Of logos, fonts and their powerful impact on how customers perceive your brand
Your brand is not a name.
It is not a logo.
It is not a product.
It is not an experience.
Your brand is the vision that drives the creation of products, services and experiences under your brand name.?
For instance, Apple (name) is not the brand, it is the vision that is driving the creation of products such as the iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple wristwatch, etc under the Apple brand name.
Innoson’s motor brand, Innoson Vehicle Manufacturing (IVM) is not the actual brand, rather it is the vision that inspires the production of automobile brands such as Innoson Connect, Innoson Caris, Innoson G20 Smart etc under the IVM brand name.
The corollary is that every brand is anchored on a vision.?
A vision that is so compelling that customers would love, buy into and stay loyal to.
For instance, when Steve Jobs returned to Apple Inc. after previously being ousted. He met a company that was haemorrhaging and about to die. In fact, the US press was brutally unfriendly to the brand calling it “dead” and its product, iMac a “toy”.?
But Apple’s reinvigorated vision, which could be summed up as “to make computers for people who are crazy enough to believe they can change the world” - was actually part of the ad copies of the “Think Different” and “To The Crazy Ones” ad campaigns.
That brand vision, of course, supported by the brilliant ad campaigns reversed the fortune of Apple. In 1997, it was a broke and busted house going down, today it is the most valuable company in the world, crossing the 3 Trillion dollar mark.
Apple is not the only company that has piggybacked on its brand vision to become global-famous. Tesla, a much younger brand owned by Elon Musk, had a compelling brand vision, which can be couched as “accelerating the world's transition to electric cars”.
That vision, “driving the world’s transition to electric cars”, without any global ad campaigns, is the most valuable automobile brand in the world sidestepping “Big Bros” like Toyota, Mercedes Benz, BMW etc.
Having said that, your brand vision (I hope you have one), which reflects or manifests your brand’s core beliefs in conjunction with its core values is the brand identity.
brand vision (core belief) + core values = brand identity
The corollary is that before you create your brand identity elements which include name, logo, colour, fonts, payoff line, slogan etc, you need to have established your brand vision.
I doubt if many startups do this. Perhaps, a few. And even that few would simply outsource the creation of their identity element to brand consulting firms.?
While that is not wrong since you can’t do everything by yourself, you should be fully involved. It’s your brand; you know the story of your little beginning, how it all started in your dormitory back in college; in the garage of your parents; in your living room etc.
Also, you know how many times you created prototypes that never hit a home run, how you tried very hard to raise funds for the business, etc. These are stories that would be funnelled into the creation of your brand identity.?
This is why I always advise startups to firm up the verbal identities of their brands before delving into their visual identity. But more often than not, they reverse the order, placing the cart before the horse.?
In my post here, I mentioned that before naming your brand, you should be in tandem with your brand heart - purpose, vision, mission and values.?
Note that brand identity is created with the coupling of the brand vision and its core values. But using the concept of the Brand Heart expands the conversation around what makes the brand tick, its heart.
The heart in the central nervous system is perhaps the most important organ in the body. It pumps blood to every part of the body, it is actually the powerhouse of the body. When it stops, the body stops, end of life.
The heart has four major sections.?
Similarly, the brand's heart is the life of the brand.?
It has four sections namely purpose, vision, mission and values.?
That said, the heart is the centre of motivation for a brand.
For instance, at the heart of a brand like Apple is the determination to go against the grain.
Notable names featured in the ‘Think Different’ ad are all uncompromising non-conformists. Folks like Albert Einstein, Thomas Edison, and Gandhi.????
These are men that changed the course of history because they saw things differently from many of their peers. They didn’t have to join them to beat them.
So, let’s look at the heart of your brand.
Purpose, vision, mission, and values.
Purpose:
Simon Sinek said people are no longer buying what you make, they buy why you make them. The idea is that it is no longer good enough to make a new product, people are also interested in the values behind your organization.?
How do you treat your employees? What is your view about police brutality? What is your stand on the strike of the Academic Staff University Union (ASUU)?
Like it or leave, purpose plays a central role in driving the purchasing decisions of consumers. According to a 2018 Accenture report, From Me to We, the Rise of Purpose-led Brands, consumers now buy products based on whether the company is purpose-led or not.?
Also, an Accenture 2019 Global Consumer Pulse Research states that Gen Y and Z constitute an estimated 5 billion of the world population who ruthlessly shop with their “purpose-buying senses”.?
Other key highlights of the report are:
The corollary is that purpose is taking left, front and centre in the creation of a brand. So, before you decide on what name, logo, and pay-off, elements of your brand identity, it is important to nail down your purpose.
Vision:
Where do you see your startup in the next 10, 15 years and beyond? Would you want to be a regional, local or global player? Would you want to build a global brand? Would you want to extend into other segments of the segment and capture more market share??
This is very important as it helps to firm up the organization in terms of the tools, and competencies that would be required to compete in the future.?
It is rather shameful to note that many brands that once stars have become extinct because they didn’t peer well into the future to predict what changes would dawn on their industry or sector.?
Chief examples are Nokia and Blackberry.
