Branding Vs. Logos: Logos Matter, But There’s More to the Story
Branding includes logos, but a brand image is an emotional response to images, text, company decisions, and the overall customer experience. Your brand is what other people say about you when you’re not in the room. – Jeff Bezos When average people consider brands, they might first visualize company logos. For some business logo examples, it’s hard to think about McDonald’s without picturing the golden arches or Coca-Cola without the red-and-white text graphic on every can. Consumers do associate logos with businesses. In that way, graphics contribute to branding. Still, from the perspective of a brand design agency, the logo and other graphics make up a small but important component of the overall brand image and not a consumer’s entire impression of a company. What is a brand image? Consumers don’t just identify brands with logos. Instead, they associate companies with their experiences and even the emotions those experiences might have evoked. For instance, people might remember the golden arches, but they also might associate McDonald’s with fast service and consistent products. In some cases, they may also consider things they’ve read about company practices. As highlighted on CNN a couple of years ago, McDonald’s has made an effort to use more sustainable packaging in order to help reduce waste and protect the environment. That improvement in packaging can help improve their brand image as much as or more than the logos they print upon their cartons or wrappers. In any case, large and successful companies do spend quite a lot on branding — and that’s not just for logos. For some examples, Website Builder collated some recent statistics about brand spending from well-known companies: In 2018, Netflix dedicated $1.8 billion for branding. Coca-Cola typically spends almost $4 billion each year. Amazon’s branding budget for 2018 topped $10 billion. How much do logos and graphics matter for brand images? Even though a brand image consists of much more than logos, color schemes, and other graphical elements, people certainly do associate these visual elements with companies and products. According to a study conducted by Harvard Business Review, good logos can help differentiate brands, pique interest, convey information, and of course, reinforce brand recognition. While any marketer can think of exceptions, HBR found that the most effective logos tended to convey some information about the company. Their study included over 170 test logos for startups, and mostly, descriptive logos tended to make the survey subjects express more willingness to buy from that brand. Since these companies were still developing their businesses, the logo was the only experience that the subjects had with them. Since most people aren’t familiar with the startups yet, HBR used these big-name business logo examples to illustrate the kinds of descriptive logos that worked very well: The Burger King logo clearly has the restaurant’s name sandwiched between the bottom and top of the bun. Animal Planet has a stylized elephant over the network’s name. Some people can argue that McDonald’s non-descriptive logo represents a bigger chain than Burger King’s descriptive one. Still, HBR’s research found that descriptive logos tended to influence brand perception in a favorable way. Also, the golden arches reflect the same symbol seen outside of every McDonald’s, so it’s still fairly easy to associate the logo with physical restaurants and the company in general. As a major exception to preferring descriptive logos, their research suggested companies should avoid anything with potentially negative connotations. As an example, descriptive logos for exterminators should consider leaving out images of the pests that the business might target. They believe these kinds of images tended to evoke negative responses because people tended to associate them with bad experiences. How can a brand design agency help develop a brand image? Beyond logos, brands also establish and reinforce their image with ads, press releases, and business decisions that make the news. Companies might also have signs, websites, advertisements, and plenty of other uses for text and graphical design elements. Multi-channel creative work should always complement the brand image the company hopes to convey by projecting a consistent tone and voice. While a logo design agency will help create the right graphics, a brand design agency will ensure that customers view the entire picture in a positive light.
