Budweiser’s reshaped beer can: less beer, more aluminium, innovative?

by Marketing ON 24 April 2013

We were able to send a man to the moon and create a bottomless portal of information called the internet and now, thanks to another milestone in the history of human innovation, US beer brand Budweiser has released a bow-tie shaped can.

Thanks to a technological breakthrough in aluminium manufacturing, the can, which will be released in May in the US, looks almost pre-crushed, and is skinny in the middle, to emulate the Budweiser logo, a bow-tie. The new beer can will also actually hold less beer than the original version, but still cost almost the same amount. Possibly in an attempt to assist customers to look more like the skinnier version of the can?

In a time where companies are becoming more concious about their environmental footprints, the new Bud can reportedly uses twice as much aluminium as the original can. If the cans prove to be successful with consumers they’ll stay on as the standard beer car.

There is some speculation Bud might be trying to emulate Coca-Cola and its iconic bottle designs. Pat McGauley, vice president of innovation at Anheuser-Busch tells Fast Co.Design, “Honestly, our brand needs more design to it. We have brown bottles and aluminum cans… Obviously, Coca Cola built their iconic shape over many many years. We’ve had this bow-tie icon, but we haven’t been able to shape the aluminium until now. It’s quite an opportunity for the Budweiser brand.”

“I think, like every invention and innovation, we had a lot of trials and tribulations. It was splitting and not shaping properly,” he explains. “So it does have twice the aluminum in it, but we like that a lot. It feels sturdy and high quality. And the shape of the bow tie fits nicely in your hand.”

Budweiser Bowtie Can

You beauty, Woolworths is getting a makeover

by Marketing ON 4 April 2013

Woolworths has unveiled a new beauty retail format to be situated at Woolworths Town Hall supermarket in Sydney’s CBD.

Claiming to be a first for Australian supermarkets, Woolworths Beauty will feature beauty bars with dedicated beauty consultants offering treatments, tips, advice and samples, as well as LED screens and beauty TV to create an integrated and experiential consumer destination.

“We wanted the design to be much like a destination, creating not only an enjoyable physical experience with beautiful products to match, but one that informs shoppers,” says Jaid Hulsbosch, director at Hulsbosch, the communications firm that designed the format.

A strategic departure from the grocery sector’s more traditional model of hair and beauty, this move looks to “respect not only Woolworths as a brand – its values, personality and proposition – but the consumer experience,” adds Hulsbosch.

Woolworths enters the premium beauty market on the back of encouragement from the trend in Asia Pacific that is forecast to generate an extra US$5 billion worth of premium sales by 2016.

A departure from the norm for supermarkets, Hulsbosch believes the interactivity, and ability to engage consumers through a “sense of drama”, will reinforce Woolworths as a leader in its category.

Design thinking and innovation big guns coming to agIdeas 2013

by Marketing ON 2 April 2013

Business masterminds Dan Formosa (Smart Design USA founding member) and John Barratt (president and CEO of global industrial design consultancy Teague) are heading to Melbourne, as part of agIdeas International Design Week.

Formosa and Barratt will speak at the Advantage Business Breakfast, which looks to provide information on the link between design, design thinking and innovation, taking place on Thursday 2 May. The pair will discuss how design thinking is acknowledged globally as a stimulus for innovation, and will talk to their areas of expertise, across creativity and will address pertinent issues with an eye on the practicality of applying outcomes in the business environment.

Through case studies, the duo will analyse exactly why innovation can work for both new and existing products across different industries.

Formosa’s Smart Design clients include Coca-Cola, Ford, General Motors, Hewlett Packard, Intel, Johnson & Johnson, Kellogg’s, LG Electronics, McDonald’s, Microsoft, Nike, Samsung, Shell, Toshiba, Toyota and Yahoo! so there’s plenty to learn from the man’s methods here.

Meanwhile, Barratt, leads the development of design strategies for some of the world’s best-known brands, including Boeing, Hewlett-Packard, Nike, Panasonic, LG, Samsung and Microsoft as part of his CEO Teague role.

