Branding and Design
Sarah Larsen
Textile Design
Definition of Branding
A brand is a name, symbol, or design that is used to identify and differentiate a product, service, or business among it's competition.
A brand is also how the company is perceived by its customers, it is a promise they make telling them what they can expect from its products and services and it how a company differentiates it's products from their competitors. "The logo and name may be a big part of building a brand, but its a company's reputation that is really at the heart of any brand. To keep a good reputation as part of the company's brand, offering good customer service and staying in communication with customers is key" (M, J, McCoy).
“A brand is the proprietary visual, emotional, rational and cultural image that you associate with a company or product.” (Charles, R Pettis Iii, Brand Solutions).
Example of brand names and logos.
History
We tend to think of branding as a fairly recent phenomenon. But in actual fact branding goes back thousands of years. The earliest evidence archaeologists have found as to when branding began dates back to 1300BC. They found evidence of potter’s marks being used on pottery and porcelain in China, Greece, Rome and India. Also branding of cattle and livestock dates back to as far as 2000BC. The word brand originally comes from the word “brandr,” meaning ‘to burn.’ The cattle were marked by a hot iron on their hind to declare ownership. But over time branding of cattle became not just a mark of ownership but also of quality. Buyers began to recognise the quality of beef through the brand mark on the meat. In the 1200’s gold- and silversmiths were required by England to hallmark their goods, similarly bakers marks for bread and watermarks for paper makers.
During the 1600’s and 1800’s branding was also used for criminals. In England they branded an S on a person’s cheek, while in France they branded a fleur de lis on their shoulder. This was done as a form of punishment and identification.
Image of branding iron
More recently branding started to change dramatically. With the turn of the century and the start of the Industrial Revolution manufactures found it important to create names and designs to identify their products and differentiate them from their competitors.
Quaker Oats, Coca-Cola and Kellogg’s were among the first to brand their products to increase the element of familiarity with the consumer. From there, with the help of advertising, manufacturers quickly learned to associate other kinds of brand values, such as youthfulness, fun, or luxury with their products. Around the 1900s James Walter Thompson, a pioneer in many methods of advertising published a house ad explaining trademark advertising. This was an early commercial explanation of what we know as branding. The ultimate achievement for a brand is to become recognisable worldwide and be known not by the name of the company but just by the logo alone.
“A product is something made in a factory; a brand is something that is bought by the customer. A product can be copied by a competitor; a brand is unique. A product can be quickly outdated; a successful brand is timeless.” (King, S)
Branding & Design
Branding is one of the most vital aspects of business, and without design it would be impossible. A brand is a symbol; it is the face of the company so it is very important that it is designed correctly. Symbols are designs which represent something else, and a brand is meant to incorporate all of these associations, experiences and characteristics into one image, phrase, or logo. A good example of this is Apple. As Marketer Marc Gobe, author of Emotional Branding and principal of d/g worldwide said Apple's brand is the key to its survival. It's got nothing to do with innovative products like the iMac or the iPod. "Without the brand, Apple would be dead. Absolutely. Completely. The brand is all they've got. The power of their branding is all that keeps them alive. It's got nothing to do with products."This quote shows the importance of the brand image as a whole and not just a product you are trying to sell. In our day and age we are familiar with brand names such as McDonalds, Nike and Coca-Cola and hundreds of others that occupy a specific little niche in our brain. Each of these brands represents a specific product or service we think about. For example when we think about McDonald's we automatically think of cheap, fast food.
When designing a brand the company will take into careful consideration many factors. One of the key aspects is whether or not they choose to use a slogan. A slogan is very important as it can make or break a brand. Companies like McDonald's and Nike spend years conducting research and millions of pounds on advertisement campaigns like "Im lovin it", or "Just Do It" (Nike). They don't do it to make their company brand look good or because it's fun, they do it because that slogan will get you to change your behaviour and buy their product. Research has shown that branding and advertising in this way can be linked to Neuro-Linguistic Programming.
Neuro-Linguistic Programming or (NLP) as it is more commonly known is a controversial approach to psychotherapy and organisational change based on "a model of interpersonal communication chiefly concerned with the relationship between successful patterns of behaviour and the subjective experiences (esp. patterns of thought) underlying them" and "a system of alternative therapy based on this which seeks to educate people in self-awareness and effective communication, and to change their patterns of mental and emotional behaviour". (NLP)
By these companies flashing these slogans over and over again on television adverts, in magazines, newspapers and billboards they are cleverly managing to subconciously imprint these images in our brain. So for instance if I went to go and buy a pair of trainers I would immediately think of brands such as Adidas or Nike as I am familiar with them. Brands have such a large input in our lives, they shape who we are whether we like it or not.
Another crucial factor in designing a brand is the choice of colour palette. The colour is not just there to look pretty, colour stimulates various emotions and carries with it subconscious associations to various things and characteristics. A great example of this is the Coca-Cola Christmas Campaign. Most people can agree on what Santa Claus looks like- jolly, with a red suit and a white beard. But he did not always look that way, Coca-Cola has created the iconic image that we all know and love today.
Coca-Cola created an iconic image of Santa Claus through clever advertising.
The Coca-Cola Company began its Christmas advertising in the 1920s with shopping related ads in magazines like The Saturday Evening Post. At this time, many people thought of Coca-Cola as a drink only for warm weather. However they started this campaign to remind people that it was a great drink for any month. This began with the 1922 slogan “Thirst Knows No Season” and continued with a campaign connecting a true icon of winter with the drink. This shows how powerful an advertising campaign can be and how much branding and design influences our day to day lives. They have therefore succeeded in creating an emotional attachment between their brand and the consumer.
In conclusion designers are the driving force behind any successful brand and without them the world would not be as we know it today. A brand is a promise to its customers. It tells them what they can expect from its products and services, and it differentiates its products from their competitors.
Bibliography
Apple it's all about the Brand. M, Gobe [online] Available at: http://www.wired.com
Branding Strategy. [online] Available at: http://www.brandingstrategyinsider.com
Brand Soloutions. Charles, R Pettis Iii. [online] Available at: http://www.allaboutbranding.com
http://www.thecoca-colacompany.com/heritage/cokelore_santa.html
History of Advertising Trust. J, Walter Thompson. [online] Available at: http://www.hatads.org.uk
How Important is Brand Marketing. M, J, McCoy [online] Available at: http://ezinearticles.com/?How-Important-is-Brand-Marketing?&id=3955067
Neuro-Linguistic Programming. [online] Available at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neuro-linguistic_programming
