Communication theory: promotion of the Khmelniki brand
Content:
- About the brand
- Communication theory in the field of design
- Brand presentation for a wide audience
- Brand presentation for a professional audience
- The basis for creating these presentations
- Sources
1. About the brand
«Khmilniki» is a northern Russian village. The general feature of this place is the atmosphere in the village. They call the state in which the guests are staying «intoxicated» — visitors are intoxicated by the scenery, the air, the local food and the dialect.
The village of Khmelniki, Konoshsky district of the Arkhangelsk region, 2025
2. Communication theory in the field of design
Communication theory helps designers understand how to build a dialogue with their audience through a complete visual system. The village of Khmelniki exemplifies how this theory serves as a tool for constructing brand identity and fostering user engagement.
The designer leverages communication — using words, symbols, and imagery — to convey the brand’s core purpose and mission. The Khmelniki brand draws on the culture of the Russian North. Its identity is built upon a cool, natural color palette and a textured pattern that symbolizes hop pollen. Much like scattering pollen, this pattern forms an authentic ornament that captures the spirit of the place. From a semiotic perspective, this visual helps communicate the brand’s key message: here, the soul becomes «intoxicated» with a profound sense of peace.
Khmelniki Village caters to a broad audience — tourists, residents of large cities and neighboring towns, and families seeking a retreat into nature and inner tranquility. To strengthen its identity and attract new visitors, the brand immerses them in the local culture through curated tours with unexpected bonuses and stays in historic Christian homes preserved for generations. These experiences foster deeper engagement.
In the end, communication theory allows us to see Khmelniki not merely as a visual object, but as a clearly articulated message — one viewed through the lens of an intoxicating Northern authenticity. By using symbols, colors, and slogans, the brand builds an emotional connection with its audience. Together, these elements create a design that harmonizes the brand’s values with the needs of its visitors.
- Brand presentation for a wide audience
- In order to attract and retain the attention of a wide target audience, it is necessary to come up with creative, but at the same time understandable ideas for brand communication. It is necessary to convey to a wide audience the idea that the Khmelniki brand will cover some of their needs. Brand communication informs a wide audience that the brand sees the need for people to take a break from the hustle and bustle of the city, and the brand has ways to solve this problem.
Sightseeing routes. The difference is that there is a bonus on each route that the guest does not expect. It gives a feeling of abundance and «over» importance.
Accommodation in a guest house. Features — this is a real five-walled peasant house (not converted, not newly built), which has a wall connecting centuries.
Souvenir products.
- The accessibility of brand communication increases trust and motivation when interacting with the Khmelniki brand. The village’s website and social networks should include phone numbers and other feedback contacts where a wide audience can get answers to their questions or leave feedback and suggestions.
- In order to achieve long-term relationships with a wide audience, it is necessary to make sure that people have the right idea about the brand that causes an emotional response. Information written on the brand’s platforms — websites and social networks — should be valuable for different segments of the population.
Brand values: Preservation and popularization of the culture of the Russian North, development of tourism in small rural areas, creation of jobs The essence of the brand: It is important to say that we are not trying to change the village, our goal is to preserve the heritage and emphasize its uniqueness based on the existing resources of the village.
- Emotional connection with the brand is an integral part of communication with a wide audience, as it is necessary to evoke emotions that make you interact with the brand. People should interact with the brand because they want to and get positive emotions. To achieve the result, the village of Khmilniki uses three methods:
Description of the brand’s emotional advantages on platforms: Brand character: authentic, traditional, distinctive, open Essential features: culture of the Russian North, hop flower, rich history that you want to carry through the years, suspension bridges, unique geographical location Emotional benefits: relaxation from the hustle and bustle of the city, full of energy, the pleasure of being in nature
Creating the appropriate design: The use of visual and symbolic means — colors, fonts, and cultural elements — that enhance emotional connection with the audience and make the Khmelniki brand recognizable and trustworthy.
Creating a slogan that conveys the basic feeling of being in the village: The village’s slogan is «hop with our soul.» The basis of the village itself is the flowers of hops, which grew here in the 12th and 13th centuries, from which the name came. Therefore, a pattern was made in the form of pollen, which spreads from the hop vine, creating patterns and intoxicating visitors. The patterns also resemble knitted items, creating an association with the fact that the village is authentic, northern.
- It is also important to regularly update information about events and news on the brand’s platforms so that the general audience always receives up-to-date information and perceives the village of Khmelniki exactly as necessary to maintain a certain image, as well as so that the organization does not lag behind the changes taking place in society.
4. Brand presentation for a professional audience
For professional audiences, comprehensive and in-depth communications based on relationship management theory.
The lectures details that successful relationship management is built on multiple components, including trust, mutual commitment, satisfaction, and rapport control: «Relationship management is based on such metrics as rapport control, trust, commitment, satisfaction, exchange, and communal relationships. Rapport control is the degree to which parties agree on the extent of their influence over each other…» (quotes from lectures).
For professionals working with the Khmelniki brand, this approach requires the creation of a clear and transparent communications strategy focused on building trust not only with the audience but also within partner networks. It’s also important to maintain a constant dialogue with active and activist groups, providing them with reliable, relevant, and comprehensive information to meet their needs and expectations.
According to the lectures: «Active and activist groups require reliable information, intense engagement, dialogue, and constant content updates» (file). This requires the Khmelnytskyi brand team to utilize a variety of communication tools, including social media, offline events, feedback, and audience response monitoring.
The context of the professional presentation for Khmelniki is not simply to inform, but to create a platform for knowledge sharing, support for innovation, and the deep engagement of all stakeholders. This includes training specialists, developing project initiatives, and ongoing communication based on ethical principles and trust.
Thus, it demonstrates the importance of integrating modern relationship management theories and active dialogue for professional engagement with the audience, which underpins the sustainable development of the Khmelniki brand.
5. The basis for creating these presentations
From the perspective of semiotic theory, communication is an exchange of meanings through sign systems. Thus, in the «Khmelniki» project, the brand’s signs and symbols create a distinct visual language designed to evoke specific associations, different from the language of everyday products. However, the phenomenological approach critiques this model by pointing to the subjectivity of perception: the same sign can be interpreted differently depending on individual experience.
Dialogic theory formed the basis for creating communication channels with both general and professional audiences. This theory provided insights into how to effectively build long-term consumer relationships with a brand.
Relationship management theory explains that relationships should be built on mutual trust and conscious management of expectations.
The information from the 7th section of the lectures became the basis for the third section of the presentation, «brand presentation to a wide audience.» The main quotes from the course on communication theory, which became the basis: «Alright, Public Relations Society of America defines public relations as a strategic communication process that builds mutually beneficial relationships between organization and their publics.» «The next theory is the excellence theory.» «For latent public they don’t seek communication but they actually have the problem so what we need to do we need to be really creative and in attention-getting.» «Next one is commitment. Commitment is an extent to which each party believes and feels that the relationship is worth spending energy to maintain and promote.» «Publics should have an opportunity to sign up for information and updates. And there must be contact information of organizational members. Usefulness of information. When I come to the website, I expect to find there something of value for me.»
https://portfolio.hse.ru/Project/259156# Просмотрено: 07.12.2025
The project is based on materials from the Communication Theory course.
https://t.me/hmgor Просмотрено: 07.12.2025
Pictures are from Daria Pyatiletova’s project: https://portfolio.hse.ru/Project/259156# Просмотрено: 07.12.2025
