“Involve motion early and deeply.” Vucko on the importance of movement in today’s branding world

Based in Toronto, Canada, Vucko are experts in all things motion and movement. Here, the leadership team – Andrew Vucko, Cassandra Wesenhagen and John Szebegyinszki – give us a peek into their practice, sharing the insights and lessons learned from over a decade in the biz. They provide some on the growing importance of motion in the big, busy world of branding, and the key aspects studios need to consider when crafting a motion language. Above all, we find out how these insights have informed Vucko’s holistic approach to building exciting and cohesive brand worlds.

PT Hi, Vucko team! How are you? Can you tell us about the studio, and what you do?

AV Hello! We are so excited to chat with you. We are doing great. Coming off a busy few weeks. We’re a global team headquartered in Toronto, Canada, and our focus lies in creating motion-driven brand identities and systems.

Vucko has been operating for over a decade, and we’ve been fortunate to develop close relationships with brand teams. We’ve seen firsthand how the world of motion has changed – and how an element that started as a deliverable has evolved into a key expression for the way brands are thinking, feeling, and acting.

It became so clear to us how pivotal motion was in influencing outcomes and shaping brand perception, and today, we embrace a brand-driven approach; all of us here are brand-builders at our core. We’re now rooted in the intersection of motion and brand, paralleling strategy, and design.

CW This shift was a huge contributor to our latest rebrand. As brand needs have evolved, so has our expertise and point of view – it was time for our studio to reflect that change. Motion is now being integrated in the beginning of evergreen brand applications, campaigns, events, and more.

The studio is focused on how brands express themselves through motion identities, and we provide systems and guidelines to support them, ensuring scalability across touchpoints. Then, we bring them to life across various applications, from social, broadcast, DOOH, and so much more.

All of us here are brand-builders at our core.

PT How has motion evolved from being a creative deliverable to a key expression for brands?

JS The landscape has definitely undergone a transformation. The era of 30-second explainer videos has grown into a need for a full suite of motion-driven assets. This shift to a comprehensive motion language is a significant evolution in marketing over the last five years. It’s an exciting time where motion and consistency are key to connecting with people.

AV Motion is no longer an accessory worked on piecemeal, and clients now realise the impact it has on engagement and affinity. Brands are now shaped by their movements, and should express themselves distinctively, consistently, and intentionally through a motion identity!

There is a reason that people’s actions define them. The way we dress and how we speak may be an aspect of our identities, but we should always focus on how people move, behave, and act to really understand who they are.

The same is true for brands. What story are you telling? What values do you champion? How is your brand expressing itself? Are you consistent? Brands now need to seamlessly dance across millions of screens under a unified voice, and motion identities and systems are becoming vital components.

JS Screens now dominate our communication channels, so it’s not just about what a brand’s story is, but also how it unfolds across multiple platforms. With nearly everyone having access to a screen, DOOH and social platforms have become ubiquitous.

PT Can you share any specific instances or experiences where you’ve seen this change first-hand?

AV Most of our engagements have revolved around creating an identity and a system... and then these come to life through a whole series of applications. The ask usually is – “We’d love a whole host of brand assets to be built in motion,” either for always-on or seasonal campaigns, or an event.

Our most recent experience was with the Google Cloud brand team, where we were brought on for a second year to create the motion identity for ‘Next,’ an annual event celebrating the future of their cloud platform. The high-level brief was to “express the rapidly developing nature of technology, building on the themes of iterative design.”

Our feedback from the previous year (2022) was that the motion was crucial and ultimately shaped the entire event experience. Attendees heard the brand speak to them in ways that interconnected them with their IRL experience, creating a stronger affinity towards Google Cloud. This ultimately had us back much earlier for the start of Next 2023, to build an updated version of the identity alongside motion guidelines and digital touchpoints.

CW It’s also worth noting that a motion identity doesn’t always have to exist across a large scale; fast-growing brands and startups are also looking for motion on core evergreen elements and to build their brands in a more holistic way.

We are the most successful when we become a true extension of a client’s team.

PT How does Vucko ensure that motion work aligns with the overall brand strategy and messaging of its clients?

