Karting Ninja

Identity design pro start-up pod hlavičkou Praga Cars, která má více než stoletou historii. Moderní značka, která hovoří globálním jazykem.

Brief

Karting Ninja is a software and hardware solutions system, which allows safer and lucid traffic on karting race tracks.

Its primary target group are operators of karting race circuits and for those we need to create adequate brand presentation and marketing strategy.

The aim of the cooperation is therefore:

Develop brand and create its brand book
Create brand manual
Design logotype and visual identity
Create marketing and communications strategy

Idea

Karting Ninja will first need to build a B2B brand. His most important target group are operators of race circuits.

However, we would like to explore the following hypothesis as part of brand development:

An average Czech karting racer’s costs on a circuit day are approximately 38 EUR (3 x drive + catering). Karting Ninja's business model currently aims at raising the costs of the operators in exchange for the added value the operators can offer to the customers. But instead of increasing the costs of the operators, Karting Ninja can start making them money. What if the costs were put into the consumers’ price and for each use of the Karting Ninja system, the operator would get a commission?

In other words, with every drive, the operator could have a commission of 0,5 to 1 EUR. He/she can raise the consumers’ drive price for this amount. The consumer himself/herself can further decide if he wants to lower the price, deciding for lower safety and lucidity or opt-in for a full experience.

Our hypothesis is, that even an added cost of 3-4 EUR for each consumer won’t be a burden when spending around 40-50 EUR at each visit.

Either the burden of costs will be placed on clients or consumers, it is evident that the brand needs to communicate on both B2B and B2C levels. Both business models are relevant and will be possibly applied.

Analysis

PRODUCT VALUES

Product values workshop is our own developed technique based on the preaching of marketing gurus like Marty Neumeier (Brand Gap) and Faith Popcorn (Brain Reserve).

Its main function is to help the brand owner to clearly prioritize product values around which we will build the communication and design.

This quick workshop gives us key inputs to start modeling the brand's archetype, claims, and brand story.

How does it work?
The workshop is based on 5 key values, which has to be split into 100%:

Accessibility: Number of steps a person needs to do to obtain a product or interact with a brand. One of the factors adding up the steps is also a price, respectively amount of time needed to compare it with other offers and with recipients financial possibilities.

Quality: Amount of delivered value for given price. Up to what level the product fulfills customer needs whilst not comparing to the competition on market.

Innovation: Added value of a product on top of a solution of a need in comparison to other solutions or competition on given market. It could be also a ritual or status quo represented by brand.

Clanning: Thanks to the product or service, a person becomes member of broad community which enriches his/her life, personal and professional development, social relations or educates him/her.

Exclusivity: By obtaining the product or using the service, person enhances is social status and becomes a “better person” in eyes of others. Motivations around this value are mostly emotional and personal, rarely rational.

How did Karting Ninja score?
First, we have divided our scoring into 3 groups.

Target group 1: Race circuit owners and managers. These are B2B clients, first on which the brand needs to aim.

Target group 2: Racers. End customers, for whom the price of the product has been paid by Race circuit owners, but who receive the value of a product by using it on visited circuits. At this moment the brand needs to switch to B2C communication.

Target group 3: Racers, who are also paying an added price for using Karting Ninja.

BRAND ARCHETYPE

Brand archetypes are 12 symbols, derived from famous psychologist Carl C. Jung work on archetypes. But what is, actually, an archetype?

Jungian archetypes are defined as universal, archaic symbols and images that derive from the collective unconscious, as proposed by Carl Jung. They are the psychic counterpart of instinct. That is to say they are a kind of innate unspecific knowledge, derived from the sum total of human history, which prefigures and directs conscious behavior.

In short, if languages would be a code, archetypes are words, which everyone describes in the same manner. When you say “Hero” 99 % of people will picture almost the same kind of person.

BRAND MODEL

FOLLOW ME.
BECOME THE KARTING NINJA.
STEP BY STEP. CORNER BY CORNER. LAP BY LAP.
LEARN FROM THE BEST DRIVERS WITH HELP OF OUR APP.

Karting Ninja is your guide in the art of kart racing. Anytime you get in the accident, he steps in and slows all the karts behind you. Anytime he sees you can be better in the corner, he teaches you how to go around.

You can start as a greenhorn and make your way through experience levels until you become karting ninja.

You start as Karting Genin. There has to be four of you to have the right to start learning from experienced Ninja Jounin, your karting teacher.

Then you can become Chuunin, the one who can go karting alone and watch over other Genins.

Once you have completed your training, you become a true karting ninja called Jounin. Now the only one who can teach you is the ultimate master called Kage.

The Kage karting ninja is also the only one, who can assemble teams. Teams of ninjas are called Anbu and they race together or alone, but always put all their experience and success together.

TONE OF VOICE

How does it work? Brand’s tone of voice is normally designed using 4 dimensions:

So how does Karting Ninja sounds?

FUNNY FOR HIS FORMALITIES:

ENTHUSIASTIC BUT FORMAL

Originally czech word “robot” as a working machine is derived from word “robota”. A forced work for the master. In South Africa, it now means a “traffic light”. So what does “ninja” means in global culture?

— KONTRA

RESPECTFUL BUT FUNNY

WE WERE LOOKING FOR GLOBAL CULTURAL CROSSOVER.

VISUAL THINKING

How does it work?

Moodboard

VISION BEHIND BRANDMARK

DRIVE IN RHYTHM

Brandmark & logotype

The N brandmark follows the path of future silent ninja-like merge in between humans and machines. The cross cut symbolizing quick katana action in the brandmark shows that Karting Ninja can step in the blink of an eye and prevent the accident. The extended logotype and brandmarks are folowing pattern of skid marks left by tires on racing track, typical to what it looks like after whole day packed with emotions. Karting Ninja written in tire skid marks is not readable at first sight so only true clan members can recognise it. New visual identity therefore creates its own language for the racers community and becomes easily distinguished.