The Art of Brand – Part Two

by Marc Iannacone / eBrands

In a three part series, eBrands strategy development director Marc Iannacone discusses the art of branding.  Part Two looks at directly targeting our enemy – clutter!

To quickly recap from part one, we learned that:

a. People are very time poor.
b. It’s natural to have a short-attention span.
c. The simpler a concept is, the easier it is to remember.
d. The more relevant a concept is, the more likely you are to connect with it personally.

How much value should you put on developing a brand?  That’s difficult to answer as it depends on the context of your business, so let’s express it another way…

What would be the net benefit to your business if every person interacting with it perceived the brand correctly?

1. People remember you;
2. People come back for more; and
3. They develop a relationship with you, therefore having no problems telling your story to others.

The true art of branding lies within a person’s perception of your brand as a result of their interaction, or experience with your company. It is more than just how pretty your logo is – it is the evidence of your commitment to customers, your connection with your target market and its ability to identify you, and how you can make the company different in a competitive space.  It is in fact, your complete business personality.

This is where our ugly enemy CLUTTER reveals his hand.  This is where we need to ensure that your business personality is perceived how you really want it to be.  The simple steps I am going to outline are not going to solve your clutter problems overnight, but they will allow you to recognise problems that you might not have been aware of.  Try these three tests:

Test 1 - Your business name and your logo.
Without consulting any designer documentation, outline to yourself what your company logo represents, what the colours, graphic style and font mean.  Now arrange to show it to someone who does not know the company, and ask them to spend one minute (maximum) outlining what they think it all means.

Test 2 - A materials audit. 
Print out every single thing you have (including web site pages), find a wall in your office, stick it up on the wall.  Include merchandise, name badges, letterheads, business cards – the lot.  Check for visual consistency as well as consistency of language. Is the pattern of thought that has gone into the business reflected in the material?  Then, collect your closest competitor’s information and do the same. What do you discover? Is there something you, or they, are doing better? Is their thought pattern clearer than yours? Does the consistency tell a story?

Test 3 – Learn from history.
Ask a trusted client what the best thing is about their experience with you. Note what they say, and whether it actually matches the approach you are trying to foster.

It may take a little effort to do the tests, but from these three tests you can start to determine if your business personality is memorable, uncluttered and true to what you want for your company.

That’s the hard work is done! Join me for Part III, when we start working on the fun stuff: Developing an anti-clutter approach to an effective brand strategy.