Designing a brand is not an easy task, and there are some different points of view on how to do it. Nobody, however, can guarantee that following a specific series of steps is going to turn your efforts into a successful brand. We don’t mean that it is a random stroke of luck whether a brand design is good or not; what it means is that you need to do whatever you have to do to deliver a good result – even if it is not done the traditional way.
At Twelve12, we work side-by-side with very different sets of circumstances and clients, and this is why we want to share some of our thoughts as a top branding and marketing company.
The most traditional way to design a brand is to start with the company and work your way down to a product or a product line. You have to keep in mind that the objective of a brand is to become recognizable to the customers, and communicate with them at the same time.
Let me give you some examples:
Consider three major motor oil brands: Quaker State, Castrol and Mobile (there are more, but these three are very similar). All three of them have very different approaches to the same market.
- The Quaker State approach is a hard-working brand, solid and reliable, and they are also throwing in a little bit of “we care” when they focus the attention on their “green” bottle. This is usually a term that is related to eco-friendly products. They don’t claim this though! They only “play” with your brain to take you there.
- In the case of Castrol, they take you to a racing experience, where your oil will make your car “better; as their slogan says “it’s more than just oil, it’s liquid engineering”. You can see how they place themselves on the other side of the spectrum from Quaker State’s “just damn good oil” slogan.
- Now Mobile is not playing any games with the previous players. While they still focus their branding on “what the product does”, Mobile is appealing to your emotions with their “find your drive” and “performance comes from within” slogans. They know they are a solid, quality product with upstanding engineering, so they bring emotion and become part of your life experience.
Now, just by looking at these three brands, we can tell the type of audience each is trying to reach. Quaker State is going for an older audience, those looking for something they can trust as they don’t like too much change in their products. Castrol focuses more on those who are interested in high performance and innovation, even if they don’t have a car that matches this description. And Mobile is going for younger audiences, to become part of their lives and develop long-lasting relationships.
One type of product, 3 different types of brand design!
If you want to know more about how to develop your brand and you are looking for a flexible branding and marketing company, give us a call today, at Twelve12. We look forward to meeting you!