The communication strategy of the «oforme» brand

For a long time, the project remained within the confines of a private design studio, but lately, it has been aiming to reach a broader audience.

Oforme balances between a design studio, a design-studio and a research laboratory. This positioning is atypical for the market: the brand is deliberately moving away from the logic of mass production. The studio isn’t focused on scaling for the sake of quantity — instead, growth happens through the elaboration of objects, the use of new materials, participation in exhibitions, and collaborations with galleries. This approach is closer to artistic practice than to conventional design business. Because of this, the brand is in the premium segment. It is aimed at buyers who perceive a design object as a work of art.

The brand’s audience is collectors, architects, and interior designers. For them, authorship, uniqueness and the history of the creation of the form are important.

According to the history of the studio’s development, their reputation in professional circles is more important to them than entering the media space. The main channel for many years has been private bookings. Exhibition activity is a new and strategically important channel that the studio is just beginning to explore. Participation in exhibitions and collaboration with galleries is a direct way to reach the audience of the art market and the architectural community.

As mentioned above, the brand doesn’t conduct social networks — this is its principled position. They have a Pinterest account, but it’s not updated often, and only complete interior design projects are posted there. The brand doesn’t communicate closely with the audience, remaining mysterious, restrained, and self-absorbed. The management can be contacted via personal messages on social networks regarding questions and orders.

To analyze communication strategy, we choose two theories from the course: the theory of semiotics (a semiotic approach to communication) and the concept of brand identity rhetoric. The choice is not accidental.

Semiotics is the science of signs and meanings. It is ideal for analyzing a brand whose communication is based almost entirely on visual and textual imagery. «Oforme» doesn’t sell function — it sells meaning. Every object, every word on the website, every photo from the workshop carries a meaning. Semiotic analysis allows us to understand exactly how these signs work and what kind of message they produce.

The theory of rhetoric is the trust that the speaker gains through demonstrating his character and competence. It is this element that is central to the «Oforme». The studio builds communication through the consistent presentation of itself: its method, its philosophy.

The bilingualism of the site make inclusion in the international art discourse.

The brand name itself works as a semiotic sign: it is both the Russian word «formalize» (to give shape), and the preposition «о» plus the word «form» — literally «about form», about the study of form. The play of meanings within a single word.

Notably, that the brand almost completely avoids pathos in communication and emotional pressure. It’s a conscious choice to speak calmly to those who don’t need convincing. Such communication works to retain and strengthen the connection with the audience.

«Oforme» communication works for the audience they are counting on. The brand consciously puts itself in a very narrow range. Nevertheless, it builds a strong and consistent identity, accurate and honest. It convinces through demonstration, not through explanation.

However, the precision of this communication also becomes its weakness. The studio is in the process of consciously entering the public field, but the communication tools are not yet fully adequate for this task. A quiet voice works in confined spaces, but risks not being heard in a wider field. This slows down the development of the brand.