TOW#450 — The value of logos
A few days ago, among the many articles on various topics and from various authors that we receive on a weekly basis, we got a text from US author Seth Godin on the value of logos to companies and brands. He recommends a simple test: ask the people around you to randomly pick a logo, and you’ll see that they’ll choose the logo of a company or brand that they like or admire.
His point is that good (big) brands make good logos, and not the other way round (i.e. good logos don’t make good brands).
If we look at this from a marketing perspective, it’s easy to see that the point has truly been tried and tested. A logo (or any kind of visual element) should be a reflection of the character of a brand or company. Even though this may seem very logical and simple, in reality many companies, managers and marketers pay more attention to the external (visual) appearance of a brand (the form), rather than to the essence — the character of that particular brand/company. I’m not, of course, trying to say that external perception is not important or is less important, just that the success of your company or brand will depend mostly on the quality of your work, strategy, positioning and your team, rather than on appearance, your logo’s design or other promotional aspects.
Here are some of the most important things that brands must do in order to be perceived as big and successful:
1. Brand’s vision and mission — Why does the brand exist? What do you want to achieve? What is your destination? The answers to these questions are your manifesto, the foundations of everything you’ll do in the future. Have a clear vision and mission. Define your brand’s values and don’t just mention them on your website, but truly abide by them.
2. Strategy — how do you plan to realise your vision and mission? Many companies either don’t have a clear and detailed strategy or it’s in the head of their manager. Not having a strategy written down is the same as not having a strategy at all. The most important thing is to be persistent and consistent in its implementation. If you’re constantly changing it, you’ll end up spending most of your time on testing possible tactics rather than focusing your energy on the best strategy.
3. Positioning — this is the brand’s character, its personalisation. What sets you apart from the rest? What is your target audience, the type of customer, retail channels, competition and so on. Unless you properly position your brand you won’t be able to clearly communicate your message to your customers.
4. Visual identity — only once you’ve defined all the above-mentioned elements can you start developing your brand’s visual identity, which should reflect your values and the message you want to convey. This means logo design, packaging, promotional materials, etc. The most important thing to know is that not a single element should be developed separately or be unrelated to the brand’s positioning and character.
5. Communications plan — all the channels, media and tools you’re using to transmit the message about your product, service or brand. This is what’s known as promotion or advertising. Unfortunately, many people refer to it as ‘marketing’. This is the part that the majority of managers in Macedonia don’t like, saying that it’s just a ‘waste of money’. If all of the above elements are not connected, the message will be confused and so the promotion will indeed be a waste of money.
6. Implementation — you could have the best strategy, product, packaging and promotional materials, but it’ll all be useless if you don’t implement them in relation to the foreseen trajectories and plans. This is the part where the majority of compromises are made, and compromises in marketing could mean decreasing the value of the brand.
7. Team — for all of this to work as it should, you need a qualified, skilled and experienced team. Even with the best tools, a bad plumber will always leave a leaking pipe.
Wishing you success with the changes to come,
Petar Lazarov
“Tip of the Week” Team member
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