Many organisations, big or small, strive throughout their lifetimes to reach such a strong market position that no matter what it did, it would be safe. Well I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but this kind of utopia does not exist. It is impossible for any company to achieve such immunity, and for proof let me use the one brand that many perceive as achieving such ‘mistake-proof’ status: Coca-Cola.
Explore our historical blog articles for nuggets of wisdom (and random musings) from our crew.
We have been banging our heads in the strategic and creative rooms lately in the creation of new names for business and products for our clients.
When I started out in this business all those years ago this was a relatively quick, even fun process. Now however it has become almost painful, you come up with a name that you are sure is a winner and sure enough it
is taken.
One of the most challenging aspects of brand design is ensuring that the implied message is correctly perceived across different cultures.
We’ve all witnessed some of Australia’s biggest companies undergo a brand change recently; Woolworths and ANZ are two giants that instantly come to mind. As someone whose daily task is often advising how to implement change, I tend to pay pretty close attention to how these massive overhauls are implemented. Believe it or not, the change process is not that dissimilar, regardless of whether you employ 10 people or 10,000. The only real difference is money, and the degree of national media coverage (which means we can all learn from the big guys’ very public mistakes!)
As brand architects it’s our business to know about brand ownership. You have absolutely no idea how many people believe that once they’ve had a brand designed and paid for it, they own it. If your one of those people I need to very quickly shake you from your complacency.
Colour is an important and powerful mechanism, especially when it comes to packaging and branding. It can influence a consumer to buy one product over another or to spend more money on what is essentially the same item. Designers use colour, and colour combinations, to create a personality for a product or brand and affect your perception of it’s value.
In today’s digitally obsessed world it comes as no surprise that more and more of our clients are requesting electronic templates as an important part of their livery collection. With email the preferred communication tool for many, traditionally printed livery items like letterheads and brochures are often left on the office shelf in favour of electronic versions.