Brand Identity Development

 A few months back I wrote a post Keep It Personal and the value of personalization and how it can improve the impact of electronic or direct mail marketing. In addition to creating stronger brand identity in the market, it brings life and emotion to your people and your brand message.

I encountered an example of how powerful personalization can be in my personal life this week.

I have sponsored a child through World Vision for about 8 years. When I was single and most of my money was discretionary, it made me feel good about myself that $30/ month was being sent to a small country in Africa to help a young boy named Omar get food, clean water and access to medical care.

I was literally talking to my husband a few weeks back questioning whether Omar was actually receiving the stuff I was sending him when I received this in the mail:



If you look closely, the picture in Omar's left hand is a Christmas picture of my husband and me about 3 years ago and the picture in his right hand is a picture of our family from last year.





This is a picture of the full piece I received from World Vision on Omar. The part on the left is a brief bio of what is going on in his life and the picture of him in the center holding the pictures of us.

This had such a profound impact on me. Never will I meet Omar face-to-face, but the fact that he knows what I look like, that he's kept pictures of me, my husband and daughter for years - made me realize how important my $30/mo was in his life. This experience made me feel like I had a relationship with Omar even though we will never communicate electronically or in person.

How can you bring your brand to life and make a human, emotional connection with your clients or prospects? I'm thinking about the same things for my business. 

I can tell you that it starts with being clear about your brand. Who you are and what you stand for. If you're looking for ways to clarify your brand or ideas on how to personalize your marketing tactics - visit Element Three's website to learn more.

Yesterday was a bittersweet day. We said goodbye to four summer interns; students studying visual communications at the Herron School of Art and Design.  This was Element Three's first foray into hiring a larger group of interns, and I have to say it was a very positive experience.

Each student brought a unique skill set. To enhance the internship experience, our goal was to provide each with a project that would develop a personal area of interest in the design and communications realm. We fully immersed them in the day-to-day life of a marketing communications firm. Whether it was brand identity development, brand research, new package design, or developing an iPad video, this group rose to the challenge.

Three months blew by, and I think we all grew from the experience. The opportunity to bring fresh energy and talent to the mix made our office buzz.  We know several of our clients had the opportunity to interact with some of our interns. A double bonus for all involved.

The experience fueled our drive to provide opportunities for design talent to grow and develop. This year's group, Andrea, Alice, Joel, and Ceverly head back to the classroom on August 23rd. We wish them every success. And, we look forward to repeating the experience with a new group next summer.

 I just spent a week on vacation in Montreal and Quebec City. Both are mainly French speaking, with English as a second language as well as any number of other European, Asian and African languages. Upon our return in the U.S., I was relieved to be back in a place where English was the default. But I also missed a few things.

In Canada, everything you buy seems to get about 25% added to the price in taxes. Knowing that Canadians get free government health care, though, made this more palatable for me. I left wishing we would be willing to do the same here in the states.

Another difference: infinitely clean streets, with constant sweeping by public servants and use of trash containers by all. I could only imagine there must have been a huge fine for littering...or else Canadians are just very compliant. (The same goes for jaywalking, by the way...it just doesn't happen. And NOBODY crosses the street unless the light is green, even if no one is coming.)

More enthusiastically interesting design, both in architecture and graphics. The advertising, product design, brochures, posters, interiors and buildings we experienced and saw seemed to have a pervasive sense of clarity, fun, colorfulness and simplicity. Overall, the brand communications didn't seem to take themselves as seriously, making for more brand likability. In other words, these Canuck brands made me smile. So I guess I tended to like them more.

After visiting Montreal's ultra modern convention hall with colored glass walls and a forest of pink plastic tree trunks in the lobby, you just can't help but smile. How can you make your brand communications, your brand identity, and the experience of your brand just a bit friendlier?

 Indicators at Element Three are that pent up demand for brand identity development, brand positioning strategy, strategic marketing planning, design and advertising creative services are on the upswing. We're hopeful that this is a sign that business is finally picking up and markets are recovering from this long, hard time in our economy.

Businesses that continue to invest in their brand and marketing outreach in tough times are the ones that historically recover more quickly and build their businesses long term.

We'd like to hear from you. Have you been experiencing upward trends in your business?

Recently, I was searching online for visual inspiration and I came across this amazing collection of advertising concepts. As an Indianapolis ad agency, we often have opportunities to work with our clients to develop brand identity and other brand communications. But nothing comes close to the hilarity of these sorts of purely visual images. 

