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CHAPTER FIVE

Brand Identification

What is a Brand? - Many people associate a “brand” only with consumer products such as cereals, soft drinks, automobiles and candy bars. However, a brand should be viewed as the name identification of almost any business (profit or non-profit) that is trying to establish a meaningful identity for the organization. For example, the law firm of Zylie, Kylie & Minton has a “brand” that is its name, as much as the Red Cross or Coca Cola has a brand. It is essential that a new venture develop a name and logo that will stand for something positive in the minds of the target audience.

Elements of Brand Identification - Almost everyone in the developed world is familiar with the brand IBM, representing the International Business Machine Corporation. The IBM symbol is more than just the letters that stand for the name; it is the representation or identity of the brand, which the company has developed over many years of marketing. Not only do the three letters represent the brand, but it is the identity of the company. This “look” of the IBM letters has been developed because of thousands of dollars of research and artistic input.

There are several elements of brand identification that we will be discussing in this chapter. Perhaps the most important message that could emerge from this discussion is the importance of consistency of presentation of the name in all-external communications. Every time the customer sees the name of your brand/company, regardless of the medium in which it is presented, the look and feel should be the same. Therefore, the exact same presentation of your name must appear on all internal and external communications, including at least business cards and stationery, advertising and promotion vehicles, trucks, buildings, etc.

Basic Principles of Name Selection - There are a few basic principles that will generally help in the name selection process for a small business. Specifically:

* Descriptive names tend to work better than non- descriptive. For example, “we drive your car” is a descriptive name for an agency that will take you to the airport in your own vehicle. This is a particularly good name because you know right away what business they are operating. This is different from a name like Xerox, which required millions of dollars in advertising before the public became aware that the name stood for a machine that created copies using a specific technology (xerography). The Xerox name is one that violates many different principles of naming relative to small business, as we will show below.

* Easy to pronounce names are generally much better than those, which require an explanation to pronounce. Sunkist and Gatorade are two brands that are very easy to pronounce, whereas Xerox and Linksys (routers for networking computer systems) are not.

* Easy to remember names also will work better for a small company that does not have the advertising budget to keep reminding the target customer that the brand exists. To this end, the iPad and iPhone clearly are two names that are very easy to pronounce and easy to remember.

* Short is better than long for names, is always a principle that a small business should follow. Some service companies feel they must include the names of all the principles rather than create a name that might mean something long term or at least be representative of the company. Clearly the IBM name does this very well.

* Has longevity is another principle of naming that many people do not understand. Essentially, it refers to the viability of this name over an extended period. This can be a particular problem that can be faced by service companies when the name of the business is the last name of the founder. While there are many cases when this worked (McKinsey & Co, Dell Computers & A.C. Nielsen) it took years and millions of dollars to establish these names as having equity in themselves, so the companies can have meaning beyond the life of the owner.

For a small company, it is best to have a name that stands for what the business does (i.e., Connecticut Consulting Group), so the future does not rely on the owners being present for it to have credibility. It also helps because clients don’t only want to see the “named” partners just because they are on the masthead.

The 5-7 Word “Slogan” - Even the best brand name probably does not describe exactly what the nature of a business is in such a way that it becomes obvious to the individual who is exposed to the name. For a large company such as Coca-Cola, Pepsi, Nike or IBM this is not necessarily a major problem, as they can afford to spend millions of dollars advertising and promoting their name so that it becomes a household word. Perhaps the Nike “check mark” is the perfect example of this.

However, for a small business, the concept of spending large amounts of money to explain what their name means is not realistic, thus making the 5-7-word slogan even more important. The objective of the 5-7-word slogan is to modify the name of the product or service, so that when someone sees the name they understand what the name stands for.

I recommend developing the 5-7-word statement and incorporating it into the name/logo of the company, so they are always seen together. Thus, the name and/or logo will eventually develop the image that is included in the statement.

Perhaps the best example of combining the name and logo is shown below in the example of BMW. You almost never see the BMW logo without seeing the tagline “The Ultimate Driving Machine”.

Developing a Branding Strategy - One of the first documents that should be created when a new company or brand is formed, is a branding strategy. Essentially, this outlines what the company seeks to communicate with its name in terms of the elements identified above, but also regarding such issues as the tone and look of the name when it is reproduced. For example, do you want a very contemporary name that looks modern but at the same time has the feeling of durability and stability, so it does not appear to be a flyby- night organization?

The naming strategy can be a simple as a one-paragraph description of what the organization is trying to communicate with its name. It is a vital document, as it will be the basis against which the ultimate name and other elements of the brand identification system should be measured against.

