I’ve heard this so many times, normally from a client, normally when we’re talking to them about the effort needed to bring their brand to life. It’s a simple response that gives them a simple out: We don’t have the monumental time or budget of the uber-brands, It’s ok to give branding lip service, to allocate to as after thought, part of sales and marketing, We need to focus on business not brand.

The problem is you can’t separate the business and the brand, they’re as separable as the mind and the personality. To prove my point I have an example from one of the greatest brands ever.

Well, here’s a great example that responds to that kind of thinking. IBM, truly one of the first uber-brands, has made it to 100 years. They’ve probably spent a hell of a lot more than a hundred million on the IBM brand. But I’d argue that while time and budget certainly help build a brand, bring it life if you will, they are not the most important element. What is? The realisation of the idea.

The idea can go by many different names, we, for example, call it the brand essence. It can be called a mission or sometimes a vision. But it is essentially the same thing, an overarching thought that ties everything together: The reason your in business; the products you make; the way you market them; you relationship with you audience; customers and community; everything you do.

Now if your true to this idea it will guide, your mantra, your call to action. For IBM their idea is to THINK. They believe that all the worlds problems of the world can be solved if only people are willing to Think. Think about solutions. Think and then keep thinking. It’s my theory that it is adherence to this mantra, to acting on it in every-way that has made the brand what it is today. So where’s the evidence? Well I mentioned IBM celebrated it’s centenary this year and as part of the celebration they commissioned some short films to show how clever they’ve been. Watch these movies and consider how many of the examples are driven by taking thinking to the next level.

The First is called 100×100

Click here to view the embedded video.

The second, They Were There

Click here to view the embedded video.

If you’d like to find your brands idea, essence, vision, dream, whatever you want to call it, why not give us a call.
Remember, good design is good business.

Derek Carroll
Director of Design

Billboard Brand Design Genius
The thing that always strikes me about billboards as a medium for brand communications is how limited they are. They provide a relatively small brand canvas relative to the busy world around them, typically they have a small window of opportunity to connect with the passer-by, and a relative trickle of viewers compared to many of the traditional and new channels of brand communication. Yet, time and again, billboards bring-out the creative streak in brand designers and ad creatives. Maybe it’s the challenges the restrictions of outdoor provide; but as this great collection of creative outdoor brand experiences demonstrate, with a burst of creativity and a strong brand story to tell, every medium can shine.

Sure, some of these billboard designs are for big brands, but some are for smaller businesses for whom the investment of a high impact, localized brand message provides a great impact with the potential to launch them above their competitors in the minds of their potential customers.

Click here to view the embedded video.

If you’d like to take your brand communications (indoor, outdoor, above the line, through the line, in the box or out of the box) to the next level, give us a call - you know you want to.

Dave Ansett, Brandamentalist
For monthly updates of our thinking, click here to receive our free Brand Newsletter
Brand Designer and Billboard Spotter

Spotted by fellow member of the Linkedin Brand Management Group; Will Sherwood from the Sherwood Group in the US of A.

Today it’s more critical than ever for businesses to differentiate themselves from their competitors and make memorable connections with their audience by creating unique, recognisable brands.

Colour in Brand Design
Every touch point of a brand plays a vital role in brand recall, but the brand mark is the heart and soul of a brand’s image. Whilst it’s the interplay between colour, typeface, and symbol that creates a brand mark, colour is registered by the brain before either images or typography. A University of Loyola, Maryland study recently found the correct use of colour could increase brand recognition by up to 80%.

Standing out from the crowd
As awareness of branding grows and more businesses invest in their brand’s identity, colour is becoming more important for companies looking to differentiate themselves visually. Consider the success of Heinz Green ketchup. In the first seven months following its introduction more than 10 million bottles were sold. The result was the highest sales increase in the brand’s history, all because of a simple color change. Apple introduced colourful iMacs into a marketplace where colour had not been seen before. The Apple brand was the first to say, “It doesn’t have to be beige”. The iMacs reinvigorated a brand that had suffered $1.8 billion of losses in two years.

A World of Colour
Colour also provides communication cues for brand attributes such as traditional or cutting edge, calm or excited, as well as cultural cues, cues about environmental credibility, cues about political affiliations and a plethora of other meanings. In the world of brand design, choice and use of colour provides the potential for a wealth of carefully crafted and powerfully communicated messages about your brand.

Recognisable Brands Test
Most of the most recognisable brands in the world rely on colour as a key factor in their instant recognition. Below are snapshots of twenty of the world’s most recognisable brand marks cropped to show a clear representation of their brand colours, but only a fraction of their logotype of symbol. Test yourself to see how many of the brands you can identify with colour being the primary visual driver.

The answers
01. Heineken
02. adidas
03. Toyota
04. British Airways
05. BP
06. Google
07. BMW
08. Vodafone
09. Ford
10. McDonald’s
11. Coca Cola
12. Olympic Games
13. Microsoft
14. IBM
15. Nike
16. Pepsi
17. GE
18. Qantas
19. Nokia
20. Virgin

So how’d you go?
18 or more correct: You’re brand obsessed (you’d fit in well around here)
15-17 correct: You’re pretty brand aware (and probably addicted to TV)
10-14 correct: Observation skills are not your strength – likely to leave home wearing different coloured socks
9 or less correct: You’re suffering brand avoidance – might be worth getting checked-out for colour blindness

If you’d like to talk to some people who spend way too much of their life eating, sleeping, thinking about the role of colour in developing a highly recognisable and unforgettable brand identity give us a call.

Cassandra Gill, Design Director.