There’s a reason why you would rather have no coffee instead of a brand other than what you’re used to. There is a reason why you would rather pay a higher price for a cotton t-shirt or almost triple the price for a bamboo toothbrush. It’s not because you love parting with your money, or because it’s what you’ve been told to do. It’s because you believe in what the brand represents. The ideals, principles, and ethics of the brand are aligned with yours, and in this cluttered space, that alignment is everything.

We came across a great definition of this on Medium. It said, a brand purpose as ‘a higher order reason for a brand to exist than just making a profit. In Simon Sinek’s famous illustration, The Golden Circle, he explores the what, how, and why of a brand, going beyond numbers and sales and statistics. It’s easy to come up with products for the market, consumer goods which are crafted from the best materials, but what really is the purpose of your brand? If you are a chocolate maker, what sets you apart from the thousands around the world? What sets you apart from the crowd? It’s why you do what you do? How do you make a difference to the community? How do you take responsibility for your load on the environment, and help reduce it?

A good brand purpose statement will answer all of these questions in a concise manner while capturing the essence of your brand. Here are a few examples to better illustrate this.

#1. Eco femme – Join the cloth pad revolution!

It’s unfortunate, but in India, 71% of adolescent girls are unaware of menstruation until they get their first period. As a result, they face severe health issues, drop out of school early and spend 5-7 days a month feeling terrible and uncomfortable with their bodies. Activists strive to make sanitary napkins more accessible and affordable to rural India, so when eco femme was born, rural and urban women alike rejoiced! Eco-femme has a brand statement which empowers, enables, and inspires, just like their product. The reusable cloth pads are very economical, extremely eco-friendly, and empowering as well. For women in rural India, eco femme is an excellent, hygienic alternative to shelling out so much money every month for disposable pads which end up hurting the environment – tying up with their mission statement. Eco femme not only empowers women of rural India but also inspires urban Indian women who are privileged enough to afford tampons to rethink their choices. Thousands of urban women ditch their tampons to stand in solidarity with their sisters from low-income families and the environment, and join the pad revolution!

 

#2. Nike – Bringing inspiration and innovation to every athlete in the world

And isn’t that what Nike is all about? Even their tagline, Just Do It, literally asks you to get out there and just go for it, invaluable advice and motivation for an athlete, or an aspiring athlete. If you have ever bought a pair of running shoes from Nike, you would have experienced the skill, science, and craftsmanship that goes into their products. So the innovation is clear. For inspiration, Nike is known for empowering women and providing them with a much-needed platform. Sports has always been a testosterone-fueled space, and the #nikewomen campaign is proof of this mission statement. Breaking stereotypes of women stuffing themselves in dresses and challenging them to just do it has played a large role in driving up the market share of Nike.

 

#3. EY – Building a better working world

Ernst & Young are in the business of providing multinational professional services such as advice, tax, and transaction services to companies. Their mission statement is transparent and simple, and may just be one of the reasons why they are regarded as one of the “Big Four” accounting firms in the world. How do they build a better working world? By providing insights and context to guide over 260,000 people every day. They build processes, give advice, help drive initiatives across corporates worldwide. And through all of that -they aim to make corporates and their people more effective, more productive -in a word, better!

 

#4. Google – To organize the world’s information and make it universally accessible and useful

Google has become a household name, worldwide, and is arguably one of the handiest things to happen to humanity in this century. Google’s mission statement is in synch with the services they provide, which is so important. With great power comes great responsibility, and Google understands that. If you’re going to provide billions of people with all kinds of information every second of the day, one must ensure that said information is pure, pragmatic, useful, and genuine. In an era of fake news, leaders like Google must take ownership, and their mission statement is a great first step!

 

#5. MasterCard – A world beyond cash

Simple, straightforward and genuine, these are the makings of a great mission statement. Like Google, MasterCard is a household name and is a service used by hundreds of millions of people worldwide. MasterCard embodies their statement by being at the cutting edge of technology to make payments safe, simple & smart. Since we are always innovating for ways to make our lives easier, MasterCard are pioneers in payments – making payments is unavoidable in our society, and so envisioning a world without cash is certainly ambitious, but not impossible!

 

#6. Tesla – To accelerate the world’s transition to sustainable energy

The first thing that people think about when they hear Tesla is sustainable energy, all thanks to their brand mission and enterprising CEO. Unlike most major corporations, Tesla has a CEO who goes around saying things like, “My motivation for all my companies has been to be involved in something that I thought would have a significant impact on the world”, you will certainly build trust and love among your patrons. Elon Musk has a large role to play when it comes to validating their mission statement, and rightly so. He is the poster boy for corporations, and, despite all the smoke and mirrors, if there were more leaders than him, we are confident that the world may well be a better place.

 

#7. TED – Spread ideas

hank god for Ted Talks, 20-minute lunch breaks are made so much more productive thanks to them! The world needs more great ideas, and we live in a world where there is content to consume, available at our fingertips. However, the quality of this content is dismal, it’s so terrible. Ted provides you with an alternative to slapstick sitcoms, ‘reality’ TV, and ridiculous talk shows. So instead of watching that same boring sitcom while eating your lunch, you can choose to get a quick introduction to metaphysics or renewable energy – ideas worth spreading. This is all thanks to Ted.

 

#8. Bare Necessities – Making Zero Waste the Norm, Not the Exception

The best in the business, Bare Necessities puts the fun into sustainable living, with products such as “Peppermint Party”, a zero-waste 4 ingredient toothpaste made from essential oils and baking soda. But it’s not the aesthetic packaging or health-friendly ingredients that coax patrons to shell out over 400 rupees for a jar of toothpaste, it’s what they stand for. For those who aren’t aware of the dire state of plastic pollution, roughly 1.5 billion toothpaste tubes are discarded every year. Which means 8 million tons of plastic end up in the ocean, a number that doesn’t sit well with a lot of people. The millennial generation is more conscious of the way they consume and are always on the hunt for brands like Bare Necessities. Their mission statement instantly attracts the audience they are targeting, because zero-waste is the need of the hour unless we want to leave our grandkids toxic oceans with dead reefs.

