Ever wonder why some brands just stick with you? It’s not just a catchy jingle or a slick logo. It’s the whole package – what we call a brand identity system. Think of it as the soul of a brand, carefully crafted to resonate with people on a deeper level.
When designers set out to build this identity, they’re not just picking pretty colors or cool fonts. They’re diving into what consumers associate with a brand. What pops into your head when you see a particular visual cue? Is it the comforting familiarity of a certain packaging color, or the aspirational elegance of a symbol, like the iconic Centurion card from American Express, which speaks volumes about personal style?
Making a brand truly memorable often requires significant investment. Take advertising slogans, for instance. They’re expensive because they need constant repetition to burrow into our minds. It’s a delicate balance; sometimes, focusing heavily on a slogan might mean sacrificing other opportunities to build different consumer symbols.
This is where strategy comes into play. Some elements are core to the brand’s essence, like maintaining a consistent visual image. These are the strategic symbols. Others are more tactical, perhaps used for a temporary local campaign or to counter a specific competitor, without being permanently tied to the brand’s identity. The key is understanding the role of each symbol.
Before any symbol is finalized, designers ponder crucial questions: How will these elements be used in practice? What impact will they have on how consumers perceive, purchase, and ultimately, love the brand? The answers to these questions form the bedrock of a strong identity.
Evoking Brand Recall
Product packaging is often the first handshake a brand offers, yet it’s surprisingly easy to overlook. We’re moving away from an era where a single, creative advertising burst, especially on TV, was the go-to. Now, the emphasis is on the unity between various design elements and other promotional forms within the brand identity system.
When the success of a campaign hinges on superficial effects or mere brand name recognition, brand recall becomes far more critical than designers might initially realize. Market researchers often focus on 'precision' – the sheer volume of data and standardized analysis. But as brands expand to encompass multiple products, brand familiarity takes on subtler nuances that basic market survey questions can’t capture. Asking ‘What brand comes to mind when you think of X product?’ or ‘Which brand do you recognize from this list?’ only scratches the surface.
A truly effective way to spark brand recall is by linking the brand to everyday moments. In Malaysia, a simple phrase like 'Bath time is Lux time' directly connects the brand with a daily ritual. In a humid climate, this naturally evokes Lux’s core benefit: cleansing and beautifying. The brand manager successfully ensured that Lux is thought of during daily bathing, bypassing the need for a market researcher to suddenly appear and ask generic questions.
The Power of Global Style
Today’s communication channels offer fleeting glimpses of brands. Whether it’s a sponsor’s billboard at a football stadium, a logo on a player’s jersey, or a backdrop during an interview, these widely disseminated brand messages are often just scanned by consumers. Simple, iconic designs like the 'M' for McDonald's or 'Coke' for Coca-Cola make a powerful impact globally. Short, memorable names like Mars, Sony, or Lux also achieve this.
The consequence of this visual simplicity is that finding an unregistered, easily pronounceable, and unambiguous brand name across languages is incredibly challenging. A well-designed international brand stands out. Unlike local brands, world-class designs appear in world-class settings – think of the advertising hoardings around the Olympics. Being in proximity to other top-tier brands subtly transfers some of that positive association, something local brands can’t achieve.
Brands that appear in major global events are subconsciously differentiated from those that don’t. During the 1990 World Cup in Italy, the competition for stadium advertising was fierce. Some brands faltered with names too long or logos too complex for viewers to grasp in the limited time. Mars, however, with its four-letter name and distinctive red and gold logo against black, captured every camera angle, becoming a standout. It was a design worthy of global pride.
But it’s not just about global stages. Consider the daily commute or the shopper navigating a supermarket aisle – countless advertisements flash by. This constant exposure demands concise, impactful branding.
Personality and Presence
Would Marlboro be the global icon it is without its cowboy imagery? Or Lacoste without its distinctive crocodile? For a brand to be competitive and preferred by consumers, it needs an image that is both likable and universally accepted.
Distinctive designs, whether human or animal figures, enhance a brand’s competitiveness. They can imbue a brand with a sense of magic, like Amex’s Captain. They help brands become memorable in specific contexts, such as Johnnie Walker appearing during the Scotch whisky season. For children, appealing characters like Ronald McDonald or Disney’s animals draw in the whole family. Some characters even lend a unique voice, like Tony the Tiger’s “Gr-r-reat!” for Kellogg’s Frosties. Others embody a silent essence, like Esso’s Tiger, or blend fantasy with fashion, as seen with Lacoste’s crocodile.
The Art of Brand Extension
For companies that don’t see single-product brands as economical, brand extension presents a significant challenge. A poorly executed extension can have severe consequences.
