We've had the opportunity to create branded environments for two of Michigan State University's athletic teams - football and hockey.

We recently had the chance to talk with Tim Straker, VP of Marketing and Global Customer Experience at Herman Miller, about what the client experience is, why it's so important, and how everyone in an organization can impact it.

You’ve decided to invest in a branded environment, sat down with a team of creative professionals to discuss your vision, and successfully seen your project through – from design to installation – ensuring quality control along the way. Now, how do you get everyone on the same page, disseminating the same message you’re striving to project? If you don’t take the time to have an internal dialogue about your branded space and strategy, then any external work you do will fall flat. When it comes to brand updates or a branded environment, the rollout is a process that needs to start from the inside and work its way out.

They say children are our future.

From design to production to installation, quality control is one of the most important aspects of a branding project. In fact, quality control is something that begins at the genesis of a project by accurately defining the message you’re trying to convey in your space. Unfortunately, it’s often not considered until the end of a project, when the product is being installed. If the branded environment you want to create isn’t feasible, that error should be caught long before production begins, allowing for a solution to be devised. The sooner you can bring in experts to assess the quality control of your project the better.

Businesses aren’t that different from people. They function much like humans do as a living, breathing place. They have needs to fulfill, like attracting and retaining top talent, stimulating innovation, increasing efficiency, and strengthening brand connection. Through global research and a robust study, Herman Miller found that the Living Office elevates the experience of work for people through a human-centered approach that helps organizations to define priorities, achieve strategic goals, and fulfill a greater purpose.

What is environmental branding? While there are varying levels of awareness as to what it actually is, a large misconception is that branding is all about signage or even simply the use of your logo in your space. Signage is a commodity that’s readily available but when it comes to branding, there’s a strategic backbone behind what you’re striving to achieve. It’s not about putting an image on the wall but about the thought process and message behind it, the placement of it, and even the material used to make it. By using design strategy, you take a concept from 2D or digital format and bring it into the built environment. In short, branding uniquely defines your space enabling you to tell a story that resonates with people.

Sustainability is one of the world's most used and talked about but least understood words. What it means to be called sustainable can often be clouded or misinterpreted, because it's so widely used. For most, it's the preservation of the environment, and building better by reducing the number of resources required. To some it goes as far as social progress to stable economic growth and the elimination of poverty.

Workplace branding is more prevalent than ever. This means that basic environmental branding is table stakes. The onus is on employers to be more thoughtful and strategic about their branding to provide a holistic and authentic branded experience that will resonate with their associates, business partners, and clientele.

On average, we spend 90% of our time in the built environment today. In a strange twist of fate, it has become our natural habitat. But we need things like natural light and materials, indoor plants, views of landscapes, and access to the outdoors to feel and do our best work.