Find out more about the Advantage Business Breakfast at agideas.net or call 03 9416 2966

Brand for sale: BYO product

by Marketing ON 14 February 2013

Could selling a brand without a product to marketers be the next big thing for design agencies? One such agency in the US is pioneering the idea, charging a single flat fee of $18,000 for designing a brand identity before a product, service or target market has even been considered.

With the concept engineered by Ben Pieratt, identity/product designer and co-founder of social shopping site Svpply, the goal of ‘Hessian‘, is to design an effective brand identity before a client has even entered the fray.

Within the fee to future-clients, the package includes a comprehensive marketing ensemble of wares: a Hessian URL, Twitter and Tumblr accounts, image assets, an app interface – plus 30 hours of design time to customise Hessian to the buyer’s needs.

Pieratt’s idea is in direct response to the ‘backwards’ approach to the conventional workflow of brand research between client and designer and aims to place brand as hero over product.

But the ultimate goal is to put designers on an equal grounding with clients, with, as Pieratt explains: “designers becoming entrepreneurs in their own right”, before quoting the revered designer behind Coca-Cola, Walter Landor, who stated: “Products are made in the factory, but brands are created in the mind”.

How to get the designer you want (and get the best out of them)

by Jason Sew Hoy ON 17 December 2012

At 99designs we’ve come to know the design business very well, with more than 180,000 graphic design projects completed through our site since pioneering graphic design crowdsourcing. We’ve seen every variant of designer-client relationship and heard praises sung, curses cursed and war stories told from both sides.

To put the anecdotes we’ve been privy to into context, we recently surveyed more than 2000 graphic designers around the world. We aimed to find out what designers are seeking in their interactions with clients, what challenges they face, and how the best relationships function.

We’ve distilled the results of this survey into a few vital guiding principles that’ll help you develop good relationships with exceptional designers:

Be clear about your needs

Provide a clear conceptual brief, so the designer knows what they’re trying to express visually. The thing designers like the most is someone who knows what they want – and this goes far beyond the direction to simply ‘make it look good’. You have to clearly describe the nuances of your product or service for a designer to efficiently deliver a design you love.

It’s also important that you’re clear about the terms and nature of a project. If it’s ongoing, say so – designers will be more engaged and maybe even discount their rates if there’s the chance of additional work. If there’s a set time-frame to a job, let the designer know this in advance, rather than calling them and demanding work before deadline.

Make your budget and rate clear, and have regular discussions about remuneration if the designer is doing more hours than you’ve initially budgeted for. Try to pay on time – many small businesses, including designers, experience cash-flow issues, and paying promptly will make good designers keen to work for you again.

Provide creative challenges

Designers are turned on by creative challenges. More than half of the designers surveyed said the chance to spread their wings and create something amazing is what drives them, with money coming in second.

Find ways to engage your designer creatively and present the problems to be solved in terms of creative possibilities. Our feedback tells you that designers crave your input, and this is your chance to encourage your designer to excel.

Stay in touch

Designers aren’t just looking to be patted on the head and acknowledged when they say they want feedback during a project. A designer, especially a freelancer who has just begun working with you and doesn’t yet have a good idea of your aesthetic tastes, will want to get a quick ‘yay’ or ‘nay’ on a rough concept or idea before putting in painstaking hours to flesh it out. Taking the time to give quick, constructive responses will strengthen your relationship, and you might even get what you want in fewer billed hours.

Work through disagreements

At the end of the day, you do call the shots. It’s your money that’s being spent, and your business that will use the designs produced. Very few designers will walk off a job simply because there are disagreements with the client.

Having said this, you’re likely to get far better value for money, and come out with a better product, if you’re willing to incorporate a designer’s input and listen to their reasoning. Designers have opinions, and in the area of visual expressions of businesses, they are experts. It’s likely the designer has sound business reasons for their recommendations, and it doesn’t hurt to ask if it feels like they’ve forgotten to bring you along for the ride.

Encourage the entrepreneur

Designers are businesspeople, too, and they don’t necessarily want a full-time job at your company, or any company (though feel free to offer if you want to snap them up!). In ten years’ time, seventy percent of designers see themselves still freelancing or running their own businesses. This goes to show that the common perception held by business owners that designers are clueless about the business world – which 30% of designers indicated as a leading misperception – is badly misguided.

