This document discusses what makes brands iconic. It explains that while logos play an important role, truly iconic brands have a combination of qualities. These include delivering outstanding products and experiences, having a consistent tone and environment, and repeating branding boldly worldwide. Iconic brands also deeply understand their target audiences, are driven by passion, provide consistently high quality, strive to be the best in their industry through hard work, gain exposure through multiple channels, and have strong leadership to guide their vision.
2. The Logos
It’s needless to say that a logo plays a huge role in a company’s growth
and promotion. Nowadays, people are becoming increasingly aware of
what they’re buying, whether it’s a product or service. Along with
quality, customers are paying attention to a number of other aspects
that make up a business, such as social responsibility, eco-friendliness,
and brand identity. Over the years, a brand usually uses more than one
emblem. Taken together, such emblems create a visual record of a
company’s history and reflect its traditions, values, and competitive
benefits. If you visualize a famous logo, you’ll see that it triggers
certain associations in your mind. For example, the “Golden Arch” on
the McDonald’s logo make you think about juicy cheeseburgers and
sweet McFlurry. When looking at the BMW emblem, your mind creates
the image of a posh car that emphasizes its owner’s high social status.
Furthermore, a logo shapes your opinion of a business and its products.
3. 'Iconic' is a big label. But there's more to an iconic brand than just the logo. It
certainly helps, but you'll often find that the biggest brands aren't the ones with
the best logos.
Logo design aside, what makes a brand iconic? Ask the experts and they'll tell
you that it's a combination of things. "We respond to experiences," says Ben
Marshall, creative director at Landor Associates, "stories we can pass on, and
frankly, some things that are simply unusual or inspired."
Michael Johnson of Johnson Banks agrees that an iconic brand should deliver on
multiple levels – the product or service itself, the environment it appears in, its
tone of voice, and more. "Thinking about 'branding' from this cinematic
perspective is relatively new," he admits. "It's pretty difficult to deliver
successfully."
In some cases volume of exposure can force brands into public consciousness,
but it can be enormously expensive. "I can't tell you how many times we've been
asked to design a logo as iconic as the Nike tick," says Paula Benson, partner
at Form. "Our question: do you have the budget to repeat it boldly and
consistently all over the world?"
4. Audience Knowledge. Uniqueness. Passion.
Consistency. Competitiveness. Exposure.
Leadership.
The best brands have a thorough understanding of the demographics of their target market, what
their interests are, and how they communicate. Unless it’s a mega chain like Wal-Mart, most
businesses have a specific target audience they’re pursuing. Understanding the target market is
critical because it provides direction for the tone and reach of a marketing campaign, along with
the overall identity of a brand, while helping to create an organic, human connection between a
business and its audience.
Trying to appeal to everyone (ie, ignoring the concept of a target market) can be counterproductive,
causing a company’s brand to become diluted. Finding the right branding approach requires first
understanding the target market. While it’s certainly possible to build a brand in the short-term
without passion, it’s almost impossible to sustain it in the long run. When you examine massively
successful people like Steve Jobs, they all have a serious passion that keeps propelling them to work
hard and continually deliver greatness. That passion leads to enthusiasm and genuine joy, which is
infectious.
When consumers come back to a business for repeat sales, they usually expect to receive the same
level of quality as they did the first time. Restaurants and their food and service quality are a great
example of this.
No one wants to deal with a company they can’t rely on for consistency. With so many industries
being saturated with competitors, inconsistency is often enough of a reason for consumers to take
their business elsewhere.
When it comes to the major players in any industry, none simply sit back and hope that their consumers will do the
work for them. Instead, they tend to be the movers and shakers who work tirelessly toward building and optimizing
their brand, going above and beyond consumer expectations. The end result tends to be a brand that is continually
on the cutting edge of its industry.
Another big part of being recognized as a distinctive, successful brand is the ability to reach consumers through multiple channels.
Obviously, larger companies have an advantage gaining exposure because they usually have a bigger marketing budget and more existing
connections. They can pay for television commercials, be featured in globally-recognized magazines, and rank highly in search engine
results pages.
To coordinate the efforts of team members and guide a strategic vision for a brand, someone has to step up and steer the ship. The leader resolves
complications and acts as a liaison between different departments to keep everyone on the same page. They are also expert motivators and know how
to maximize the strengths of different team members.