A good designer knows an effective logo conveys the essence of a brand to its audience, without the clutter of too many components attempting to encompass the entire company.

The earlier iterations, especially, of a logo design are often the most literal and complex—take for example Apple’s logo, as shown below—while as the logo evolves it usually transforms to symbolize the philosophy of a company as a whole. In an interview from the blog Creative Bits with Rob Janoff, designer of the Apple logo, he states regarding the logo, “I feel great that it’s still the same basic silhouette even though it went through lots and lots of changes. The apple shape changed slightly from my original design in the early 80’s. The design firm Landor & Associates made the changes. They brightened the colors, they made the shapes much more symmetrical, much more geometric. When I designed it I pretty much did it freehand. I often think to myself why didn’t I do that. It’s because it wasn’t where I was coming from at the time. I think they did a great job and it will be fascinating to see the next iteration and how it works out.”

The most powerful brands often have the simplest logos; those that have changed over time from being overly complicated to a more straightforward design. See, for example, the evolution of Ford’s logo below. Remaining uncomplicated allows the brand’s image to be more likely remembered as well as easier for its audience to associate the logo with that company.

Take a look at Gap’s logo design, as shown below; as the President of Gap, North America Marka Hensen stated in the Huffington Post, “The natural step for us on this journey is to see how our logo—one that we’ve had for more than 20 years—should evolve. Our brand and our clothes are changing and rethinking our logo is part of aligning with that.” The new logo was not eagerly accepted, therefore the Gap decided to revert back to its most recent, time-tested version of their logo.

A recent case study done on the Pepsi brand’s newest logo demonstrates that trying to complicate a design results in a confusing representation of the brand’s identity. For a reported fee of several millions of dollars, the Arnell Group created a painstakingly detailed 27-page document that attempts to connect the simple design of the Pepsi logo to a multitude of epic universal theories—some even biblical—including the Parthenon, the solar system and the Gutenberg Bible.

You can attribute all of the universal explanations to a company’s logo that you want, but the message is clear: make a brand’s logo simple and it will be successful.

Ask Burst Marketing about our vast logo design experience; we can design you a clean logo that portrays your company’s core values—and for a whole lot cheaper than a few million dollars. Guaranteed.

1. Start by placing your logo on all materials. Your logo is a visual cue for brand association, but don’t confuse your logo for your brand. You’ll need much more than just a consistent logo to maintain a cohesive brand identity.

2. Use the same tone and terminology across all marketing platforms. Whether your tone is casual and playful or formal and serious, it needs to stay the same in each commercial, blog post and Tweet you create. If you refer to cars as “automobiles” in your printed collateral, it should be the same on your website.

3. Your slogan or tagline should be the same in all media. If you have a jingle, it must be performed the same way every time it is heard. Use companies like Oscar Mayer and Nike (two companies with unmistakable slogans and jingles) as your touchstone.

These branding “tricks” are a solid first step in maintain a consistent brand identity. Continue to ensure your brand is accessible to your consumers – that is, make it easily recognized. Use your brand notoriety to build trust and offer new opportunities to your audience.

File this under the heading “there’s a right time and a right place for everything.”  Here’s the story:

In Washington DC , at a Metro Station, on a cold January morning in 2007, this man with a violin played six Bach pieces for about 45 minutes.  During that time, approximately 2,000 people went through the station, most of them on their way to work.  After about 3 minutes, a middle-aged man noticed that there was a musician playing.  He slowed his pace and stopped for a few seconds, and then he hurried on to meet his schedule.

Joshua Bell in DC Metro

About 4 minutes later:

The violinist received his first dollar.  A woman threw money in the hat and, without stopping, continued to walk.

At 6 minutes:

A young man leaned against the wall to listen to him, then looked at his watch and started to walk again.

At 10 minutes:

A 3-year old boy stopped, but his mother tugged him along hurriedly.  The kid stopped to look at the violinist again, but the mother pushed hard and the child continued to walk, turning his head the whole time.  This action was repeated by several other children, but every parent – without exception – forced their children to move on quickly.

At 45 minutes:

The musician played continuously.  Only 6 people stopped and listened for a short while.  About 20 gave money but continued to walk at their normal pace.  The man collected a total of $32.

After 1 hour:

He finished playing and silence took over.  No one noticed and no one applauded.  There was no recognition at all.

No one knew this, but the violinist was Joshua Bell, one of the greatest musicians in the world.  He played one of the most intricate pieces ever written, with a violin worth $3.5 million dollars.  Two days before, Joshua Bell sold-out a theater in Boston where the seats averaged $100 each to sit and listen to him play the same music.

This is a true story.  Joshua Bell, playing incognito in the DC Metro Station, was organized by the Washington Post as part of a social experiment about perception, taste and people’s priorities.

