3. The archetype tends to go with the flow. 
4. The archetype believes in miracles, driving from concept to manifestation.

The Magician archetype is the right fit for your brand if:

1. the item or service is life-changing
2. its tacit commitment is to change the consumer
3. it demands New Age customers or artistic creatives
4. it enables to develop or design consciousness
5. it is a simple technology 
6. it has a psychological or spiritual element
7. it is a unique and very modern product
8. it has high or medium pricing

It’s a great idea to delve deeper into the brand identity of Balenciaga. To do this, we’ll look at their positioning techniques. 

These techniques have three main things to focus on. 

• First, the product range and any advances that have been made.
• Second, the consequences and how it stands out compared to the competition.
• And finally, the core narrative – what makes Balenciaga and its products so special?

Brand Identity of Balenciaga

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Cristobal Balenciaga was a true master of haute couture and impacted the fashion world. His most famous silhouette, the sack dress of 1957, was revolutionary in redefining the way women of the time dressed. He was unafraid to challenge the day’s trends and created many fashion lines that still influence trends.

Balenciaga is now well known for its signature city bags and speed socks that offer an edgy, high-street luxurious feel. The brand’s designer, Demna, has looked to Cristobal’s legacy for inspiration and continues to create pieces that honor how Cristobal envisioned fashion for the firm, independent woman. Every piece is made with the idea of deconstruction in mind.

Benefits and Differentiation

From the very beginning, Balenciaga had everyone talking. Cristobel’s unique craftsmanship and designs were sought after by elite society and remain outstanding. Demna continues taking the fashion house to the next level with his creative direction, giving the world avant-garde designs everyone wants to own. Balenciaga has done a great job of tapping into Generation Z, the following consumer powerhouse, and it is clear that its popularity is only growing.

Demna is fearless in taking fashion chances, no matter how much attention it might get, positive or negative. Plus, plenty of famous influencers have been seen donning Balenciaga threads, not to mention the Kardashians, who never fail to make an appearance.

As if that was not enough, Balenciaga keeps upping the ante with collaborations with other fashion labels like Gucci and a surprising partnership with the video game Fortnite. They are becoming one of the hottest names around.

The recent return of their iconic haute couture has seen an incredible surge in popularity, and there is no sign of it slowing down any time soon.

The core communication idea

It is worthwhile mentioning that advertising for luxury fashion brands is not about pushing for sales or over-exposure. Instead, they prioritize providing the clients with an exclusive and prestigious feeling. Balenciaga has hired an experienced group of professionals for the marketing department to meet these set goals. In April 2021, they expanded the team by welcoming Ludivine Pont, who previously worked at Moncler and was appointed marketing director.

When it comes to luxury fashion, Balenciaga stands out for its clothing and quality tailoring, as well as its expensive materials, but the brand is really what sells. The brand is committed to keeping its strategy firmly in place and offering its renowned exclusivity. What is more, without this exclusive element, would Balenciaga be a luxury? They have it now because Balenciaga remains a firm favorite amongst luxury lovers.

Ultimately, we are going to take a look at the brand elements of Balenciaga.

Let us talk about some of the critical aspects of the brand, such as the slogan, logo, and archetype. These are all crucial elements to consider when creating a solid brand identity.

The name element:

Balenciaga was the genius idea of its creator, the legendary fashion designer Cristobal Balenciaga. Even nowadays, whenever people hear that name, they can not help but think of his beautiful, classic, and sophisticated designs. It is just one of those super iconic names that will be remembered through the ages.

Did you know that Balenciaga is also a Basque name since he was born in that region of Spain in 1895? When translated into Latin, it would be “Baal rex est,” which means “Baal is King.”

The logo element:

This Balenciaga logo takes stylish looks to a whole new level. It completely dispels the notion of what fashionable should be, showing us that innovative fashion and modern beauty are something to embrace. It also never fails to remind us of the timeless link between past and present, which gives us an authentic and creative spirit to form these collections.

The font used for the name was quite similar to a condensed style compared to the previous versions from 1919 and 2013. The letters were narrower and taller, which added a stylish and eye-catching touch to the entire nameplate. Throughout its history, the main principle that the brand design team has opted for when choosing a font for its name has been to keep it simple, fashionable, and easy to read.

The choice of color scheme echoes this same concept; a classic black and white palette that will quickly go with any background, from store signs, advertisements and even business meetings.

The slogan element:

With Gvasalia designing for Balenciaga, their slogan is clear: stylish clothes to be worn, not stored away. Their creations are fashionable yet not compromising on practicality. This goal can be seen in every collection during their catwalk shows; sometimes more apparent, but it is there.

The color element:

Balenciaga’s prominent colors are black, white, and anthracite, so you can look great whatever the season. Also, if you have a Balenciaga bag, you can find the four-digit code of the color on the inside tag; for instance, 1000 is black. Lastly, the brand often uses colorful French names for its shades, adding a unique flair to your wardrobe.

Balenciaga adored black so much that it has become the brand’s signature hue since his first collections. Wearing black gives an air of mystery, as if you are keeping something hidden and unknown, making it the perfect color to identify the brand.

The website:

The Balenciaga website is straightforward, reflecting the overall brand identity here. All of the wording on the website is in a Serif typeface, making it simple, without any unnecessary curls and curves that would distract the eye.

Conversely, the coloring is black and white again, mirroring the signature luxury Balenciaga style. 

The website arrangement is intentional, with a navigation bar on top and secondary information at the bottom. 

And that concludes this blog. We looked in-depth into Balenciaga’s marketing techniques to better grasp its success. To learn more about other well-known brands, check out our blog posts on the main website!