When considering brand extension, there are two main paths. Option one is to immediately announce a new product. Option two involves examining if the existing brand identity symbols align with the new product. If they do, the advertising agency focuses on highlighting the consistent aspects of the brand’s character to help consumers understand the new offering. If not, a new design must be integrated into the brand identity system before promoting the new product.
The difference between these two options is often ‘all or nothing.’ Option two allows customers to understand your intentions and grasp the brand’s full essence. Option one can lead to confusion, diminishing understanding and ultimately weakening the connection between the brand and its products. Despite this, in the 90s, brand extension became a highly valued creative endeavor. Many companies, driven by a desire for quick new product gains or a lack of deep understanding of their brand identity systems, opted for option one. This trend, often linked to measurements of ‘proven’ brand value, unfortunately, led to many ill-conceived extensions.
The potential for any brand’s future growth largely depends on its creative composition. Specifically, it’s about how creatively the brand extension is communicated, helping consumers link the value of products and services with their perception of the brand.
Facilitating Communication
Looking at human language can offer clues for brand identity design. Brands imbue experiences with a language of quality and value. This language must be universally understood yet locally relevant, deeply imprinted in consumers’ minds through specific values, consistency, creativity, and visibility. Subtle design nuances or elements that trigger recall are essential. Just as new functions prompt us to choose words that best express ourselves, relatable designs can naturally bring certain brands to mind. And just as words have unique tones, some brands possess an irreplaceable charm.
A brand integrates image with reality. It’s like a holiday trip in the realm of human imagination, without the discomfort of being away from home. Many consumers welcome products that blend international trends with local characteristics. Local flavors remind us of our roots, while international trends broaden our horizons. Indeed, the unification of global lifestyles and ethnic cultural characteristics is seen as a major trend.
International brand design themes often tap into our desire for fantasy or fulfill our needs. Detailed discussions on brand practice should focus on these themes. Most impressive brand logos are, to some extent, interpretations of established norms from other brands or widely known entities. It’s unwise to position oneself in an unfamiliar territory; aligning symbols with consumer-accepted concepts is crucial.
Using locally distinctive designs within a global brand identity system offers immense flexibility. It also allows regional consumers to feel a sense of participation in improving the world, bringing them great joy. Many high-level brands and their structural identification logos embody this.
McDonald’s brand language, for instance, demonstrates a method for establishing a comprehensive, multi-faceted communication strategy that strengthens all the connections built by high-level companies and their flagship brands. Its multiple communication domains include: geographical reach (global and regional), consumer segmentation (from children to adults), consumption occasions (from breakfast to drive-thru snacks), and product categories (from burgers and nuggets to pancakes).
When building a recognizable brand structure, remember: each brand and sub-brand must have its essence, yet they should interpenetrate and coordinate. Each design should illustrate at least one specific use, whether for a single brand or shared by multiple. The collective power of the identification system within the brand structure should be greater than the sum of its individual parts. It’s precisely because of McDonald’s numerous consumer symbols that direct attacks from other brands are incredibly difficult. Is McDonald’s just fast food? A family entertainment center? A global gathering place or a temporary escape from life’s pressures?
Leading Brands
Hershey’s is a beloved chocolate company in the US, but less popular internationally than Mars. Leadership, economic scale, and global competitiveness are vital for success. You can’t afford to be second-rate. In this environment, Hershey’s has worked hard to dominate the US market. It built a special relationship with American families through its ‘Hugs’ and ‘Kisses’ brands. Key design elements include:
- The use of affectionate terms in naming confectionery, fostering family harmony.
- The small, affordable size of ‘Hugs’ and ‘Kisses,’ offering stylish, individually wrapped treats for a few coins.
- The complex production process for brand shapes, packaging materials, and product patterns (like the black and white swirl of ‘Kisses’) requires significant investment. This complexity deters imitation by other manufacturers or retailers. This high investment in production technology, considered part of the market strategy, becomes a low-input operation in the brand’s system, given the enduring appeal of ‘Hugs’ and ‘Kisses.’
As flagship brands within Hershey’s structure, ‘Hugs’ and ‘Kisses’ serve as an accessible entry point into the Hershey’s world for every generation. Each successful Hershey’s brand benefits from them, as they are all part of the larger Hershey’s family. These identities laid the groundwork for becoming international brands by conveying unique value propositions to customers.
Establishing Prestige
From Lacoste to Häagen-Dazs, a significant number of well-known brands have cultivated prestige through their design style or by becoming aspirational fashion icons, sowing the seeds of reputation long before investing heavily in large-scale market promotion. The following illustrates how Lacoste achieved this...