 

What do these brands have in common? You know what the famous ones like Google and TED do, but new and upcoming brands such as Bare Necessities would be lost in the crowd if they didn’t have a visible Purpose. Eco Femme could be anything, but you know what they stand for thanks to their Purpose statement.

Customers are sick of being promised the best of everything. Brands are being forced to stop “selling”. Consumers want brands that are more conscious, they want to support ideas and missions that they believe in, and they want to feel better about themselves after a trip to the mall. To connect at a more fundamental level with these consumers, brands must have a clear purpose which can resonate with the audiences they wish to market to. The message for brands is clear, be clear and transparent about who you are. While your messaging and communication may be tweaked to better communicate with the audience, your brand’s Purpose is much more permanent, because it is what makes your brand. It’s why you exist -and that cannot change.

 

Looking for help in articulating the Purpose of your brand? Write to us on info@lokusdesign.com

The brand landscape is evolving at a pace like never before, making it extremely tough for existing brands to survive, and new brands to flourish. While a herd of new brands is being launched, and a massive amount of money is being put into brand evolution, many are falling by the wayside. In an age of uncertainty, the power of communication is unimaginable; the right communication can do wonders for your business, while the wrong kind will force you to shut shop.

As you consider your brand communication, here are some questions you need to ask yourself: Does it reflect who you really are and what you are driven to do? Does it help differentiate your brand? Does it align with customer perceptions of your brand? Does it enable growth? Does it recognize your brand’s unique value to your customers? Is it consistent in all areas of your business? Is it easy to understand? Is it positioned for long-term success? Is it believable and credible?

Top trends 2019

As brands become more and more centered and authentic and step away from fake product promises, it’s time for a reboot. For brands driving continued efforts towards creating a niche for themselves, staying abreast of the latest brand communication trends is critical not just to create a good brand, but also improve the customer lifetime value of your brand. Here are 8 brand communication trends to watch out for in 2019:

1. Alignment with brand purpose: Considering the rate at which new brands are mushrooming, aligning your brand communication with your brand purpose must continue to be one of the top trends in 2019. Only brands that can stake a claim to a strong, appealing position that is clearly aligned with their brand purpose will succeed. For example, for a food brand that is conscious and goodness-focused, this might mean emphasizing fair-trade practices, local sourcing, eco-conscious manufacturing processes, and support for organic farmers. That’s exactly what McDonald’s does across the world. It sources products locally and positions its brand with its purpose in mind. McDonald’s is their customers’ favorite place and way to eat and drink. It’s their “Happy Place”.

 

2. Incorporating global consumer voice: As globalization takes over the world, the days of purely local brand communication are gone. Your customer base is already global, so you have to aim to scale your presence at a global level. You will take the global customer’s perspective and viewpoints under consideration to ensure your brand’s functional and emotional differentiators appeal to customers across the globe. 2019 will see global communication as a hot trend to ensure the global consumer’s voice is taken into account. After all, your brand should be able to clearly communicate what the brand stands for to your customers – irrespective of their age, race, or geographic location.

3. Being transparent with consumers: In today’s digital age, brands can no longer have secrets. Today’s highly aware customers demand honesty from their favorite brands – they want to know what your products are made of, where, how and who makes them, what processes you use, and how much they cost. Hence, being transparent with your consumers is what will make a real difference in 2019. Instead of hiding behind a façade, make transparency a core part of your brand communication. Show your customers who you are, and the things you care about. Fashion brand H&M’s label Arket showcases exceptionally high levels of transparency; it lists the exact location and factory where each of its products is manufactured.

4. Ensuring consistent messaging: Lack of clarity and inconsistent messaging are two of the biggest mistakes brands make when it comes to communication. With customers having so many brands to choose from, what will truly confuse your audience is inconsistent messaging across your customer experience, packaging, website, and advertisements. Consistency is key in the messaging that reflects the core value propositions of your brand across all channels. Since brands that are consistent with their messaging experience an average revenue increase of 23%, 2019 will see the branding world strike a balance between the functional and emotional differentiators of the brand so that the communication does not appear too vague or confusing. If you want to strongly influence the decision-making process, you will need to maintain an equilibrium between the two aspects so that your customers can clearly understand the features of your brand, as well as build an emotional bond with it.

5. Being mobile ready: Considering the impact that the mobile has on the lives of consumers, a majority of brands today are leveraging the smartphone in one way or another. However, since there is nothing more frustrating than clicking on a link that is unresponsive or poorly designed, 2019 will see brands with mobile-friendly websites truly win the perception battle. No matter what industry you belong to, there is reason to position yourself as a technologically-savvy, modern brand. That means that you need to be mindful of the user experience you offer on mobile devices. Make sure to keep a close eye on the latest mobile trends, and harness the opportunity at the right time — or risk being left behind. With Google favoring mobile-friendly websites in SEO with their ‘mobile-first-indexing’ feature, now is the best time to work on the mobile version of your brands and drive better user connects.

6. Including playful interactions: In today’s highly competitive age, your brand communication should be such that your customers can weave stories and build experiences around it. This is extremely important to strengthen the emotional bond they have with your brand. Changing customer behaviors and growing expectations require you to drive efforts to ensure that customers can interact with your brand in new and innovative ways. So, whether you’re leveraging AR and VR or making use of modern apps, 2019 will require brands to offer rich and engaging content to customers for better interaction, satisfaction, and conversion. Global hotel chain Marriott makes the right use of VR to drive exceptional customer demand. By placing VR headsets in their hotel rooms, customers can experience traveling to different locations across the world. From their hotel room in London, for instance, they could virtually travel to Thailand, or explore Hawaii.