Logo Development - A logo is a graphic representation of the name of the company or the image that the entity wishes to communicate. In the case of IBM, the name and logo are one in the same, but for an organization such as McDonalds, clearly the logo is the golden arches. Some companies employ a completely different strategy than an IBM, McDonalds or Coke, in that all their products have different BRAND names, so the consumer identity is to the brand and not the company. Examples are Procter & Gamble, Lever Brothers or Ralston Purina. Most of their major brands have broad scale brand identity, but most people have no idea who the parent company is for the brands. Is a logo necessary? A logo is simply a shorthand way of communicating the name of a brand or company. There is no requirement to have a logo with a brand name, but most large and small companies find the logo to be a good way to reinforce the name and to communicate a message about the company. The important thing is that the logo work in conjunction with the name of the brand or company rather than be the dominant element.

* Characteristics of a Good Logo - The following are some characteristics of a good logo:

-Visually appealing

-Works synergistically with the name

-Easy to remember

-Clearly communicates the message intended

-Easily reproduced on the various external communications media anticipated to be used

-Works equally well in color and black and white printing

-Does not include cursive/script. This is because most people find that the visibility and readability of cursive is not nearly as good as with stand type fonts.

* How to Develop an Effective Logo - There are several options for developing a logo, each of which as advantages and disadvantages.

-Use of an independent designer or design company. In the United States, there are thousands of people who are graphic designers, many of whom are very talented. You can get excellent logos from these organizations/individuals, but they tend to be quite expensive relative to the other options available. Also, when you work with designers, you normally to get the inputs from only one person.

-Single-Input On-Line Companies. There are dozens if not hundreds of people who advertise on line to develop logos, often for extremely low prices (i.e., under $25-$50). As with the above, they can be effective IF you are lucky enough to get the right person who can develop a logo that meets your expectations.

-Crowd Sourcing Organizations. There also are some organizations that have a network of designers that develop websites, brochures, pamphlets and other similar materials. The organization I recommend very frequently is DesignCrowd.com. I have had over 100 clients use this organization and have never found one to be disappointed. In fact, the cover of this book was developed by that company. As of this writing, the cost of developing a logo was $250, which will provide you with 50-125 different logos from designers all over the world. My experience is the most difficult part of the process is choosing the one you like, as so many are excellent.

Business Cards & Stationery - A significant element of brand identification is the development of both business cards stationery-related items needed (letter heads, invoices, bills, etc.) to operate a company. There are a few principles that are appropriate when considering the development of this part of a brand identification program. Specifically:

* The look and feel the business cards and stationery items must be consistent with the look and feel of the name and logo. If a logo is developed for the company it should appear on the business cards and stationery as well.

* The ease of reading the most relevant information. This is a problem for some organizations, normally service companies, who believe in loading business cards with much more information than is needed. If the card is too crowded, then it will discourage people from reading it and will make it more difficult for the recipient of the card to quickly get the information they need.

* Be cautious on the use of color on business cards. It can make them much less readable than the typical black and white card.

* Do not produce multiple page business cards. In the attempt to communicate a great deal of information sometimes an organization will have a four-sided card which folds to be the size of a traditional business card. Most people do not look favorably on this type of card, as it will not fit easily in wallets, cardholders, Rolodex files, etc.

* Enabling the recipient of the card to be able to be able to write on the back of the card. Some organizations produce business cards on shiny stock that precludes writing on with a normal pen or pencil.

Signage - The fourth component of a brand identification is signage, which is defined as the public display of your name and logo in advertising or marketing vehicles. For example, the Stop & Shop (supermarkets) name is on stores, shopping carts, in store materials, and on trucks and many different types of advertising vehicles. The principles of developing good signage are:

* Easy to read in the media presented (i.e., on truck, billboard, end aisle display, etc.)

* Recognizable as being representative of the organization (i.e., no question that the trucks are delivering products to or from a Stop & Shop store.)

* Consistent with all the other brand identification elements employed.

Packaging - For products that come in an external package, it is important that the look and feel of the package is consistent with the rest of the brand identification elements, and the same criteria apply relative to ensuring success with the brand ID. The package design should communicate the brand identity in the same way as does the other items which carry the name and logo.

SUMMARY – Brand identification is the essence of the equity of any product or service on the market. Your brand ID is your external voice that customers and prospects will identify with well before they have first-hand experience with the actual product or service. Therefore, it is essential to place significant effort against each element of the brand identification program, as it is a permanent part of your marketing program that is difficult, time-consuming and expensive to change. Do it right the first time and it will pay dividends for the life of the venture.