Swimming in a sea of logos: it takes more than guidelines and graphic identity to develop effective brand strategies. Photo credit
My sister and I were enjoying a coffee and a chat about marketing her insurance business when her 5-year-old granddaughter interrupted us to ask what a logo was. I showed her the green logo on our coffee cups and sent her and her brother off on a mission to find other logos in the coffee shop.
They brought back several items with examples of known logos, as well as some random things like a piece of wood being used as a doorstop–things that made me question how clear my explanation actually was.
How do you explain logos and brands to your employees? Do you define these terms and show them examples like you do with a 5-year-old? Do you present the brand guidelines and templates for presentations, letters and email auto-signatures?
These approaches are good ways to start a dialogue about brand, but a memorable way to reinforce the true meaning of brand is to:
- Print out a paper copy of the cover of your brand guidelines or some of the rules themselves.
- Tear the paper into small pieces and throw it in the trash.
That’s a dramatic way to lead into a meaty discussion of how your brand is not just a set of rules about fonts and colors and sizes of your logo. It’s the total marketing proposal that your company is making to clients, potential clients and non-clients. Business guru Seth Godin defines brand more fully as
the set of expectations, memories, stories and relationships that, taken together, account for a consumer’s decision to choose one product or service over another.”
Do you need to communicate your brand better internally and externally? Ask, assess, then ask. We’re here to help!
Recently I developed a communications plan for a Company X that was changing to become both a commodity brand and a solutions brand. In designing the campaign, I pulled together a sample campaign theme that emphasized what was the same and what was different after the change.