Part V of an extended exploration of nature and value of “Branding” and practical discussion of how to create, strengthen and extract greater value from your ‘Brand’
“But what about a name? What about a logo?” you might protest. “Why haven’t you talked about all those things we’ve been told are ‘branding’?” These symbols of your brand – the logos, trade names, tag lines and such – are indeed important …
… as the distinctive badges of your brand, the flags that allow your customers to instantly pick you out in the crowded marketplace
… as constant reminders to potential customers of the good things promised by your brand and your reputation.
… as visible encouragement to your customers, and a signal where to buy.
To be effective these symbols of your brand must be 3 things:
Memorable – Think of American Airlines’ red, white and blue AA or Apple’s once-bitten fruit.
– Distinctive but Simple – One or 2 arresting visual elements, a name that’s easy on the tongue, a few high impact words that encapsulate your core message
– Thematically consistent – images and shapes, colors, words and message that work together to build the reputation you want
– Ubiquitous – Use them, and use them consistently, everywhere you can: in advertising and product brochures, websites and emails, in-store displays and correspondence
Meaningful – Speaking to your customers’ interests and concerns, not your own
– Easy for customers to connect the symbol to your product and promise (Did you ever see a new TV ad that left you wondering just who they are and what they’re selling?)
– Outward Focus – Speak to your customers’ interests, not your own
Scalable and Timeless- A capacity to lead your growing company
– Easily reproduced across multiple venues – very large to very small spaces, internet, smart phones and iPads, print, and product labels
– Build for longevity and long term success
Designing the visual and verbal symbols of your company and product is the place to unleash your creativity and intuition, your artistic sensibilities and your inner psychologist. It’s definitely not a literal, analytical, “left brain” exercise. It is, rather, much more about connecting with to your customers’ perceptions, worries and aspirations than it is about you or your product.
Don’t however, get so caught up in the excitement of the naming processes, advertising slogan contests and graphic design that you lose sight of the core of your success – consistently excellent execution.
Logos, trademarks, product names and slogans are powerful symbols of your good reputation and the promise of your brand. Their value, however, lies not in the cleverness of the word-craft or graphic design themselves, but in the quality of the experiences and memories they evoke.
And here are two, more general questionsto consider as you’re creating your branding strategy:
Brand you company or brand your product?
It’s a difficult call, with prominent successes either way. Intel, Apple and Martin Guitars are undeniably more powerful than any of their individual product names, conferring credibility and an aura of success on every new product they introduce. TEFLON and LYCRA, on the other hand, achieved huge success largely independent of the name of their DuPont parent.
I come down on the side of building your company’s brand. Invest the resources and effort once, to do it right at the company level, and the dividends accrue to your every new product and business initiative. Focus on product by product branding, and you’re destined to repeat the time, hard work and expense of the branding cycle every time you do something new.
Meaning or Nonsense?
There are plenty of examples of straight forward literal success (Bank of America, Clem’s Barbeque, Alcoa, EATZI’S), of common words that have come to symbolize prominent brands (TIDE, BOLD and CREST, for example), and of totally made-up words (ALTRIA, ONCOR, QIANA, ACCENTURE).
Again, there seems to be no one ‘right’ answer. But, given that your goal is to quickly and effortlessly establish your visibility and recall, I opt for company and product names and visual symbols that customers can easily link to your company and products, either literally (Peterson’s Tax Accounting, GreenClean, for example) or suggestively (Queen for the Day, Bark-n-Purr).