7. Ensuring ethics with technology: The misuse of data and the growing number of privacy breaches have left consumers outraged. With a lot of business decisions today being taken by AI algorithms, the negative cloud over unethical and unfair use of technology is compelling brands to be extra careful about the risk of breaching written and unwritten codes of conduct. As technology becomes more sophisticated, brands will need to become more transparent and consciously avoid taking advantage of consumers. In 2019, a rising number of consumers will demand ethical AI and algorithms that deliver fair and unbiased decisions. Brands will need to become more accountable and transparent about the technology they are using and use it in the right way to influence customer behavior. This will have to reflect in their communication as well so they clearly articulate what they are setting out to do.

8. Getting brand influencers on board: Celebrity endorsements no longer work; if you really want to appeal to the masses, you need to get brand influencers on board; customers who go out of the way to support your brand. Know of an influential persona online? Get in touch with them, and convert them into the spokesperson, and use it as a unique and interesting way to position your brand. The key communication dynamic here is that the influencer should neatly fit into who you are as a brand. In 2019, the focus will not just be on partnering with influencers but finding the right fit with the best influencer who warrants a long-lasting relationship. Sports brand Adidas often resorts to influencer marketing on social media platforms to get visible to the right audience. To promote their Neo brand, Adidas roped in Instagram influencer Iga Wysocka and managed to generate substantial demand for their product line.

 

Get ahead

The branding landscape is forever evolving, and in 2019, it is going to fundamentally be about accurately communicating your brand to reflect the essence of your brand. Identify what makes your brand unique and align your communication with your brand’s purpose. Be transparent about your practices with customers, and incorporate global consumer voice to drive better conversion rates. Include playful interactions in all your communication, and ensure consistent messaging. Make sure to use a mobile-first strategy, get brand influencers on board, and ensure ethical use of technology to appeal to the masses. A strong brand continues to be a priority for all brands striving for success. Staying on top of these communication-related trends will enable you to stay ahead in 2019.

 

Looking to design clutter breaking communication for your brand? Write to us at info@lokusdesign.com

These words by Jobs hold true for companies, individuals, multi-national corporations, and most of all, Brands. Customer engagement is now of utmost importance to every one of them. One may ask why?

While there are many reasons why Customer Engagement is important, the essential rationale is simple – a highly engaged customer invests emotional bandwidth in building a relationship with the brand. Such enduring relationships create loyal customers who tend to buy and promote the brand, the product, and services.

We have written previously about what brands can do to foster such engagement. This post is for those who are still grappling with the “why?” Here are 7 other reasons why it is important, and necessary, for companies to emphasize user engagement.

1. Lower barrier to engage with other brands and products

It is especially important in today’s digital era where consumers have easy access to so many trends and products through their mobile phones. People no longer have to head to a store to buy things. Everything can be done through their device. In fact, 70% of customers say that because of technology, they now find it easier to take their business to other brands. Buyers are also highly influenced by social media and the next feel-good ad or folksy meme from a competing brand. A brand has to work hard to engage and retain clients in this competitive digital era.

2. Increases revenue

Good customer engagement leads to improved revenue and profits to a company. It’s an acknowledged fact of business that finding a new customer is at least 5 times as expensive as nurturing an existing customer. Also, brands with strong multi-channel strategies for customer engagement retain 89% of their customers, as compared with only 33% customer retention by companies that don’t have such strategies.

This is why companies today have to place more emphasis on creating decisive engagement strategies including attractive endpoints like websites, apps, software, and physical experiences.

3. Makes quicker sales

Proper and effective user engagement helps shorten the sales cycle. Providing the prospective buyer with all the information needed to make an informed decision in one place like the user engagement portal helps speed up the sales cycle.

The alternative is the customer having to spend time navigating through your store or website, looking for information. An extended buyer journey carries with it the risk of your message getting diluted. In fact, McKinsey says that when customers are satisfied with the journey they traverse while buying, customer satisfaction can go up by 20%, revenue by 15%, and the cost of customer service, reduced by 20%.

4. Better customer advocacy

Todays consumers prefer doing business with brands that treat them well and keep them engaged. In fact, 70% of buying experiences are based on the customer’s feeling about how they are being treated. They will not hesitate to put in a good word about those brands and are staunch brand evangelists. They will recommend you whenever their friends complain about your brand. The happy customers whom you connect with the most will go all out and talk about your brand in forums and on their social media feeds.

5. Repeat business

Engaged customers are also ready to spend a bit more at their favourite brands than disengaged clients. In fact, consumers buy 3 times as frequently from brands when they are convinced that the brand is doing well on offering them a personalised experience. It’s not only the brands and retail establishments that benefit from great user engagement. Even banks benefit through engaged clients who provide more annual revenue to their bank, have a higher deposit balance there and use more banking products. The same is true for restaurants and hotels.

6. Improved customer service

This is a two-way street. Several studies show that consumers are ready to end relationships with a brand only because of poor customer service. But it is also true that the best way to improve your customer service is through improved user engagement in general. It’s curious but true that 1 in 3 consumers would recommend a brand if it provided them with an immediate response to a query -even if the response was ineffective! The key takeaway is that better customer service will lead to greater customer engagement. But great customer engagement also buys your brand a bit of leeway, that little bit of patience, when the customer is facing an issue.

So, as you can see, customer engagement is vital for any brand. The customer is always king, and if you can keep your customers engaged with you, they will definitely want to come back to you for more.