The Post’s researchers throught that one conclusion of the study was akin to stopping to smell the roses – missing the beauty around us as we rush through life.

Beauty feed the soul.  But we’re here to make money.  So as professional marketers focused on growing a business we would ask this question:

Even if you had the best product

Or the best service

Or the best price…

Would anybody stop and pay attention if they weren’t in the right frame of mind?

The old adage “Location.  Location.  Location.”  doesn’t just apply to Real Estate.  It applies to everything about how your business is perceived.

Just as a house in a good school district will be worth more to families with young children, your products and services will be worth more if they solve a particular problem for a customer or client.

Just as umbrellas sell better in the rain.  It’s about timing.  Right place, right time.

Always but always, be relevant.

IMHO this word – Brand – is thrown around much too casually.  Every creative shop in town talks about “Branding” to their clients.  But, do they really know what branding is?

A complete Brand strategy will accomplish two important objectives.  Here they are along with a sentence to clarify:

1. Explain why anyone should do business with you
   • Defining who you are and the benefit(s) you deliver to a specific target audience over a long period of time.

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2. Aid in recognition and recall
   • Creating a recognizable logo and differentiable tag line along with supportive color schemes and consistency guidelines for how to use them.

Unfortunately, too often Brand is mistakenly thought of as only a visual thing.

A Brand strategy should help you generate business.  It must answer the “why” question to generate profitable action.  It’s more than just the pretty stuff.

I heard a discussion on NPR last Friday that should cause anyone interested in Social Media to reflect on its use.  The maelstrom of information and ‘expert’ opinions out there casts doubt on their voracity, and drives people to seek the opinions of friends and others they trust.

Motion picture promoters spend months and millions carefully crafting their campaigns.  They rely on the buzz they generate to translate into good box office results – even if their movie is a bit of a stinker.  They hope the receipts are in before word get out.

Enter Twitter.

Today’s hip moviegoer starts tweeting minutes after the opening credits.  By the time the movie is over, hundred if not thousands of opinions are scattered about to followers everywhere.

Sorry Sacha.  But I guess Bruno stinks.  Because business dropped 40% between Friday and Saturday night.

So yeah, properly done, your message will probably get out.  Guess it better be a good message.

“That’s the way it is”

I was too young to remember Walter Cronkite in his heyday.  At the time of his signature television reports of the JFK assassination, Vietnam, Apollo 11, and Watergate, among others, I wasn’t yet 10.

But that doesn’t prevent me from knowing and understanding his primary legacy – truth, trust, consistency, and character.  He wasn’t called “Uncle Walter” or named the most trusted man in America without good reason.

Although those of us in the marketing business are often charged with helping to shape public perception – Walter Cronkite stood for ensuring that the basis of our perceptions was reality.

Posted by: Steve Banis

How about a tag line?

You know, the short snappy little phrase that makes everyone remember you. Millions of people remember the big ones:

Just do it. The right choice. The king of beers. I’m loving it.

Sure, these are good tag lines.  Even more importantly, these guys also spend mega millions on advertising to put them in front of your face. It makes it a little easier for people to remember if they hear it in the first place.

Does your business have the money to communicate on a massive level like that?

Even if you gross over $100+ million a year, I doubt you could put your message in front of your entire target market with enough frequency for it to be remembered.

Are tag lines important?

In Marketing 101, you learn the 4 “P’s” – Product, Pricing, Placement (distribution) and Promotions.

Your company’s name, logo, tag line, and key positioning statement (what I consider as your Brand’s Opening Statement) should work together through pictures and words to explain what’s unique about your business when it comes to these 4 “P’s” (your USP).

While it’s nice and extremely useful to have a memorable tagline – I wouldn’t knock myself out trying to come up with the magic words. One short phrase can’t do it all.

I know that some of those big guys pay marketing consultants millions to create and test the ultimate memorable tag line.

That’s Grrrrrreat! (no offense Tony). But as I said, tens of millions will be spent to support the new tag.

If you’re like 95% of all businesses, your most important task in this area is to create a clear and persuasive case for your business – your Brand’s Opening Statement.

It’s that combination of business name, logo, tag (if needed) and positioning statement designed to provoke a reaction in your target audience.

Of these four, the tag line is the least important element. Depending on the type of business you have and the market in which you compete, either your name or positioning statement are your most important, followed by your logo.

Sometimes, location might be all the positioning statement you need. Just look at your dry cleaner.

Chances are, you use them because they’re close to your home or office and they haven’t ruined your stuff. It’s also likely their name is just something like “Cleaners” or “Joe’s Cleaners.”  That’s it. No fancy logo. No tag. No positioning statement.

Just simple, reliable, convenient, and the comfort of the same friendly face.

Now that’s marketing.

Posted by: Steve Banis