JS I think we are the most successful when we become a true extension of a client’s team. We feel like so much of the motion world deals with this vendor-style mentality, but we really try to encourage approaching everything as a tailored partnership. With an integrated approach, we’re closer to the message and are able to peel back layers that will lead to a stronger strategy and outcome.

AV The process is key. We’re always engaging in workshops with brand teams – having open discussions, organic problem-solving, driving decisions together. It’s an extremely collaborative, transparent, and empathetic way of working. This closeness not only leads to a deeper sense of trust, but also results in a more holistic way of thinking.

PT At what stage of the identity development process do you recommend considering motion to build a cohesive brand ecosystem?

CW The earlier, the better. As soon as you’re starting to translate a brand strategy and brief into something visual, start to think about the motion as well. When you reposition motion as a pillar to brand identity, rather than just an application of brand identity, it has the potential to inform the visual language overall. It will help make a cohesive brand world as you make decisions about the rest of its components.

AV Every single project is entered with a holistic mindset, even when motion is looped in a little later (some brands have talented internal teams that lead creative until it’s ready for motion). Our work for the Spotify Wrapped campaign is a great example – for the last four years, we’ve partnered with Spotify’s in-house team to understand how their decisions to date lead to the identity that year. That context is crucial to understanding how motion will amplify what they are trying to express.

PT Could you take us through your process of defining how a brand moves, whenever you start a new project?

CW Similar to brand identity work, we start with consideration of the brief and goals. We develop answers to key questions before exploring – what are we communicating? What does success look like?

This may sound repetitive, but our approach to that work is a holistic one. We start to address all things at once. How do brand elements, brand story, strategy, touchpoints, goals, outcomes, and motion work in concert with one another?

AV It involves a lot of cross-pollination and playback of work-in-progress. We’ll look at the brand’s past and present, what it wants to express in the future, and then start with a sense of curiosity and a beginner’s mind. Looking at a brand’s truth and existing behaviours is generally a great starting point.

Sometimes we’ll create keywords for projects which are great for a temperature check. On our project for Tidal – a music streaming platform –  we’d constantly ‘play back the tapes’ and ask – is this premium? Is it tactile? There’s always a two-pronged approach to assessing creative decisions in motion branding – we’re feeling out if it’s a success in both visual design and behaviour.

On top of that, we are always balancing the right brain and left brain by thinking systematically, considering how and if these movements can scale across hundreds of placements.

PT Can you share any success stories where motion played a critical role in brand recognition and engagement?

JS Spotify Wrapped would be a perfect example. Together with Hornet we finished our fourth year collaborating with Spotify’s in-house creative team. It’s a great partnership that has given us the opportunity to create a fresh motion identity every year.

AV It’s been incredible to see people embrace Wrapped. It’s currently in its eighth year, and in 2022 it was the 14th most-watched event in human history, trending at #1 on social media, and has become somewhat of a viral icon. They’ve been incredibly successful in the expressions each year, and beyond that, successful in key metrics of engagement and brand affinity. No doubt that motion has been an amplifier!

PT How do motion systems contribute to an identity’s consistency?

CW The benefits are almost the same as a set of brand guidelines. Motion identities have to shift across a variety of screens, and be scalable enough for applications well into the hundreds or thousands. We want to help set a benchmark for the brand, and clarify best practices before designers or collaborators go beyond them.

Systems can be built out in a variety of ways, so we tailor each to whatever outcome the client has in mind. Do they want to keep it flexible, so teams feel empowered to expand on the work? Or does it need to be more structured, because every detail is paramount?

Lean into the creativity motion affords.

PT What advice do you have for brands looking to incorporate motion into their overall brand strategy?

AV Lean into the creativity motion affords. It’s a powerful resource. Leverage the fact that it’s highly engaging, and use it as an opportunity to express more, say more. It’s a completely new facet of your brand – and new, richer ways to communicate with your audience don’t come around too often.

CW Involve motion early and deeply (at least the latter) with a dedicated team. Your motion language won’t be comprehensive if it’s fragmented across case-by-case applications over time. Motion is a crucial component to brands, so strive to develop it wholly and move ahead with confidence.

Vucko