You will notice that the seeds you sow while building your relationship with a consumer grow and flower as your customers spread the good word about you, give you repeat business or generate more unique visitors and buyers for you. That’s the power of an engaged customer.

 

Want to drive customer engagement for your brand? Write to us on info@lokusdesign.com

In a world driven by instant gratification and countless choices, companies have to be hyper-focused on their Purpose to create brand loyalty. However, with the consumer becoming savvier than ever before and enjoying a plethora of options, driving brand loyalty in today’s marketplace is not easy. Customers today are spoilt for choice – with competing brands, numerous marketing channels, and the rise of influencer-driven recommendations. It is hard enough to capture the attention of the customer, so creating an advocate of a brand loyalist is another ball game altogether.

What is brand loyalty?

Brand loyalty is a pattern of consumer behavior where consumers become committed to brands and make repeat purchases from the same brands over time. Loyal customers consistently purchase products from their preferred brands, regardless of convenience or price.

Brand loyalty could be simplistically defined as creating customers for a lifetime. However, loyalty is a little more than that. Brand loyalty is about cementing an enduring relationship with an audience that will remain loyal to your brand over another. It is about creating a set of devoted consumers who are mentally and emotionally aligned with the brand. Because brand loyalty is based on an emotional involvement between a brand and the customer, loyalists don’t purchase a substitute brand because their brand is not available. They will travel to multiple stores to get that brand and even forgo a purchase if the brand is not available.

Why does brand loyalty matter?

To answer this question let’s first take a look at some statistics.

• Customer spend grows alongside trust. Loyal customers spend 67% more than new ones
• Lowering customer churn rate by 5% could lead to over a 100% spike in profitability
• Loyal customers are worth up to 10x as much as their first purchase
• The average repeat customer spends 67% more in their 31st to 36th months of their relationship with a business than in months 0-6
• 43% of customers spend more money on brands they’re loyal to

As they say, “In God we trust. All others must bring data”. The data here clearly shows the immense impact brand loyalty has on profitability and brand success. Along with driving sales, here’s a look at some more compelling reasons why brand loyalty matters.

Loyalty drives the capability to withstand macro and micro-environmental factors

Why do some brands rise from the ashes like a phoenix and why do some perish? The answer to this lies in brand loyalty. Do you remember the Toyota car recall of 2010? The iconic brand in 2010 had to recall around 2.3 million vehicles in the US to fix potentially faulty accelerator pedals. This action came on top of an ongoing recall of another 4.2 million vehicles over pedal entrapment. The brand suffered $2bn (£1.26bn) in extra costs owing to this safety recall. However, Toyota improved its annual numbers to deliver an ¥80bn profit (£550m) the same year.

Brands have to consciously fight the macro and micro-environmental factors that are a constant in today’s complex and volatile market. However, if the brand has a set of loyal followers, it can bounce back from a setback and drive ahead on the road to better business.

Loyalty drives long-term business

Loyal customers will buy from you again and again and again. They will stand in snaking queues when you next model is launched. They will be will not be driven by price. They will not be influenced by ‘deals’. These loyal customers want to engage with the brand because the brand has an emotional connection with them. This emotional connection almost overrides reason because it is based on a sense of shared values -we believe the same things this brand does. This is why brands like Apple become iconic. It is loyalty that drives the Apple lover to pay a much higher sum for a smartphone. It is loyalty that prompts Apple lovers to stand in snaking queues to grab the latest iPhone.

Loyal customers become your brand ambassadors. This contributes to the brand equity and consequently also leads to recurring, long-term business.

Loyalty drives better cross-selling opportunities

As mentioned previously, brand loyalty is based on an emotional connection. The foundation of this connection is shared values and trust. Since loyal customers forge a relationship with a business, it becomes much easier for a brand to cross-sell or even upsell. This happens because the ‘convince and convert’ cycle is eliminated. The customer is already convinced and is converted too. All the brand needs to do is identify a gap and show the value in their offering.

Loyalty drives reduced marketing costs

Consumers today are influenced more by what their friends have to say and their choices more than any marketing campaign. Strong brand loyalty makes ‘word of mouth’ an effective marketing tool and a credible form of advertising. A survey from Neilsen shows that 84% of the respondents believe word-of-mouth recommendations from friends and family are the most influential in their purchase decisions. 68% of respondents trusted online consumer opinions.

Loyal customers talk positively about a brand, share positive feedback, and refer the brand to their close network. This gives a head-start to a brand when engaging with and an entirely new audience.

Gaining a competitive advantage in today’s world is tough. With brand loyalty, it can get easier to compete. There’s a lot a brand can do to grow Loyalty among its audience. But most importantly, to drive brand loyalty, brands have to be anchored by and stay true to their Purpose. The Harvard Business Review shows that 64% of customers want to have a relationship with a brand based on the brands’ sense of higher purpose, philosophy or overall mission. By being purpose-driven, you attract customers who will ally with your brand based on a set of shared values. This drives loyalty and loyalty, drives business.

 

Looking to drive loyalty for your brand? Reach out to us on info@lokusdesign.com.

It is undeniable that a great logo is a powerful marketing tool. It not only gives a brand an easy to recognize identity but also communicates volumes about what the brand stands for, what its values are, and what it has to offer. We have written in the past about the factors brands must consider while creating truly effective and evocative logos.

The first feature of a great logo is its ability to grab a viewer’s attention almost instantaneously. The logo should be striking enough to hold the viewer’s attention. However, catching the viewer’s eye does not necessarily mean that a logo design is great. There are several other factors that come into play. A great way to learn is to look at some great brand logos and what they conveyed -and there’s much of that in one of our older posts here.

But an even better way to learn is to look at logos that didn’t work -and that’s what this post is about. Let’s take a look at 7 prominent logo failures. That could help you avoid the mistakes that these brands made.