Why Great Marketing Means Thinking Outside the (Sandwich) Box
Think outside of the box or in this case outside the sandwich and partner with a brand package design agency to creatively connect with your consumers. There’s no denying that subscription services are hot. You can now have razors, meal kits and even a curated selection of candy from across the globe delivered to your door, weekly or monthly. This shift toward subscription goods is one reason why brand package design has become increasingly important in recent years. A beautiful or visually arresting design can make regular delivery of expected goods feel almost like a gift. Given the rising popularity of the subscription model, it’s hardly surprising that brick and mortar businesses are attempting to join the party. What may surprise you, however, is the identity of some of these legacy brands. How Arby’s took “thinking outside the box” to a new level In early January 2019, the fast-food franchise Arby’s announced it would begin rolling out a new subscription service for sandwich lovers called “Arby’s of the Month.” If you’re breaking out in “meat sweats” at the thought of a limp, week-old roast beef sandwich arriving at your door, fear not: These boxes contain “sandwich-inspired items” rather than actual buns, beef and horsey sauce. The first boxes were distributed to members of the “Arby’s of the Month” club and contained the following promotional items: A visually pleasing brand package design with red and white Arby’s ski hat, a scarf designed to look like a giant slice of bacon, temporary Arby’s sandwich tattoos, a branded dining tray and a note from the company’s so-called “Head of Sandwiches” promising five more months of Arby’s themed goodies. Arby’s priced the six-month subscriptions for a flat $25 fee. While they quickly sold out, the company says it will alert consumers as soon as more subscriptions come available in the coming weeks. Why Arby’s chose the subscription box marketing route Marketers can leverage larger societal trends to great effect. Look no further than Gillette’s recent #metoo-inspired “We Believe” ad, which gained massive attention while courting considerable controversy. Another example: Nike’s 2018 campaign featuring former NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick, which leveraged the football star’s visibility as a social justice figure. Now, a “Sandwich of the Month” club doesn’t have the same gravitas. Yet it falls perfectly in line with Arby’s playful, slightly goofy brand identity. Audiences don’t expect a roast beef purveyor to create an idealistic, high-concept ad campaign focusing on human rights. A campaign that builds upon Americans’ recent fascination with subscription delivery boxes — presented in Arby’s signature off-kilter style — is perfectly pitched. Merely choosing to use the subscription-based model isn’t enough, however. For a truly successful campaign, Arby’s needed two additional things: Delivery items that would delight their customers and an appealing box in which to contain them. Arby’s succeeded with the former — after all, who wouldn’t be amused by receiving a giant, flowing bacon scarf? For the latter, Arby’s chose to partner with the ad agency Fallon, who came up with a striking example of a strong brand package design to support the campaign. Overall, Arby’s delivered a clever, on-trend and on-brand campaign idea supported by great design and social media marketing. With those elements in place, it’s little wonder that Arby’s new promotion sold out almost immediately. What BIGEYE can do for you If your brand would like to elevate its current marketing approach — or take advantage of truly compelling brand product design — we urge you to contact BIGEYE today.
Want to Win Over Consumers? Try Humble Brand Packaging Design
Have you ever received a large package from Amazon — only to discover a much smaller package inside? It’s kind of like the retail version of a Russian nesting doll. There’s a word for this phenomenon: Overboxing. In a world where the global environment is under rising stress, overboxing has emerged as a real issue for businesses and online retailers. Customers, especially younger ones, are demanding sustainable solutions — which means brand packaging design has become more important than ever. The perils of “overboxing” Online retail giants such as Amazon and Alibaba ship billions of products each year and these numbers are expected to grow significantly in the coming decades. That translates into an enormous amount of cardboard, styrofoam and bubble wrap. Given the hefty amount of debris that comes with modern packaging – and isn’t typically recycled – that’s a serious burden on the environment. Amazon is attempting to limit the damage by asking its vendors to follow new standards under its “Frustration-Free Packaging” program. The ultimate goal is to limit overboxing by having vendors send their products to Amazon in boxes that are ready to ship. This is an approach that aligns with changing public sentiment. The numbers are stark: 94% of Generation Z members say businesses should work to solve environmental and social issues, while 89% say such efforts are a factor in their buying decisions. No other demographic group places this of an emphasis on corporate sustainability. Sidestepping “wrap rage” and delivering agile design In the early days of e-commerce, businesses took the same retail products meant for the shelves, placed them in a box, and shipped them to online retailers or customers. Today, that kind of practice often leads to extraordinary waste — and “wrap rage”-induced social media call outs. In order to stay on the right side of sustainability, today’s businesses are moving away from a product design aesthetic that made shelf appeal paramount. Instead, these businesses are merging this objective with the practicalities of sustainable packaging. Hasbro’s “Baby Alive” doll is one such example: By following Amazon’s stricter guidelines, the company was able to reduce the total amount of packaging used by 50%. Other popular products that have been redesigned for sustainable shipping include Play-Doh and Mr. Potato Head. While choosing this path may require additional research and development money, smart brands can recoup part of this through the use of clever marketing. Sustainability is a major priority for many buyers and can serve as a critical differentiator for brands seeking a competitive edge. Brand package design that pops Our creative team has an eye for design that jumps off the shelf (or in this case box) — and a desire to help companies grow sustainably. If you think your product can benefit from better brand package design, we urge you to contact us today.