Pure inspiration! Enjoy.

It was a fun day today at Element Three. One of those days that makes me excited to be an Indianapolis Marketing Firm where we get to develop brands, marketing strategies and engaging creative for our clients.

We are blessed to have an incredibly talented group of interns that are joining us for the summer from Herron School of Art and Design. Alice Reiter, Ceverly Strand, Andrea Haydon and Joel Wittman are working with us on various creative marketing efforts both for Element Three and the clients we serve.

Below are some pictures of our interns in action. Element Three has been asked by a client to create a name for their new product line and they have also engaged our logo creation services to develop a full brand identity. Once it's developed, we'll be sure to post the name and logo for you to see.

Here we are in a brainstorming session centered around developing a name for the product. Armed with a brand brief, markers, post-it notes and lots of candy - we got to work.


Jamie Cousins and I hard at work!


Jamie, Andrea, Alice, Joel and Ceverly talking through various options for the client.


   
Tools of the trade!                                                                    Alice giving us instruction.

Recently, I asked some young designers with whom I was working to re-name a brand and go through the brand identity development process for one of our clients. The first things out of their mouths were, "Hey, let's use the initial letters of the current name and create an acronym. You know what I'm talking about. We're deluged by these things everywhere. The ACLU. AT&T. PDF. LSAT. DWI. IOU. CYA, AARP, BYOB, WWW, MRI, TWA, RCA, ITT, ICBM, IV, ID, JPG. You get the picture. We all have so many of these alphabetical shortcuts stored in our brains already. Wouldn't you like to have just one more for my organization's name? OK, I have to admit that internally, we call Element Three "E3".

If you are in the midst of naming or re-naming your organization, beware the overused Acronym World. It's easy to get sucked in and lost in the mix.

Recently, Republic Airlines' CEO Brian Bedford, in a web meeting, told Republic employees that he would not yet announce a decision on the future of the Frontier and Midwest names (after Republic recently took over Midwest). This story made me smile.

I worked at a 300-person advertising agency in Detroit in the early '90s. Every year, all 300 employees were invited to a meeting during which our CEO would announce who had purchased our network that year. Lining the walls of the large conference room, we would all notice the stacked boxes. We knew what was in them. Invariably, they were full of mugs bearing the logotype of whatever it was our company would now be called. Employees who had a long history with the company would laughingly show off their shelves bearing each year's logotype mug.

What's my point? Just that, in spite of the fact that businesses may go through a number of organizational structures and owners, it can be confusing to an organization's employees and destructive to its brand identity to constantly make name changes. So if your brand communications are in the throes of change due to recent buyout, takeover or other transformation, be thoughtful as you create your next new logotype mug.

At Element Three, we often work with mid-size organizations to help them develop their brand create and implement marketing strategy and develop creative brand communications. Sometimes, our clients are new to these processes or to working with an Indianapolis marketing firm. Often, moving through the creative process is the most challenging part for those who are new to working with an outside creative resource.

To make things easy, we take a step-by-step approach. Once the key differentiators of the brand are identified, we create a series of potential brand boards that show how your brand might look and sound in type, copy, image and color. Once a directional board is chosen for the brand, everyone feels more confident as we develop brand identity. Next, for instance, many Indianapolis marketing firms may jump right to tight, comprehensive layouts to show creative concepts. We prefer to show several rough sketches so that the client has an early chance to give feedback. Once a rough sketch is selected and feedback is given, the entire team has a plan of attack agreed upon before moving into a tighter executional stage.

Checkpoints are good because they offer a chance for communication and clarity for the marketing partner and for the client. They also make for great creative executions.

Today in Adage, they published an article entitled: Ten Signs the Worst of 2009 is Behind Us... and 10 Reasons to Remain Worried about 2010.

So which is it?

Truth is, none of us know for sure.

I encourage you to read the article in its entirety, but a couple of macro themes stuck out to me.

1) Consumer confidence remains low. Until people are certain their jobs are not going to go away and they become certain they are not going to need to support additional family members or friends - people are going to do without and pull back on discretionary spending.

2) The available housing inventory is decreasing as a result of the 'first time home buyer' tax credit and crazy low interest rates - but whether or not we can continue to outpace the number of foreclosures and defaults coming into the market has yet to be seen.