 

1) Gap:

In 2010, Gap suddenly changed its logo without warning. Among other things, the suddenness that made their customers cringe. Gap’s logo had always been quite iconic- GAP written over the navy-blue square. The new logo pushed the navy-blue square in the corner and made it rather tiny. There’s more about this fiasco here. It was not long after they made this horrible mistake that they realized how much their customers connected with their logo. After an unprecedented outcry from their customers, Gap sought to make amends. They asked their fans for suggestions on how to rectify the logo. In a matter of a mere 6 days, Gap returned to their original logo design. All’s well that ends well -and never mind the tiny Gap in logo continuity.

 

2) Kudawara Pharmacy:

An unintentionally infamous Japanese company by the name of Kudawara Pharmacy decided to get creative with their logo. They played around with the alphabet ‘K’ in their logo and tried to bring the people they served into their rather plain looking “name-only” logo. Their innocent attempt to innovate soon backfired when the positioning of the “people” in the design made the logo look rather raunchy. The company ran out of steam eventually, well at least they don’t function under that name or logo.

 

3) London Olympics:

The logo was designed at the substantial public expense of £400,000. It was intended to symbolize the dynamic Olympic spirit and its inspirational ability to reach out to people across the globe. The new emblem was created to be proactive, modern, and flexible. It was created to reflect a brand-savvy world where the youth no longer related to static logos but responded to a dynamic brand that worked with new technologies and across different traditional and modern media networks. However, it was met with skepticism and even hatred. Why was it disliked so intensely? The problem was that the logo came with too much “hyperbole, rhetoric, metaphors, and inflationist meanings.” Put simply, for an event that was inherently about showcasing the best that the country had to offer, the logo had nothing recognizably representing the UK in it all.

 

4) Animal Planet:

A few years ago, one of the most popular networks on TV- Animal Planet, decided to modify their logo design. From a globe with an elephant & ‘Animal Planet’, they switched to a letter-only version with a sideways ‘M.’ Not only was this hard to read but it also confused many viewers who thought the ‘M’ was an algebraic symbol. Perhaps worst of all, there was no animal in this text-only planet. Many confused and disgruntled viewers ended up on the Discovery channel. The lesson to learn here is that human beings are visual and including a specific graphic in your logo can create a strong meaning for your logo.

 

5) NASA:

NASA decided to change their logo design from the highly appropriate design of the universe encircling NASA to a hardly legible ‘NASA’ in red font! The new logo borrowed from the extremely recognizable profile of the Space Shuttle. Despite the tremendous public recall the Shuttle enjoyed, the new logo conveyed little of the grand scale of NASA’s mission and the sheer size of their quest. However, thankfully they returned to their old logo design shortly after.

 

6) Kids Exchange:

Nothing proves the importance of proper punctuation and spacing in a logo more than this one. This was the logo design of the Kid’s Exchange consignment shop in Georgia. Sometimes as a logo designer, you just have to take a step back and look at your handiwork to see all the unintended consequences of what you have wrought. Thankfully, the logo was changed before the store caught too much heat.

 

7) Instagram:

The original logo was a retro-style Instamatic camera that made everyone nostalgic for the simpler technologies of times gone by. When Instagram decided to recreate the famous logo, fans responded negatively. Many of them exclaimed that they liked the original logo better because it was easily recognizable as a camera icon and they associated it with taking photos with their loved ones. The new logo was too plain and too colour-restricted to convey the rainbow of emotions that users were trying to capture and convey through their posts. The brand stuck with the logo change though, perhaps acknowledging that their audience was overwhelmingly young and not from the “Instamatic” generation.

The key to creating a great logo design is to go inside-out. This means that first, you as a brand should understand what is it that you would like to communicate about your brand to the world. Once you have complete clarity on the ‘why’ then the ‘how’ and ‘what’ will follow. Always start from within. Your logo design should convey your Purpose in the simplest way possible. And, that’s great design.

 

Loooking to design a logo for your brand? Reach out to us on info@lokusdesign.com.

Time and tide wait for now one. Consumers change, environments evolve, even technology causes disruptions. Branding can get out-dated, monotonous, or plain irrelevant. With these changing times and customer preferences, companies have to re-invent their marketing to stay in the game -and this is hard. Here are some inspirational stories of brands that were the victim of out-dated branding and how they got back into the game.

Apple:

16 September 1985 marked the fall from grace of Apple Computers when Steve Jobs was cast out by the team. A decade later, when he came back, Apple saw a bunch of dramatic moves that transformed the branding strategies. Since Apple produced a variety of products, the company’s name was changed from Apple Computers to Apple Inc.

Elegant simplification became the mantra. Jobs always tried to keep the marketing plans simple but interesting. The taglines, the messages, and even the sentences spoken in ads were kept simple and to the point. Even then logo dispensed with the multiple rainbow colours and become monotone.

The marketing strategies were kept innovative; focusing on the revolutionary aspects of the products and avoiding points that made the messaging boring, geeky or monotonous. The marketing expanded to different areas like lifestyle and fashion to break free from stereotypic technology journalism and appeal to the end customer audiences of multiple sectors.

The rebranding worked like magic and turned an almost bankrupt company into a profitable industry behemoth. The new Apple was simple, shiny, new, and very very effective.

Hero Honda Separation:

The Japanese Honda Motor Company and the Indian Hero MotoCorp decided to part ways in 2011. The reasons cited was that the Honda, the Japanese counterpart of the coalition was not ready to allow Hero Honda to start their own Research and Development, neither did the coalition allow the export of automobiles to countries except Sri-Lanka, Nepal, and Bangladesh. Business drove the break-up but left the new brand a mountain to climb. Gone were the Japanese engineering legacy, the Honda name and racing heritage, and the international models. But post the separation, Hero came out with some excellent rebranding strategies to regain that ground.

