2007 November | Satow Strategies Brand Marketing

Archive for November, 2007

Logorithms

Monday, November 26th, 2007

A Simple Formula for Great Logo Design and Management

by Paula Satow, Satow Strategies LLC

According to Wikipedia, an algorithm is a “definite list of well-defined instructions for completing a task.” Here’s a set of well-defined steps on how to develop a great logo for your company organization – my personal “logo-rithm.”

Put Your Brand First: Logos should not be designed in a vacuum. To be strategic and effective over time, a good logo must reflect your brand and all that it stands for. Therefore, before you begin the logo design process, be sure that your basic brand tenets inform your design process. Ask questions like:

· What does our brand stand for?
· What is the brand personality?
· Who are our target customers/constituents?
· What is our overarching key message?

Work with a Brand-Savvy Designer: One of the biggest mistakes companies make when they set out to design a company logo is to save money by working with a designer that creates “graphics” instead of “logos”. What is the difference? A graphic may look good but it doesn’t necessarily reflect your brand and it doesn’t necessarily work as your company evolves over time. Ask prospective designers to explain how the corporate logos they’ve created convey the company brand message.

Some of my favorite examples of this capability in action are:

Look closely at the FedEx logo sometime. Do you see the hidden arrow? What better symbol than an arrow to convey the company’s overarching key message of getting your shipments to their destination quickly and directly?
Next, look at Cisco’s logo. Notice how it integrates a symbolic depiction of a bridge – a double-entrendre both for its proximity, in name and location, to San Francisco’s Golden Gate Bridge as well as its business model of building “digital bridges” that serve as world-class networking solutions.

Be expansive: Think of all the possible ways your logo may be used both today and in the future – as your business grows – before completing your design work. The logo design should work well both in the digital domain, including your website, banner ads and e-newsletters, and in the analog domain including letterhead, brochures, signs and vehicles. Be sure your logo is optimized to look great in a variety of media and with versions from full color/high resolution to B&W;/low resolution.

Be consistent: One of the most important strategies you can use to build a strong brand over time is to define and consistently apply a set of rules – “Do’s and Don’ts” of how to use your logo” by publishing a document referred to as “Logo Usage Guidelines.” This important deliverable is designed to clearly communicate elements like the logo size, color and application. Here’s a great website with a ton of Logo Usage Guidelines examples to see how it’s done: http://brandsoftheworld.com/guidelines. Or you can just do a web search for “Logo Usage Guidelines” and many other examples will surface. A side-note: a good test of your graphic designer is to ask to see his/her Logo Usage Guidelines they’ve developed for other customers. If they have, then they are likely keenly aware that a logo is not just a graphic element but a brand embodiment that must be managed from inception to dissemination.

When it comes time to developing a new company/product logo or to give a face-lift to an existing logo, Satow Strategies is ready to assist you – from strategic planning to graphic agency identification/management, we will help you create the world-class logo you need to build your world-class brand. Contact us at 602-481-1942 or at info@satowstrategies.com to learn more about how effective logo strategies can boost your corporate value.

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Naming with Brand Architecture in Mind

Monday, November 26th, 2007

How to apply naming strategies to effectively define and extend your brand
by Paula Satow, Satow Strategies, LLC

Clients often come to me asking for help in naming a new company or re-naming an existing company. In the course of exploring their strategic requirements, we often discover that there are actually a lot more “name-worthy” elements to their offerings than meet the eye. I find that the more effective we can be in discovering and leveraging these hidden areas, the better it is for their brand in the long run. This holistic approach to naming may cost a little more upfront but translates into higher brand valuation in the long run.

Here’s a list of focus areas you should consider when it comes to building effective name strategies for your business:

Company: Naming the company is obviously the single-most important aspect in any business naming process. Referred to as the “Corporate Umbrella Name,” the company name needs to work well in any context or brand hierarchy — whether it is integrated in product and service names, i.e. – “Microsoft® Office®” or whether it serves more in the role of a corporate name only, in the background like “Post-It Notes®” (“from 3M”).

Category: If your company is drowning in a crowded sea of competitors and you’re having difficulty keeping your product or service afloat, consider re-positioning your offering by creating a new category, poising your unique value as central to the market. For instance, if you’re in the office furniture business but you’re products are all uniquely made of sustainable woods and materials designed in pre-made sections for cost effectiveness, be bold and stake a claim in a new market category you’ve dubbed, “natural modules.” This sounds a lot more unique and interesting than “office furniture.”

Offering: Product and/or service offerings can be ripe with brand name opportunities. While you should never err on the side of “branding everything” – such a shotgun approach can be a brand-diluting, market-confusing and budget-depleting proposition. It’s a good idea to start with a brand hierarchy that clearly conveys how your products and services fit in relation to your corporate umbrella brand. They may be worthy of their own product brands or sub-brands to convey their significance in the market as well as in your company’s portfolio.

Technology/Unique Capability: If you have unique intellectual property (IP) that you have either patented or have a patent pending, it is worth considering a trademark name that effectively positions its unique value in the market. You may even consider an ingredient brand strategy. While this type of program can be expensive and complex to manage, the payoff can be tremendous if your customers want to tap into the power and panache of your “secret sauce” for their own products.

No matter which naming projects you need to tackle, Satow Strategies is here to help – from company re-naming to ingredient brand strategies, we can help you build effective strategies, programs and implementation tactics.

Contact us at 602-481-1942 or at info@satowstrategies.com to learn more about how effective naming strategies can boost your corporate value.

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