A 2011 survey ranking the top 100 brands as selected by US consumers conveys the top attributes of those brands that ranked highest.
They each:
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The Philadelphia Phillies pack the stadium consistently with 45,000 fans and are watched by many more on national syndication. Am I the only one concerned with their visual brand?
Brand Keys, a marketing and research firm, gave the title of “team with the most loyal fans” to the Philadelphia Phillies in their 2011 Brand Keys Sports Loyalty Engagement Index. This index is based on 4 factors: Pure Entertainment, Authenticity, Fan Bonding, and History and Tradition.
So their brand is strong and that is important.
Their visual brand is not. Everybody plays with the Phillies logo, colors and uniform designs.
The inconsistent colors, typefaces and many designs all contribute to visual brand confusion. Typography has nearly as much to do with the identity of the team as the logo itself. But it seems the team has no control over the use of their visual brand elements. Most sports memorabilia vendors take liberties with the designs. Although you can get usage of the official custom typeface from the Phillies website, most opt for a less expensive route.
The team plays in many uniform sets in a multitude of style and color variations. It’s phashion week at the phillies … every week. Why is there no control over the teams visual brand consistency?
But it seems the Philadelphia Phillies do have one consistent element that gains instant recognition everywhere … the logotype. It uses its own custom-designed typeface called scriptwurst which has the a fun feeling – just right for a baseball team. Its colors and stars, craftily used as the dots over the “i”, honor not only its historic city, but the all-star spirit of the team and its brand-loyal fans.
An informative image is not only well designed; it captures both the feeling of the content and facilitates an understanding of it. You can increase a message’s impact, capture attention and create something memorable through visually communicating by using these 3 simples imagery techniques.
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Designers make specific considerations for effective visual communication. It is not only an art, but a science.
What is the ‘above the fold’ concept?
The most eye-catching story or image in a newspaper lies on the most visible part of the paper when it is folded in half and set on a newstand. The obvious goal… to pull in readers quickly and get them to buy. Today, we also call this the ‘virtual fold’.
Where is the ‘virtual fold’?
This depends on:
• how a user is browsing the web;
• the physical size of the users screen;
• the resolution the users screen is set to;
• what device the user is viewing on.
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How do we get your customers to pay attention to your message?
As designers, we strive to lead viewers attention through your important communications by using …
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Physiological/subliminal: how our bodies reflexively respond to color; our subliminal associations of color based on our first interactions with color in nature reside in our collective unconscious.
Cultural: the conventions of color usage throughout time in specific cultures.
And
Marketing context: i.e., green in “warm beverages” means decaf … or in sodas it can be a flavor cue for lemon-lime.
Red is the most extroverted color in the spectrum, representing vitality, life and energy.
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I just finished reading Delivering Happiness by Tony Hseith, CEO, Zappos.com, Inc.
This IS a business book.
The first half of the book is a great story on who Tony is and how Zappos came to be. His genius is awe-inspiring and to be greatly admired. At such a young age, he offers many life-living nuggets which makes it not only a business book, but a life skills book as well.
But, most importantly, this book is about branding. Yes. It is about delivering happiness – through your company brand AND through living your life.
The book has a number of levels and many revelations. The author speaks of building a Tribe. He realized that he felt the happiest when he was in his “Tribe” where he gets a sense of love and belonging. Once he realized that Tribes are key, his intent became to build a Tribe with Zappos. Building a tribe (or a culture) is building a brand. Brand advocates are those who work there and those who buy there. They all become one “Zappos people” with the unified goal of delivering happiness to everyone. They all become brand ambassadors within the organization and in the outside world.
Branding is no longer a marketing or a PR function, but a natural organic process which grows from the culture. Amazing! Inside and outside of the business: Live it. Be it. Think it. A unified goal. The author has become a master at how and why we humans do what we do, which is key to building a brand that humans embrace.
Zappos is one of those companys that we should model for brand building behavior.
The author says, “It is really important to have core values that can be committed to. And if you’re willing to hire and fire based on them, you’re well on your way to building a company culture that is in line with the brand you want to build.”
JCPenney’s recently launched new logo uses the lowercase letters “jcp” inside their signature box.
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As a general rule, it doesn’t matter who your target audience is, everyone responds to bright colors.
A common myth: Green is a great color for financial services because it implies money and red is not because it implies “being in the red”.
The best contrast color combination for readability in advertising was discovered long ago by Western Union in the heyday of the telegraph and telegram–black letters on a yellow background.
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Designers use symmetry, color, value, shape and position to balance and neatly order objects.
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