Brand Identity

There are signposts ahead. how do you guarantee your customer pays attention to yours?

The Dictionary defines the term “brand” as a type of product manufactured by a particular company under a particular name.

Historically, branding started out as an identification mark used on cattle and horses. But as time went on, it evolved to define ownership of a product no matter whether it was livestock or people.

Today branding doesn’t have the same negative overtones it developed in history however, branding is just as important today for identifying ownership of a product as it was in the past. Brands now include companies, not just the products they produce. It’s not unusual for the company name to have as much brand value as the product itself. For example: Clorox is the company and the brand, but Clorox also owns other brands you may have heard of such as, Kingsford Charcoal and Brita water filters.

Walter Landor, founder of Landor Associates says, “Products are created in the factory, Brands are created in the mind.” Good brand identity helps build a good company.

Branding is what the customer thinks about your product, so making a brand identity tangible to the customer is extremely important for a company.

How can you accomplish it?

Finding the right partner is a place to start. Advertising, Marketing and Graphic Design agencies specialize in helping to create effective brands. There are so many ways to reinforce your brand that we can’t even start to cover everything in this short article, so I will try to discuss some of the ways to develop your brand.

Alina Wheeler, author and speaker says; “Brand identity is the visual and verbal expression of a brand.” One of the best ways to develop your brand is the old fashioned “Word of Mouth.” Get your customers to tell everyone they know about your product or service.

Here are a couple of tips you can do right now. One way is simply to ask your customers to tell others about your company. If they are satisfied with your product or service they will probably be happy to do it. How hard is that?

Another way is getting your customers to write testimonials that can be placed on your website or in a brochure. These are just a couple of things you can do on your own to start developing your brand awareness.

Visually reinforcing your brand is another important way to get the customer to remember your brand.

The most important way to start visual reinforcement is to develop your identity. Remember how brands started out? An identification mark used on cattle and horses. Each brand was registered and unique, no one had an identical brand. So creating the right visual identity or mark for your company or product is the most important first step to establish brand ownership. Having a well thought out and registered creative logo provides a tangible visual mark immediately identifiable as your brand.

Tom Watson, former chairman of IBM said, “Good design is good business.”

Brand reinforcement requires understanding and leadership from the top down. If the principals of a company don’t understand their brand, how can they expect their customers to do the same?

All aspects of brand development need to be structured and coherent. Everything should tie back into the look, feel and message of the brand. For example: If your direct mail ties into your website and your brochures visually tie into your direct mail, the television and radio should emulate your company message and all of these should tie into your identity. Remember, the value of your brand is priceless. Solid marketing strengthens your brand value providing consistent and clear messages.

Another important thing to remember about branding, is getting your message across. You must understand your customer and their lifestyle. Research and strategy are essential in brand development.

Strategically, you must have a clear set of goals that produce measurable results. Finding the right marketing partner can help you define your strategy to build your brand. It is a long process that is almost impossible to do alone.

And a final thought, naming your company or product is only part of the branding process. Effective implementation of branding strategies is what makes a brand successful. Remember, your ultimate goal is to sell. Whether it is a product or service, your company can’t remain invisible. Developing your brand and making a lasting impression in the minds of your consumers, can be the life or death of your business.

©2009 Michael Burke

The Value of good Logo Design

Michael Burke
Owner, Gotham Advertising and Design
mburke@gothamok.com

In the years I have been in the advertising and design business, I have seen hundreds of logos. Some of them very good and some very bad; there’s an obvious difference between the two. The good ones define the company and support the brand. The bad ones don’t.

It sounds simple, doesn’t it? It’s not.

Good logo design is more than having your company name in a cool type font, or maybe a nifty little graphic illustration. A good logo designer starts off with research.

If you hire someone to design your logo and they don’t ask any questions about your company, run for your life.

When designing a logo, a designer should find out as much about your business as he or she can. It is not unusual for the designer to ask in depth about your business plan, marketing plan, and your product or service. Sometimes, this seems like the designer is digging into your privacy, but it is important to have as much information as possible so the design can work best for your company. After all, the designer is creating the visual identity that defines it.

Think about it, THE VISUAL IDENTITY THAT DEFINES YOUR COMPANY. That’s pretty strong stuff. The logo is the first thing most people see before they even meet you. It’s on your stationery, business cards, note pads, envelopes, products (if you sell a product), store fronts, and the list goes on and on.

Your logo often introduces your company to your customers. Now ask yourself, do you want someone who doesn’t want to know information about your business goals and aspirations to design the image that represents your company to your customers and potential customers? Or do you want a designer who cares enough to ask the right questions and provides you with a well researched and thought out design?

Along with a business plan and marketing plan, logo design should be one of the top three things you do when you start a business.

Steps that should be taken when designing your company logo.


• Initial meeting – An introduction and chance to meet the personality behind the business. It is important to meet the principals in the business because their personalities can help to define the parameters of the design.


• Research - Research is one of the most important, and most often ignored, parts of the logo design process. The designer needs to find out as much information about your business as he or she can. There is no such thing as too much information. The design firm should know almost as much about your business as you do. Research also includes doing copyright and trademark searches. This search should be done by a copyright and trademark attorney. If you don’t have an attorney, the designer should be able to provide you with a name (if the designer can’t give you a name you should worry, they should have someone that they use regularly). This trademark search is for the safety of your business. The search makes sure that no one else is using your name or mark. Finding out this information is extremely important because you don’t want to spend your hard-earned money on a logo design, thousands of dollars on corporate identity packages and signage, only to find out that some other business has the same business name and similar logo design and that they had it first, forcing you to spend more time and money re-designing and re-implementing your logo. Some companies spend over a million dollars a year just defending their trademark, so research is important.


• Design - The designers will sit down and go over all the information they have accumulated from the meetings and research, and start to come up with ideas. Designers don’t just start picking typefaces and drawing illustrations with no direction or purpose. A good designer will have a good reason for every part of a logo design. Designers are problem solvers and should provide several different designs for you to look at.


• Client input - After providing you with several designs, the designer will ask for your input. He or she will find out what you like and don’t like about the logo designs presented. This is a process that will help fine-tune the design and provide you with the logo that fits your business best.


• Final artwork - After all the research and meetings, it all comes down to the implementation of the final logo design. It is uniquely yours and will be tailored to your business.

Once you have a good logo design in place, it will make the branding and marketing of your business much more effective.

Logo designs are not inexpensive. A good logo design takes time. With the proper research and input from the client, the logo design will be some of the best money you spend. If you want to know how good logo design instantly identifies your business, think of these business names and see what pops into your head when you read them. McDonald’s™, Dodge™, HR Block™, Starbucks™, Best Buy™. These are the types of identifiable logo designs that are well thought out, researched, implemented, and effective, and none of these companies cut costs on their corporate identity design, and spend a lot of money pursuing people who infringe on their identity.

Finally, a good, extensively researched and designed logo supports your brand and makes your company immediately identifiable to your customers and potential customers. It also makes more effective implementation of all marketing materials. A well designed, professional logo is the public face of your business. It represents your company in all aspects of your daily business; the design should be solid, researched, immediately identifiable and knock their socks off!

© 2009 Michael Burke