3) Ad spending is down for what could be the third consecutive decline, unprecedented since the Depression. People are certainly consuming less, but they are also becoming more focused in their spending. At our marketing firm in Indianapolis, Element Three, we have encouraged our clients to spend less building general awareness (these would be ad dollars) and shift that spend towards client retention, penetration and creating brand awareness in target markets. This is a time when companies should become more focused in the products they offer and the customers they service.

What are steps your company is taking to become more focused in their marketing efforts in this economic period?

I teach at Herron School of Art and Design in the Visual Communication Program. As well as teaching student designers how to be create great brand communications, we also have classes that focus on the creative problem solving process or what we call 'design thinking'. The idea is that there are many ways to use the creative process. Some of them end up with tangible designed objects or artifacts like brand identity, advertising, or other design outcomes. But other problems may not necessarily lead to the creation of brand communications. They may lead to a new process, a new product idea, a new organization, a new system or concept. Innovation, a highly prized possession in corporate America, doesn't happen automatically. So if you have a problem in your organization, your marketing or your process that you'd like to have us address in an innovative way, let us employ design thinking on your behalf...and with you as an active participant. E-mail Tiffany at tiffany@discoverelementthree.com to learn more.

Your logo and tag line are two of the strongest visual identity elements that link your brand to its intended audience, so it's important that they are used consistently in every communication's touch point.

When Element Three works with clients to develop their corporate identities, one of the final deliverables includes usage guidelines. This document is an important corporate manual that guides placement and usage of your identifying marks. The manual addresses:

• Clear space around the logo: identity should always be surrounded by a generous field of clear space to ensure legibility and impact.
• Primary color palette: defines PMS colors, CMYK values, video RGB values, and Hex values for the primary colors that make up the visual identity elements.
• Secondary color palette: defines use of supporting colors for additional applications, i.e. presentations, charts, graphs etc.
• Typography: defines typeface (fonts), size recommendations,  and typeface alternatives based when variations are necessary.
• Identity variations: defines the various use applications when placing your identity elements into different types of deliverables.  Think of this as the how-to place in various mediums.  
• Identity misuse: provides visual representation of the "do-nots" in using identity elements.

Consistent use is one of the ways you can reinforce your company's image in the marketplace, which in turn, creates better awareness of your brand. The manual helps to guide the disciplined use of the identity elements to ensure the visual expression of your brand is executed properly.    



 

In admitting that the business of custom photography wasn't what it used to be, a dear photographer friend of mine once wisely remarked, "Had I known the 90's would be the peak of the profession, I may have tried to enjoy it more..."

Sadly, I'm feeling the same for the design profession. While there will always be the need for quality designers (strategic and otherwise!), there certainly are signs everywhere I look signaling the profession is in trouble.

iStock's recent announcement (discussion: here, here and here) that they will soon be providing logos for companies will certainly not have an immediate impact on strategic graphic designers or brand development firms. The businesses and individuals who currently will hire firms like Element Three to do strategic brand assessments and identity development clearly value the business and strategic approach needed to successfully deploy any corporate brand initiative. In short, they aren't in the market for a $200 (or less) logo.

Yet, in the back of my mind, I can't get the thought of "good enough" out of my head. There are countless individuals, small businesses – and sadly, some not-so-small businesses - that possess a do it yourself, cheap is better mentality to all aspects of business. And, frankly, that's not a good long-term success strategy. 

The question I ask is at what point in the business cycle does good enough suddenly become not good enough?

 

We use Compendium for our blogging partner. Of course, the purpose of (most) blogs is to let people know a little bit about the "real" you, whether an individual or company. In many instances, the way bloggers are found is through online search for a particular subject or item. For instance, maybe you're a fan of the "Arizona Cardinals" (hey, why not?) or "Native Americans living in Cleveland", or "talentless unemployed actors" (to save time, one could also type in "Carrot Top").

On to my point: when writing in Compendium, they provide targeted keywords, which help the bloggers (moi) keep on track. The more keywords used, the stronger the post. In true 21st century coolness, there's even a keyword strength indicator, where red means "Steve, stop writing about the Arizona Cardinals" and green indicates "you're the best blogger, ever."

