In this article we are we’re going to be discussing Brand Mistakes to Avoid
This article will contain some of the most common brand fails, here at The Logo Creative we work with a lot of clients both UK and international. We produce lots of graphic design work for clients usually logos and marketing materials plus web design projects
We also help them with their brand strategies and through the years we have found that there are some pretty common errors that clients make if they try to build a brand on their own without getting professional advice and guidance from the professionals
We thought it would be useful to run through these brand fields and let you know what to look for and what you can fix.
Table of Contents
Brand Consistency
The first area is not having consistency with your brand having consistency is what helps people remember who you are and what you do!, you can do this through visual imagery compelling photography, keeping the same color palette using the same typography if you change that from one piece of visual marketing to the next it makes it hard for people to remember who you are!
Can the consumer differentiate your brand from another? by keeping consistency in your graphic visuals it means that when someone catches a glimpse of something that represents a visual graphic that’s produced for your brand they’re more likely to recognise it more quickly.
It doesn’t have to be only visuals you could come up with a tagline that people will use to remember your brand and I bet if i reel off a few famous brand taglines that more than likely you will know and get an image in your head of who the brand is and what it is they do.
What about “I’m loving it” “just do it” “Finger-Lickin’ Good” These are all big brands that have made sure they have consistency when it comes to their marketing
“I’m loving it” McDonald’s
“just do it” Nike
“Finger Lickin’ Good” KFC.
Make sure that when you are producing the branding materials that you have that consistency so people can build up an image of you over time and then they only need to see and hear little bits of your branding to engage their brain and remember who you are.
Good Design
It’s one thing to be consistent but it’s another thing to have good design there really is no excuse in today’s world to not have good design in your branding there are nice free tools out there that can be used in your web browser tools like Canva.
They are easy to use and your able to save your logo and your brand color palette in the software platform so that every time you go back into the interface it’s there ready to be used again this will make sure that when you create things for your social media platforms that everything is consistent you’re using the same logo who every time you’re using the same color palette the same typography today’s audiences are so visually sophisticated that if you start to use poorly created graphics it’s really going to turn them off.
I’m not saying this is a workaround to get out of paying a professional designer but let say you have had invested in a professional designer to design your logo but you just don’t quite have the budget to have your social marketing images or shop posters/flyers created you.
You jump into Microsoft word paste that gorgeous logo at the top and attempt to create a flyer…This is something I hate to see that beautiful logo slapped on a crappy MS Word doc that looks like a 5 yr old has created it makes me wonder why they invested in the logo in the first place as this is something that will harm your brand not just visually but in every way possible.
So Canva is a great free online tool to use if you’re strapped for cash to knock up a fairly decent image that looks good for your social marketing.
Brand Strategy
This is an area that a lot of brands fail by not having a solid brand strategy in place
A Lot of businesses just go full steam thinking once they have a logo that’s it they now have a business and people will come dashing through the door to buy their products and the email inbox will be flooded with potential customers wanting your service…Really? Far from it!
You should have your brand strategy in place well before you have your logo designed because your logo will be based on what it is that you want to do other factors include
- what’s your purpose?
- what’s your mission?
- what’s your values?
- what’s your differentiating factor between another business who sells a similar product or service you offer?
The brand strategy is really important it’s the mortar between the brand’s bricks that holds everything together and make sure you keep focused on everything that you do when you’re pushing your brand forward.
What is it that you can do with your brand that makes people care why should people care about your brand and your product and service to anyone else’s. That should be in your strategy to.
There’s an awful lot that goes into a brand strategy too much to explain in this article but just to make you aware that if you don’t have a brand strategy then you’re in trouble.
Not Researching The Brands Audience
“A brand that is everything for everyone, ends up being nothing for anyone!.”
That’s a good quote right there and something we should all live by when it comes to our brands.
Today people are much more segmented and they know exactly what they want and this is why you need to target the segments that want what you have
By trying to sell to everyone what your doing is spreading your brand far too thinly and then you don’t attract anyone you go unnoticed, There’s nothing different and nobody cares!.
By zoning in on that segment of people that really want your product then they’re more likely to buy more quickly because they feel that you know them inside out and you’re speaking directly to them you’re talking their language and the thing that you offer has all the benefits that they are looking for.
Not Listening To Your Audience
You may think that you are in total control of your brand but your customers have quite a large say in what it is you do and where your brand’s going to go after all they are the ones that give you the money.
For example you want to move your brand into a new area and use a sub-brand offering a new service or product you really need to do the research and check that it’s something that your audience and customers are going to want and not just something that you think is a good idea or you think they want it as thinking that someone wants something is not the same as knowing that they want something.
You could spend an awful lot of time effort and money for it all to be wasted just because you didn’t do the research and ask your audience if you’re a brand that is normally specified for selling a certain product or offering a certain service and you throw a curveball in there that your audience really isn’t expecting then you can probably expect the worse from that situation.
A prime example of this is back in the eighty’s Colgate decided that it be a great idea to expand their product and move into the realm of frozen foods now, most people I would say 99.9% of people related Colgate to toothpaste that white minty taste!.
When Colgate decided to reveal that they were going to come out with these frozen meals. The first thing that people connected in their heads was “minty” and “ready meals” it just doesn’t work!
Colgate really did not do the correct research by asking their audience is this something that you would buy from us? Because the answer probably would have been no because of the thought of toothpaste and minty products for cleaning your teeth with.
These are a few areas that we have come across with a lot of business owners who are trying to build their brands.
If you can relate to any of the areas mentioned in this article when it comes to your business it’s time to act now you’re aware of it it’s time to resolve and do this correctly and don’t try and do it on your own if it’s not your area of expertise and get professional help and guidance and then move forward from there.