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having posted the full geoff oakes interview (one of many i did in researching this piece) last week, here comes the final ‘how to make a successful club brand’ article itself. it came in the april issue of dj mag and, before anyone starts, came with the caveat that ‘club brands’ in this sense means ‘globe spanning, multi-million pound ventures…’

in the achingly self conscious times in which we live, no one likes to admit allegiance to this brand or that. no one likes to be pinned down and categorised with thousands of others according to their preferences. but we are, and always have been. be it nike or adidas, all saints or oxfam or even that most postmodern invention, the anti-brand (such as the imprint that has no logo, hand stamp their records and release only untitled tracks from anonymous artists) they are all identities with which people, however subconsciously, align themselves. from the golf playing corporate big-dogs to the achingly insular independents who bring together but a tiny selection of disconnected souls, those offering a product of any kind need to be aware of their image, direction and wider perception, even when it comes to the self styled counterculture of raving.

20 years ago there were a collection of brands who understood this and who, in addressing the issue, have arguably spearheaded the largest musical revolution in this country since punk, and have since gone on to steer dance music away from ramshackle outdoor raves in the early 90s into sparkling, globe-spanning brands incorporating clubs, labels, festivals, videos, apps, dildos (probably) and a whole lot more. amongst them are pioneers like cream in liverpool, sheffield’s gatecrasher and london’s ministry of sound – brands who each developed their own identity, whose appeal eventually grew beyond the confines of their city, country and continent. but how?

“we loved the music so started the parties, but had an equally strong sense of design from things like the hacienda in the years before” remembers cream ceo james barton. “we arrived at a point where we put those together but never actually set out to create ‘a brand’, just to represent what we did in a cool way that we liked, and that fit with our taste. commissioning the logo was really important to that.“ once said iconic logo was unleashed, a brand was already in the making, but at that time it was still just a liverpool party, little known outside the city walls.

“the thing that took us beyond being just a night club was releasing our first album. the buzz it generated outside liverpool in places like london really took me by surprise” says james. of course, cream weren’t the first club night to release a cd, and although ministry did so in 1993, it was geoff oakes’ renaissance which set what is still regarded as the bench mark with sasha & john digweed’s beautifully packaged effort in 1994. as such, renaissance was one step ahead in the branding game…

“it was from there that i started to get calls from promoters and clubs worldwide, wanting to book renaissance nights” says geoff. naturally, people were keen to get a genuine slice of decadent renaissance action in their own back yard, so it wasn’t just a case of him whacking a logo on a flyer as it so often is nowadays.

“we embarked on our first world tour in 1995 and it was a huge undertaking. i was determined to export the full renaissance experience, freighting huge containers of décor all across europe, asia and australia, alongside the djs most associated with the brand at that time.” with global recognition, though, comes expectation and – to a certain extent claims barton – limitation.

“we’re now nearly 20 years in but spent a lot of the first ten years worrying about protecting the brand we knew we had” he offers candidly. “sometimes the tail wagged the dog. we’d spend huge amounts of money on stuff and were thinking ‘is this good for the brand’ rather than ‘does this make sense.’ we stopped using the product to enhance the brand so, for example, if the cream logo appears on an mp3 player which is shit (which ours was) you end up damaging yourselves.” remember, then, never to lose site of the product or service which started it all because, if you believe the hype, you’ll betray the message.

following the late 90s highs of £20, 000 dj fees, £20m annual turnovers and privately chartered planes to transport the superstar likes of oakenfold, sasha and tong around the globe came the-turn-of-the millennium backlash: things had grown all too impersonal and the superclubs’ days were seemingly numbered as clubbers felt ever further removed from dance music’s early ideals and, in terms of this article, the values of the brands they initially fell in love with.

“we naively believed it would last forever” says barton. “what we didn’t factor was how over heated the whole thing became… press, marketing budgets, the big race between us, mos, godskitchen, home – it became like an arms race but no-one was making any money, so those who hadn’t prepared, disappeared…”

included in such preparations is ibiza, an important aspect of any branding master plan for many club nights, including renaissance. “events on the isle expose the brand to clubbers, promoters and club owners from all over the world” geoff tells us, before adding “it’s a good place to diversify the brand; moby, leftfield, kylie, moloko, all saints were just a few of the acts who performed alongside the world’s biggest djs each week giving us unprecedented tv coverage and press interest.” of course, the upshot of that is that when, as did cream, you head to south america to put on parties or festivals, clubbers already know your brand and what you stand for, ensuring you get off to a running start.

ibiza isn’t the be-all and end-all, though, with gatecrasher’s simon raine instead steering his brand in other directions come the turn of the millennium, launching a series of smaller clubs across the country and focusing on the uk market which he holds so dear to his brand’s success. “we moved from purely promoting big events into club ownership in line with the way the market was moving and in line with customer demands. our clubs now cater for a younger audience who would not have been clubbing 18 years ago when we first began. so, what becomes important is creating nights and events that they love… something that is exciting and appealing in 2011.”

of course, one other significant evolution has been the emergence of the internet, social media and its importance with regard to branding of any sort. companies no longer have anywhere to hide and are fully accountable so, yes, although your brand is your baby, without a happy following it is nothing, implies simon. “with facebook, youtube, our web-site and so on, we can talk to our customers instantly. it empowers them to tell us what they want. what is crucial is listening to your community once you’ve created it – it’s important to know what they want and to communicate with them.”

and that is the overriding message from all of these battle hardened branders… always remember that the punter and their needs – not your wants and ideals – are at the heart of it all. you can have the sharpest aesthetics in town; the most painfully avante artists in the world or even a gloriously rich heritage off which to dine, but if the people on the ‘floor aren’t feeling it, it ain’t worth jack.

top 5 club brands

simon raine on gatecrasher…
“gatecrasher’s motto is never stand still. you’ve got to constantly try new things, if they don’t work, change them and keep developing. our goal has always been to own the best club in the world so you’ve got to get out there and consume music, fashion and culture globally, develop ideas and strive to be the best. our aim is to offer our clubbers a once in a lifetime experience every night and we continue in our goal to do that.”

james barton on cream
“i think the reason cream name is as strong now as it was 18 years ago is that we’ve evolved from being about oakenfold and tong to guetta and deadmau5. i’m 40 now, i haven’t stepped in a club for years, so it’s important to have good people around you who are going out and have their fingers on the pulse; to give your clubbers what they want and not let your own tastes get in the way.”

geoff oakes on renaissance…
“in the early years, the investment in spectacular production and beautifully packaged cds gave the brand an everlasting image of quality that’s carried through to today. saying no to over-commercialising the brand or selling out musically has also had a significant part to play in renaissance’s longevity.”

juan arena on space ibiza
“the success has very much to do with space’s surname, which is ibiza. ibiza is the forerunner of all our accomplishments. also, the transgression in the lifestyle, breaking out of the box, like implementing the daytime clubbing, our musical concept, as well as reinventing ourselves, year after year, in order to offer the best possible experience to our clients all account for our success.”