Branding: It’s not just for cows anymore
I remember taking a corporate identity class my last term of college. Though it was mentioned that branding was a company’s “identity,” it was never explained that branding was more than just a logo. We spent a majority of the class designing a new logo for a company of our choosing and ways to use the logo in the environment. After 11 weeks, the only thing I walked away from that class with was the idea that you have to have a nice enough looking logo to make an impact on your target audience. Also, maybe it should look good on a billboard or a water bottle or something.
I got an A in the class. My point? (Besides the fact that I’m slightly unhappy with my Alma Mater). People talk about brands all the time, but very few people actually understand their purpose or how to manage one.
Who are you? What do you do? Why does anyone care?
A brand is not a logo. It’s not a company. It’s not the solution to any algebra problem and it’s not a product. A brand is a feeling that a consumer has about a company or a product or maybe even a service. It’s also a great Jeopardy question. In short, a brand should say: “This is who we are. This is how we’re different from our competitors.”
Your logo is just one part of your brand. Like a name is just one part of a person. There are many attributes that make someone a unique individual and it works the same for a company’s brand. It takes high quality work, dedication as individuals and team members, shared goals and hard work to create an effective and lasting brand identity. Good brand identity is not just a great logo; it’s a reputation and a level of quality that is associated with the visual “marker.”
When explaining what services they specialized most in, I heard a former employer tell a client once that their company was the “Old Navy” of web design. Let’s face it, people, if you want a great pair of running shoes to last, chances are you’re not going to get them at Payless Shoe Source. Don’t advertise what you are not or what you don’t want people to assume about you. The quality people feel about your product or your work is your company.
Rome wasn’t built in a day – so don’t expect your brand to be.
It takes a lot of: time, people, planning, experience, energy, focus, research, money, ideas, mistakes [deep breath goes here], chances, success, expertise, trials, patience and a lot of hard work to be the next Nike or Coca Cola [whew!].
How to get over the roadblock of logic vs. creativity
Q: How do you know when an idea is innovative?
A: When it scares the hell out of everybody
(Neumeier, 80)
If it were all logic we “right-brainers” would be out of jobs. No one wants logical explanations; no one wants to listen to reason. We want magic! Magic is fun and exciting and…well, magical. Unfortunately you can’t really remove logic from the equation and you can’t remove creativity. People don’t trust pure creativity because it’s not always the most practical to do that but people don’t really want rational thinking ALL the time because our best thinking depends on intuition and insight (Neumeier, 73) and also people want magic. So you have to find that happy medium of both execution and strategy that makes everyone feel warm and fuzzy. Once that is accomplished. then you can play.
Why yes! That is exactly what I want!
“Get the right idea and then get the idea right” (Neumeier, 120-121). Create your message. Send that message to your target audience. Require your audience to give you feedback. Find out what works and what doesn’t. Find out what your people want and then give it to them.
Badger! Badger! Badger!
World just passing you by?
Madonna did it. Michael Jackson didn’t. Madonna experienced musical success throughout the 80’s and 90’s because she reinvented herself and her music continually adapted to what was most popular. The last song Michael Jackson released a few years back sounded the same as the music he was making in the early 80’s. Of course I’m positive there are other “factors” that hindered his success but that is an entirely different blog post.
Success embraces change and fosters growth with the marketplace. Just like with people, brands aren’t always perfect. They have good times and bad times. They change and they grow but as long as their core attributes never change then it’s all good. If you as a person want to experience success you have to make mistakes. You have to bust tail and you have to try different avenues. Sometimes it works, and sometimes it doesn’t. In the end you take what you learn, apply it to your next run and eventually with enough persistence, hard work, and dedication, you will inevitably find success. Through your journey you are still the same person with the same qualities and you’ve adopted new experiences. Brands work the same way.
Does your company’s behavior match your brand? Ours does!
Alongside the business and work aspect of creating a good brand are the people who represent it. A friend told me once “Pop Art is where you hope to end up in your career as a designer.” And although I know he appreciates and admires the work we do here, it’s the people that create the company’s reputation as a whole that makes it such a desirable place to work. Our clients love us! We make business an enjoyable experience, and, as an added bonus, we create beautiful and pleasing work for them, and we love every minute of it.
A company’s atmosphere and culture are just as important as the quality of work they deliver. Pop Art has achieved success on so many levels: from acquiring prominent clients to a knowledgeable staff with a passion to educate and be educated. A collection of intelligent, creative, happy and enjoyable personalities are all part of delivering the high quality work we are becoming reputable for. This is helping shape and define Pop Art’s unique brand and indeed separates us from our competitors.
Where did I get all that info?
- Neumeier, Marty. The Brand Gap: How to bridge the distance between business strategy and design. New Riders Press; 1ST edition, 2003.
- Pop Art’s Annual Company Retreat
- My Brain
