Branded Protest | Ingeborg Bloem, Klaus Kempenaars

Many of the most successful and recognizable protest movements in the world make use of branding techniques, even when they simultaneously reject the general concepts of branding. Branded Protest dives into this antithesis. It researches the power of branding and the influence it has on current protest movements and gives iconic examples of unique branding-efforts that support protests. We are all exposed to branding: from a torn sheet of cardboard scrawled with handwriting to slick corporate advertising campaigns. Here, we take up the term branding to assess the visualization of iconic protest movements, and to identify the unique tools used to attract the general public and activate people to join in. Branding has become a means to unify a movement and to give protest a visual identity. For Branded Protest we spoke with organizers of protest movements around the world, to identify the particular techniques that help movements deliver a unique and clear message.