You should give the designer a quick but thorough background of your business so they understand your narrative, target market and brand. Getting to know you, your customers and your outlook can provide a great knowledge base for a designer to work from.

This might be why designers told us their favourite sector to work for is the art/design business itself. They’re speaking to people fluent in their native language, and working in an area of business they know intimately. If you’re outside this area, make sure to invest the time in setting the right foundation and you’ll find this pays dividends in lifting both the engagement and output of your designer.

Finally, if you’ve got a designer you’re pleased with, grow their business. Recommend them to others in your field, and aim to collaborate on projects you think you’d both excel on. Forge ongoing links with good designers and you’ll be rewarded with both great design work and long-term creative allies for your business.

The below graphic shows some of the key findings from 99designs’ survey of designers.

Click image for original version.

Rebel rebrands to black and yellow to tackle premium market

by Marketing ON 3 December 2012

Rebel Sport has unveiled a new look as part of efforts to revitalise the brand and positions itself in the premium end of the sporting good retail market.

The new brand identity, developed by branding and design consultancy Hulsbosch, includes a new logo, store redesigns and new brand executions across all aspects of the shopping experience, both online and off.

It aims to reposition the business as a premium sports retailer while increasing its share of active sports enthusiasts and growing the market among less active female consumers.

The brand’s new livery is yellow and black, with brand awareness of the Rebel name deemed strong enough to warrant dropping the word ‘sport’ from the logo and the second ‘e’ flipped to communicate the spirit of competition.

Underpinning the redesign is the idea of striving for one’s personal best, managing director, Rebel Group Limited, Erica Berchtold says. “Rebel’s new look stores and identity articulates our commitment to becoming Australia’s leading and most inspiring sports store destination.”

This ethos will also steer the overall brand vision for Rebel and be embedded within the internal culture of the business.

Jaid Hulsbosch, director, Hulsbosch adds, “As an established 27-year-old business it was important to identify the values of the Rebel brand and the core assets inherent in its graphic identity. With this understanding, we worked on the idea of being the best you can and applied this as a brand attribute that carried meaning and relevance through to its customer base.”

The first of the new stores has opened in Sydney’s Brookvale with plans to roll out the new design to four more stores in Sydney and Melbourne by the end of the year. The roll out is due for completion in 2017 by which time a further 185 stores will have been refitted with the new look.

McCartney Design worked with Hulsbosch to create the new store fit out.

Rebel Group’s value brand retailer, Amart Sports has also undergone a brand repositioning the low-cost end of the market with messages focusing on community, value, product range and enthusiastic participation.

Debate: Does free pitching exploit designers?

by Marketing ON 29 August 2012

In the pitch process for designers and design agencies, the expectation to present concepts for free is exploitative and does not foster a mutually collaborative relationship with the client.

Jaid Hulsbosch
Director
Hulsbosch
hulsbosch.com.au

Affirmative – The fact that this question is still relevant and needs to be asked is itself dismaying. The expectation that design agencies would happily free-pitch is indeed exploitative and goes in the face of a mutually productive and collaborative relationship.

Some agencies still do, however, and are willing to drop their pants. The harm to the industry is absolute. When design, branding and creativity are understood, the added commercial value that design and branding can contribute to a business is not questioned. Effective design affects the bottom line. Clients and marketers should be aware of this by now. It is inappropriate to be asking for this professional insight and creative intelligence for free.

Any relationship is based on mutual respect, trust and personality. Successful business relationships are no different. Before a client decides on who they want involved in the pitch process, [they should] take the time to assess a design agency’s credentials, understand the agency’s processes and procedures, make the time to get to know the people and how they tick.

Many of us in the industry have a story to share. Ours was of a high profile, global financial services client who asked us, yes, to drop our pants. Apart from the gall this request reflects coming from one of the most profitable and unaccountable sectors globally, it reeked of disrespect. If they wanted to see our creative and strategic recommendations, they were going to have to pay for it. Knowing who else they approached, I made a few calls to make sure the anti-free pitch stand was made… we all banded together.

The only way to ensure free-pitching doesn’t happen in the future is if we all refuse to do it.

