An Ad Guy's Experience with Brand, Design & The Story Told
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With 30 years experience working on top-tier brands such as Velcro®, LoJack®, Thermo Scientific™ and Boston Whaler®, I used to delight in saying “there’s very little I haven’t done in this business!”
Of course, that was before the Web, which took advertising and marketing to exciting, sometimes dizzying new heights. And cliché as it is, the online world changes in remarkable new ways daily.
But while media may change, at the end of the day they’re vehicles offering greater opportunity and possibilities to companies and brands - of all sizes. To take advantage of them a small brand must have all the substance, depth and appeal of a large brand.
Think about it. A local retail brand such as Quebrada Baking Co. has to work as just as hard as the Starbucks™ or Dunkin’ Donuts™ to sell a cup of Joe or a croissant. (See Quebrada’s new website!)
While Quebrada™ product quality ultimately makes the sale, its brand identity (what you see) and image (what you remember) first has to create the same “comfort level” known brands enjoy to get customers in the door, and to come back for more.
Brand is far more than a logo. It’s a story told by design. It’s a product true in function and form. It’s a strategic framework, a baseline upon which to grab hold and build a presence. It what the staff understands, and how it represents a company and its products. It’s sound and vision, a means to an end.
Ultimately design is a tool; its primary role in marketing is to connect a business and products with the end user. It’s function and form; the intersection of art and science. It’s tangible and builds saleable equity. Design creates a return.
As a brand marketer, I don’t create brands. I help expand upon what the brand stand for, and focus the brand story. I position and find compelling ways to implement and express them in the language of the customer. Create perceived values based upon real values. And provide mechanisms for brand and business growth.
But first there’s always a business owner and her or his ideas; their specialties and craft provide the core of a brand. Quebrada's signature croissant will ultimately carry the day; it’s an outcome of extraordinary preparation and only the simplest, most wholesome ingredients available™ - core brand values.
The brand communication we create reflects and expands upon these core values and ideas; a dramatic expression of truth that encourages purchase aspiration.
Brand is a work in progress; it's a 'story' that's refined and even redefined as conditions change. It provides conclusive reasons to choose a product out of many. Strong design makes things more pleasant. And branded design is a value-driver. Your iPod™ is proof.
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