They changed their logo, which gave a fresh visual impact. The logo presented a different representation of the “H”, a nod to the all-new Hero. The logo also emphasises the Indian-ness by blending in the quintessentially Indian boys toy, the catapult -also a symbol of leaping forward. The company also collaborated with A.R Rehman to launch their anthem, “Hum may hai hero”, which went viral. With Indian celebrity ambassadors and well-crafted effective marketing campaigns, the company took off. In fact, it now comfortably leads Honda’s own sales in India. A new old brand that’s on the right track even after negotiating some bumps.

Burberry:

Burberry is a classic example of how innovative marketing can turn a bad situation around for a brand. In the early 2000s, Burberry’s name was hackneyed. It was too closely associated with the working class of the British population, dragging down its image, and sales. This was a steep fall from when they used to be the choice of the rich and famous. They were a symbol of luxury and style in several key overseas markets. When things got sour, they used their company’s history to create a new image of the product. Angela Ahrendts took over, and used a strong thread of social media to create a fresh and evolved image of Burberry for a younger, more connected audience.

Live streaming of fashion shows, bright social media updates, and an updated website gave the company a classy digital footprint. Also, they doubled down on their British image by hiring British celebrities to endorse their brands, thus leveraging the essentially British image of the company.

Old Spice:

Old Spice’s brand evolution shows how a planned repositioning can help drive a makeover for the whole company. Since 1938 Old Spice has been a staple of the men’s grooming market. With body perfumes and body washes, they enjoyed a great run. In the early 2000s however, the Old Spice brand got stuck with the image of the products of old men. The company faced a crisis in sales. The brand came out with a new marketing strategy, which included appealing to the younger audience and carving out a market in body washes. They hired actor and athlete Isaiah Mustafa to be the face of the product, which was a marvellous decision.

They aired their commercials strategically during the super bowl, which also proved to be successful. The ads were tongue-in-cheek, deliberately over the top, and subtly making a joke at their own earlier “manly” image. The irreverence effectively delivered the message of the innate freshness of the product to the younger audience in a language, tone, and meter that they understood. This, clearly, was the man they wanted their man to smell like!

Airtel:

The Indian consumer has been exposed to so many disruptions in the last few years driven by the telecom and the internet revolution, and has embraced them all. This has placed huge pressure on the telecom companies that address the rapidly changing needs, motivations, and, even, values of these consumers. Airtel Telecom has undergone rebranding to keep pace, with constant changes in the logo, Airtel anthems, and celebrity endorsements over the years.

The brand’s tagline was changed from ‘Touch Tomorrow’ to ‘Live Every Moment’ to reach today’s internet generation. The plans they sold were named ‘Freedom Unlimited’, to give a fresh, younger and international vibe to the brand. The logo was changed to reflect the more free, less rigid persona.

 

It’s been said often that the only thing constant is change. This is true of brands as well. Branding is linked to the audience, the market and how they view the brand. That being the case, changes in the dynamics of the market will force the brand to alter its branding too. As these examples show, that can be a great new beginning too.

 

Looking to rebrand your brand? Write to us on info@lokusdesign.com.

Do consumers know about your brand and what it represents? That’s the crux of Brand Awareness. Do you search on the net or do you Google? Do you use a mobile wallet to conduct a financial transaction or do you PayTM it? That’s the holy grail of what brand awareness can do for you. It can embed the consciousness of the brand and the value it can deliver into the daily lifestyles of the target market. On the flip side, no matter how good your product or how apt the price, without brand awareness there can be no recall and no recognition of your name by consumers.

Brand recognition is correctly identifying a brand by its colors or logo. Brand awareness takes it a step further. It helps you recall the feelings you had about the brand. Like how you recall the smell, and in-fact start craving for fried chicken just by looking at the KFC logo. Brand awareness can enhance customer loyalty and ensure good word of mouth, which subsequently result in increased sales and enhanced brand equity. But how do you generate that brand awareness in today’s distracted world? Here are 5 ways.

1. Designing memorable visual assets to capture the customer’s imagination

A half-eaten apple, a swoosh, and a yellow M are more than enough to remind us of these iconic brands. These logos are shining examples of logo design to improve recall and awareness. They belong to different industries but have the same underlying principle. First, they are simple. They try to do more with less. But that’s easier said than done. Even a simple logo must convey the brand story along with the values the brand stands for. Amazon’s logo with an arrow pointing from a to z conveys that that have all the products that the world can offer. A simple swoosh of Nike conveys their “just to it” spirit. To successfully convey that sense in a logo and craft an identity in a symbol one must have a strong understanding of the target audience and how to drive the point home to them.

2. Building brand awareness leveraging traditional channels like TV ads, Magazine & radio

The primary advantage of traditional channels is the reach. Compared to other digital channels which are yet to reach large swathes of the population, TV, Newspaper, and radio has reached every nook and cranny of the globe. The key strategy here to make a mark in the customer’s mind is to come up with a simple yet catchy tagline coupled with a hummable tune. Then comes a carefully considered channel selection and repetition strategy to appear in the eye line (ear line?) of the target consumer. Notes like “Haan main crazy hoon” of Coca-Cola and “Abki bar Modi sarkar” played a big role in driving up the awareness of these mega brands.

3. Leverage digital channels

The advent of the digital channels has opened a plethora of new opportunities to spread brand awareness amongst the millennials, even without having to pay for the airtime and ad space. Nike leveraged YouTube to the fullest during the 2012 London Olympics. Even though Adidas was the official sponsor, Nike used the digital channel in such a way that many believed that they are the official sponsor. Though digital comes with its own set of challenges, like your content getting lost in a tsunami of content, the problem can be addressed through a scientific approach. Techniques like Google Adwords and SEO help make brand content more visible to the audience that is searching for that information. This is a great way to appear in the eye line of an audience that is searching with intent.