Once upon a time, Nokia used to be the highest-selling feature phone in the world, but it buried its head in the sand till smartphone brands like Blackberry, and iPhone did it in.?
Blackberry was a victim of its own success. It fell because of what I would call, “intellectual arrogance”. When the iPhone first launched back in 2007, Mark Lazaridis felt the smartphones would not make it with consumers.?
He was dead wrong and paid the ultimate price for his arrogance.
His company tanked.
Flutterwave, Nigeria’s online payment brand had peered down 20, 30 years into the future. Africa’s population, according to the UN would be one of the youngest by 2030, and yet there was no global African digital payment platform as of 2017.
That was the foresight that birthed Flutterwave, which incidentally is the largest unicorn in Africa having crossed the 3 billion dollar threshold valuation.
Mission
How do you want to achieve your vision??
This is a no-fluff plan for bridging the gap between where you are now and where you want to be in the future.?
The way to explain this is to use the military mission of the US when it killed Osama bin Ladin in May 2011. The mission was codenamed, Neptune.?
The operation was launched from Afghanistan using two helicopters and two dozen members of the SEA and took 40 minutes in execution.
So, as is apparent from the example above, your mission involves having a clear target, which is the vision. You have tools or resources namely which may include people, technology, partnerships, technical skills, the reputation of your brand etc.?
Values:
You have to be guided by a set of values, which guide the behaviour and motivation of your stakeholders especially employees, consumers, etc.?
Brand identity
Brand identity is the visual representation of the brand. The identity of a brand is tangible and visible, it can be touched, and felt. It makes your brand easily recognizable, amplifies its difference and makes your brand meaningful.?
How do you recognize the “chopped-off side of an apple”, which is the logo of Apple Inc., or the white and orange square-shaped logo of Guaranty Trust Bank? And the swoosh mark of Nike.?
The logos of these brands have become iconic, they can stand without juxtaposing them with the brand names and still be recognized. Because they hold very strong associations in the minds of consumers.
Brand identity is a system that unifies disparate elements (name, logo, image, font type, signs, symbols, payoff etc) of the brand into one whole.?
For the sake of this discourse, I would double down on two brand identity elements, logos and typeface or fonts.
Logo?
Now we are at the crux.?
I hope you are walking away with a firm impression in your mind about why you need to establish your brand’s heart before ever trying to create a logo.?
What is a logo??
It is a visual representation of your brand.?
It is a name, a symbol or a combination of both that makes your brand meaningful.
It is a shortcut to your brand in a shorthand format.
There are two types of logos, by the way.?
Logomarks and logotypes.
Let me start from the rear (I do this when speaking to an audience, don’t mind me)
Logotypes are logos that are created with words. They are also called Wordmarks. Examples of logotypes include Linkedin, Microsoft, Rolex, Citibank, Coca Cola etc.
Coca Cola logo
Citibank’s logo
The other type of logo is the logomark, which is a type of logo which is created by using symbols to represent the brand.?
Examples are Nike, Apple, Ralph Lauren etc.
Nike swoosh symbol is an example of a logomark
Fonts have emotions and personalities.
Before I delve into fonts and personalities.
Let me point out something very quickly.?
The difference between typeface and font.?
A typeface is a family of fonts. While fonts are different types of the typeface.
For example, Futura is a typeface with family members or fonts such as Futura Thin, Futura Bold, Futura Light, Futura Condensed etc.?
Broadly, there are two types of fonts - Serif and Sans Serif.
Know the difference between the two??
Serif is generally considered traditional while Sans Serif is perceived as less formal, modern and flexible.
Examples of Serifs include Garamond, Georgia, Times New Roman, etc. How do you identify a Serif? It is usually curved at the tip.
While Roboto, Futura, Verdana, Calibri, Century Gothic etc are examples of Sans Serif.
According to a survey done by Wichita State’s Software Usability Research Laboratory to know which emotions and personalities fonts exude. 500 respondents were contacted while they responded to the following fonts.
Source: usability news
The survey specifically evaluated different uses of fonts such as emails, spreadsheets, letters, articles, webpages, and headlines.
The respondents were asked to assign emotions and personalities to each font and the results were organized according to their perceived personalities and the frequency of the fonts.?
result of survey
?How does this apply to your business?
Here is the thing, if your business requires a very formal outlook. Consulting and professional firms such as legal, accounting, human resources, educational services, online newspapers and publishing companies.?
You might consider traditional fonts such as Georgia, Times New Roman, etc.
However, if you think you’d prefer a less formal approach, you may consider fonts like Century Gothic, Roboto, Futura, Calibri, Montserrat, etc.?
In rounding off this article, I have carefully explained why you need to bother about establishing the core of your brand, its vision and value. The two constitute your brand identity.?
And in the post, I have doubled down on two elements of your identity, logo and typeface (or fonts).?
The vital thing about creating a logo is to take cognizance of your history, your little beginning, your value proposition, your point of differentiation, etc.?
Finally, ensure you firm your verbal identity before creating your visual identity. Your logo and typeface tell a story, good or bad, about your brand to your audience.?
I’d see you tomorrow.
My name is Oyeniyi Faleye