Today, I'm going for the green. This will be the strongest, keyword-heaviest, blog post. Ever... So, if you were looking for any (or all) of the following, sit back and enjoy (alpha order for your viewing pleasure):

Best Marketing Plans, Brand Chemistry, Brand Communication, Brand Consulting Companies, Brand Consulting Group, Brand Development Services, Brand Development Strategies, Brand Identity Development, Brand Marketing Consultants, Brand Positioning Strategy, Brand Strategy Agency, Brand Strategy Company, Brand Strategy Consultants, Brand Strategy Firm, Branding Consultancy, Business Communications Indianapolis, Business Logo Creation, Certified Brand Strategist, Corporate Brand Strategy, Creative Brand Development, Develop Brand Identity, Developing Brand Strategy, Indianapolis Ad Agency, Indianapolis Advertising Marketing, Indianapolis Brand Consultants, Indianapolis Brand Development, Indianapolis Brand Management, Indianapolis Brand Marketing, Indianapolis Business Marketing, Indianapolis Corporate Branding, Indianapolis Marketing Agency, Indianapolis Marketing Communications, Indianapolis Marketing Consultants, Indianapolis Marketing Firms, Indianapolis Marketing Plans, Indianapolis Marketing Strategy, Indianapolis Marketing Tools, Indianapolis Strategic Marketing, Logo Creation Services, Marketing Brand Development, Marketing Integration, Marketing Launch Strategy, Midwest Marketing Partner, Online Brand Strategy, Return on Marketing Investment, Strategic Brand Consulting, Strategic Brand Development, Strategic Marketing Planning, Successful Marketing Plans

There. I've officially made Code Green with the strongest blog post, ever! Call Element Three today if any of that interests you. Or, if you'd rather talk NFL football (especially the Arizona Cardinals) or wish to debate who the best hair metal bands from the eighties are, I'm ready.

It's easiest for us to think about brand touchpoints like logos, stationery, advertising, brochures and Web sites. These are the controllable things. Many organizations do a great job developing brand identity. And their brand consulting groups typically advise them (as we do) to create a set of foundational rules for the use of these tools so that they are used consistently.

Yet the most influential and memorable brand touchpoints of all is your people.

A recent airport experience highlighted this for me. I arrived at the gate of a well known airline that touts its friendliness and warmth. My colleague and I came up to the gate agent with our boarding passes. She said, "What do you want?", in a less than warm and friendly way. Taken aback, we said we wanted to check into the flight. She said, "Sit down. I'm not ready for you yet." in a brusque voice, thus undoing all the brand's communications to date.

In summary, make sure you train your people in the way you want your brand to be delivered so that what you SAY aligns with what you DO.

For a recent brand positioning project, the Element Three team was asked to clariify the structure of the brand. If you haven't heard of brand structure, it is not the same as your org chart. Brand structure determines how your brand faces the outside world. Do you lead with your overall brand name or with your products? Do you divide you messages by product line or by work process? Typically, these decisions are based on the place from which your brand derives its equity.

For instance, General Motors, leads with Chevrolet, Cadillac and its other product lines. The GM brand backs up the product lines but the product lines themselves drive equity to GM. GM adds a level of comfort to those product lines. So too is Proctor & Gamble a product-driven brand structure. These mega corporations can afford to market multiple brands unlike most organizations. Each brand you send to market represents a substantial investment in marketing costs to create awareness, credibility and intent to purchase.

Our brand consulting group can work with your organization to help you understand your brand's structure before you launch into marketing strategy, brand identity development or other strategic marketing investments. This assures that you are spending your marketing dollars in the right way by facing the market most advantageously.

As part of an Indianapolis marketing, design and brand consulting group and as a teacher at Herron School of Art and Design, I hear common themes about where design is going. Many designers have come to be known for technical skills (lovingly referred to in the industry as Mac Jockeys). Because graphics software is available to everyone, the ability to manipulate pixels alone is not enough any more. The design profession, if it is going to survive, must also add business value, something we regard highly at Element Three.

Here are just a few ways our design thinkers can add value to your business, your brand, your marketing, your brand communications:

Our Brand Chemistry Process:


Element Three Brainstorm Facilitation: using a seasoned facilitator from outside brings fresh perspective, the ability to keep the group on track and a wealth of innovative ideas to infect your operations, your marketing, your sales or your process or product development

Recently, a .jpg was making all the rounds via email and blogspots that showcased how the Pepsi brand identity/logotype has constantly evolved  while that of rival Coca-Cola had remained unchanged.

The reality is that both Pepsi and Coke have evolved over time, which should come as no surprise to anyone who understands the differences between advertising in the 1880's and marketing today.

For a glimpse into the Coca-Cola trademark evolution, click here. For the real Pepsi story, click here. Special thanks to the always-informative blog underconsideration for uncovering the truth behind these iconic cola brands.