4. Double down on social media

To increase brand awareness, one cannot ignore the impact of social media today as a bimodal communications channel. Apart from broadcasting their own messages and what they stand for, social media offers a rare opportunity for consumers to communicate back to the brand as well. Brands get invaluable exposure to the voice of the customer – what they want, their reviews of the brand, their view of competitors etc. One brand that comes up while talking of social media marketing is Red Bull. The brand leverages social channels not to directly promote their products but to feature the careers of sponsored and unsponsored athletes. The social channels convey a sense of the spirit of soaring adventure that Red Bull embraces -and its audience does too!

5. Get Influencers and the referrals

For today’s connected generation every product category is replete with influencers who can sway the decision of most buyers. They are the opinion-makers for that product category. Consider the case of Hush Puppies, which had fallen out of favour with consumers and had slipped out of the consciousness of the market. The brand suddenly came back into vogue -back from the brink, as it were. If Gladwell is to be believed, it was because a very famous fashion blogger happened to be at an obscure fashion show where the shoes caught his fancy, and the rest is history. It’s important for a brand to identify the right influencers, have them test the products, and get a comprehensive and unbiased review out of them. Customer referrals too, go a long way in creating awareness. Some reports suggest that 92% of people will trust a reference from another person -even if they do not know that person personally! Brands now actively seek referrals from customers to grow their audience -virally.

These methods will help brands generate awareness. But there are no universal templates. For instance, referrals will work for luxury products, but traditional ads may not. The only universal truth is whatever tactic or strategy you choose to drive up brand awareness, it must be rooted in what the brand truly represents. The authentic message is most likely to resonate with the most relevant audience. And, that’s the best form of awareness.

 

Looking to build awareness for your brand? Write to us on info@lokusdesign.com.

A good design is to a brand what oxygen is to living beings. Irrespective of what sector the brand caters to, a good product, packaging, and logo design help a brand stand out and thrive.

Good design here is an umbrella term which includes brand logos, retail experiences, product, packaging, web presence et al. To create a brand impression in the market you need to ace them all.

Let us look into these interesting design concepts involving products, logos, and packaging that helped these brands generate curiosity, grow their audience and build a distinct identity in the competitive markets.

1) Mini Cooper:

 

The British Motor giant came about as an outcome of the Suez crisis back in 1956 which restricted the fuel imports thereby causing an acute shortage of fuel supply. The think tank behind what Mini Cooper today is – Austin Seven & Morris Mini-Minor were handed the task of coming up with a powerful design which would help not only in tackling the fuel crisis but also minimize the imports of German cars in the country. With this vision in sight, designer Alec Issigonis came up with the revolutionary Mini Cooper. The care was small but bold. The frugal look and features only emphasized the conditions in which it was born. The Min took the markets by storm at that time and still holds sway.

2) The Coca-Cola Bottle:

No “design” post can afford to ignore this legend! The beverage giant, Coca-Cola has been known for its revolutionary product and marketing strategies over the century of its existence. The contour bottle that you now recognize and associate with carbonated drinks was the brainchild of designer Earl R. Dean who was handed the task of creating a design that would be distinct and easily recognizable in the dark. Now, you might wonder what’s distinct about it. Well, this genius of a design concept dates back to 1915. Earl R. Dean wanted to design a bottle that would reflect the ingredients of the drink which would be either a coca leaf or Kola nut. Since he failed to find a pictorial reference to either, he took the design inspiration from the cocoa pod from the encyclopaedia and that’s where those ribs in the bottle come from. This design is iconic, familiar and comforting, and merges form and function so well that it’s an evergreen inspiration.

3) Sony VAIO Logo:

VAIO was a brand introduced by Sony in 1996. VAIO is an acronym for Visual Audio Intelligent Organizer. This product set catered to the electronics giant’s PC and phone segments until 2014 when in a restructuring bid Sony sold VAIO to Japan Industrial Partners. The logo is not far short of pure genius. It was created by Teiyu Goto who was a supervisor of product design at Sony. The VA in the logo is designed to depict a sine wave and the IO depicts the binary digits 1 and 0 – a visual representation of an amalgamation of the digital and analog signals. This captured perfectly the tipping point at which the telecom and personal computing industry were at that time. The products, like the logo, were beautiful, functional, and often included innovative combinations. The combinations went places other products hadn’t -for eg. integrating a webcam into the laptop for the very first time, adding in an FM tuner, MiniDisc player, and built-in amplifier into a desktop, and for the very first time, introducing a stylus and a tiltable screen for a laptop.

4) State Bank of India Logo:

The State Bank of India is the largest bank in the country. The bank’s logo has gone through various changes over the years but the element that has remained constant is the circle at its heart. This is a logo that every Indian recognises -and associates with banking. The logo can be interpreted in different ways. The most direct representation is that of a keyhole. For the common people of the country, this represented the safety the bank promised them as they trusted it with their savings and valuables. At another level, the logo represents an individual being enveloped in SBI’s protection. The common man was not the focus of the banking, financial, and business community for a long time. Post-independence, SBI’s identity contributed to the Government’s efforts to change this perception.

5) Asian Paints Logo

Founded in 1942, Asian Paints is the largest paint companies in the country today. In the year 2012, the brand revived its image by revealing a new logo. The design brings to mind a free-flowing ribbon that forms the brand’s initials AP. The ribbon is used as a depiction of the easy and smooth flow of the paint. The colours on each surface are clear, vibrant, and glossy -in keeping with the preferences of consumers today.

6) The Welcome Group Logo

The logo of the Welcome Group chain of hotels. owned by the ITC, is inspired by the traditional Indian saying ‘Atithi Devo Bhava’ which means that the guest is next to God. The logo depicts two folded hands gesturing Namaste -the traditional way of welcoming people in India. Looking deeper, the logo also suggests a path leading forward to a set of doors that is opening -reflecting potential and possibilities. The ITC tapped into their identity as a truly Indian hospitality brand with this cultural depiction in their logo. The group is now the second largest traditional hotel chain in the country with over 100 properties.

7) The Axis Bank Logo

Axis Bank is one of the highest performing banks in the country today with a strong base of over 55 lakh customers across the country. The bank’s logo is the epitome of simple yet powerful communication. The logo depicts the letter A which is divided into two blocks. The lower block depicts the bank’s strong customer base and the top one depicts an upwards growth path which implies that the bank aims to achieve high growth with its customers’ support as the strong foundation. The bank is now India’s third-largest private sector bank and consistently ranks among the top 10 when it comes to customer service. The Bank also scores well on most parameters related to providing services to their customers in innovative new ways or in communicating with their customers -clearly, the customer is the Axis on which their growth is leaning.

There is, of course, a lot that goes into the conceptualizing and designing of a logo, product, service or brand identity. The aim of every brand is to leverage design to narrate a unique story to its customers that is based upon the core values and vision of the brand. As these examples show if that happens the business is sure to benefit.

 

Looking to drive business value from design? Reach out to us on info@lokusdesign.com.

To make a brand powerful – it requires thought, planning, and consistency in communication. A brand needs to fit into a consumer’s life and value set seamlessly. Making a brand is not just about your product or your service anymore –it is about showcasing what makes the brand tick.

Here are some points for brands to consider while designing their communication:

1) Precise Communication / Positioning – It is crucial for brands to know what they stand for before the launch and that should be the focal point of your communication. A detailed positioning exercise must be carried out before the launch of your brand so you have a positioning statement that is your brand truth. The key to this is to remember that you’re not just selling a product or service – you’re selling a brand with very specific values. A brilliant example of brand positioning is Coca-Cola – the brand has stayed true to its positioning for years and all their communication revolves around this – from their ATL advertisements to their BTL activities – they only talk about happiness. That’s one thing that the brand realized early on and has very beautifully integrated into all that they do.

Another important thing to remember is that the realization of this value begins at home – so when Coca-Cola says happiness – its employees must be happy too, it should have a happy work environment, the entire chain has to be happy.

2) Understanding your Target Audience – Every brand must define its Target Audience and must align its efforts keeping the target audience in mind. For eg. a brand that targets youngsters must reflect their ideologies – it should be peppy, have strong beliefs, liberal in today’s context. A luxury brand – must be suave, must not sell the product – should focus on the opulence of the brand experience. In many ways, a brand’s personality is defined for its relevance to the target audiences – the decision-makers as well as the influencers.

A wonderful example here is Maggi Noodles – while they are targeting children and teenagers – their communication is targeted more towards the decision (buying) makers – the mothers. Of course, there are key elements to attract their end customers too. Children, teenagers mainly, have evening hunger pangs and need a quick evening snack – which has to satisfy their taste buds but the mothers want something healthy for their children – Maggi has answered both these problems beautifully in many of their communication and is, therefore, today, one of the most successful brands – almost synonymous with instant noodles.

3) Design a unique identity – Having a brand mascot or a brand ambassador helps to solidify your brand’s personality and give it tangible, relatable shape. That said, it’s crucial that your brand ambassador/mascot must reflect your brand values. When Lux talks about luxury – it has only taken stars that all of us can relate to – from Kareena Kapoor to Shahrukh Khan. Lux has, in a commendable way, covered the entire aspirational spectrum of an average middle-class family – from the lady of the house to the husbands and the kids.

At the same time, when you see Ronald McDonald seated outside every McDonald’s outlet in the country, you know your kids are going to be attracted to the place – not just because of the product or service but because they love Ronald McDonald too.

4) Being Consistent – Arriving at a positioning statement and understanding what your brand stands for is crucial, but being consistent in your messaging plays a vital role too. Commit to your marketing strategy for the long haul – if your messaging is not working, go back to the drawing board – tweak it a little. Don’t try to change your brand truths. Consumers today crave transparency and authenticity above all other values and brands that appear opportunistic will pay the price -on social media and in the store.

5) Be a good story-teller – Every brand has a story –your consumers must know your story. It gives them a view of everything that’s gone into the making of your brand. This helps them understand why a brand espouses certain values and what drives it – an idea of the legacy and the hard work of hundreds of people associated with it. This also helps your consumers connect to your brand on a personal level. Take the case of ready-to-use spices maker MDH Masale. The brand’s story has been told often. Consumers know how it emerged from the dark days of Partition and was built brick by brick on the charisma and accessible personal appeal of its founder Mahashay Dharampal Gulati. This Indian brand has become the runaway leader in its category.

6) Don’t try to imitate another – what works for one brand will not work for another. We all know the “key formula” to advertise men’s deodorant – after Axe did it wonderfully in their advertising, every other men’s deodorant brand only followed. The result? Axe still grew – by leaps and bounds while everyone else only got lost in the crowd. Imitating another successful brand is like a race to the bottom. Succumbing to the entropy and chaos of the market will only suck up time, energy, and money for little impact. Therefore, it is imperative to stick to your brand truths and strategize accordingly.

A brand is what your consumers make of it. You understand your brand best – the ideals and the values behind it. Once you have zeroed in on your brand truths – use them to form the foundation of the personality the brand projects. Like Howard Schultz said, “Advertising can build brands but authenticity is what makes them last. If people believe they share values with a company, they will stay loyal to it.”

 

Looking to design effective communication for your brand? Write to us at info@lokusdesign.com