Richard Swain
Strategist
Landor Associates
landor.com

Neutral – The answer ultimately depends on what the client views to be the major purpose of the pitch: is it to see a comparison of concepts, or rather hear different ideas and approaches to a campaign?

Many clients are looking for ideas and strategic thinking in the pitch process, and justifying payment for this can be difficult. If a company is looking for a vast selection of pre-prepared visuals, however, it’s not unreasonable to expect them to remunerate the design firms.

Ideally, firms shouldn’t need to produce a large amount of free creative work for a pitch – previous campaigns should speak for themselves. When viewed through this paradigm, the pitching process allows clients to place a premium on new and creative solutions for designated issues. It also allows for an increased focus to be placed on the more intangible aspects of a business relationship, such as personal rapport and compatibility, which often plays a significant role in the overall output.

Other times, however, agencies are expected to produce their very best work to win new business – and it’s natural for them to want to go above and beyond. If clients wish to see this level of work, it is reasonable to expect a firm to be reimbursed.

Ultimately, this needs to be thought of as an investment. Companies who approach the pitch process half-heartedly can only expect to receive half- hearted responses, and this won’t do anyone any favours.

All pitches are unique, and there is unfortunately no science to the process. No matter which side of the ‘pitching’ fence you are on, it’s imperative to commit to the approach you’re taking.

Clients should ensure their expectations are not higher than what agencies are willing to give, as this can only lead to one outcome: a misplaced investment by both sides.

Kevin Finn
Creative/Director
TheSumOf
thesumof.com.au

Affirmative – I am passionately against a creative pitching culture.

In a pitch invitation, the brief is usually flawed, simply because it never contains all the necessary information the designer needs.

A professional designer can offer objectivity by asking difficult questions without any baggage or emotional attachment to the organisation.

An informed designer makes considered recommendations about what may be best for the organisation and where the opportunities may lie. In contrast, the pitch brief is usually laced with assumptions the organisation has about their business and its needs.

The expectation is for the designer to ‘respond to the brief’, rather than to question the brief with professional objectivity.

When a fully-informed designer collaborates with an organisation on writing a brief, the result is mutually beneficial. This process is the opposite of pitching – it is smart business.

In a pitch scenario, the designer’s resources are usually taken from paid work. This is potentially damaging for the business, insensitive to paying clients and irresponsible of the pitch organisation to expect this service without appropriate remuneration.

Although winning the pitch may remunerate the ‘successful’ designer, the remaining candidates are expected to absorb the costs and time.

In some instances, a pitch is set up purely to assess how the designer might respond creatively. This is a waste of time as there are other, more accurate, more ethical and more informative ways to assess this. For example, a designer’s credentials and their portfolio of work will give any organisation a good indication of the designer’s abilities and their areas of expertise. More than that, speaking with the designer’s previous clients will provide insight into the designer’s process and their working relationship. In short. A pitch invitation exposes an organisation’s lack of understanding or value for design. It also highlights a lack of decisiveness.

Margaret Zabel
CEO
The Communications Council
communicationscouncil.org.au

Affirmative – The pitch should be the start of a great partnership.

The design process is complex and requires strong planning and creative skills. Design is an integral part of the communications mix and is becoming increasingly so, with the growth of digital technology and social media requiring brand identities to be integrated across increasingly more, and interactive touch points.

Whether clients should remunerate agencies requires serious consideration from both parties. A number of guidelines have been developed by both The Communications Council and the Australian Association of National Advertisers to help address this challenge.

For a credentials presentation there is no expectation nor should there be a requirement for compensation, as this stage provides a mutual learning opportunity and introduction for both the agency and the client.

However, when there is a further request for creative ideas or concepts which require a significant amount of time and commitment, the client does need to show the agency that they respect the level of investment and expertise necessary to deliver this as part of a pitch process. Also, unless the client negotiates a separate fee for ownership of the creative concepts, they remain the intellectual property of the agency.

At the end of the day, we are in the business of commercial creativity and paying for an agency’s expertise, time and commitment is all part of that process – it is important that clients acknowledge this. Equally, the agency also has the choice not to participate in a pitch process if it feels the client expectations are not reasonable. Following best practice guidelines for pitching should help ensure that the process kicks off on the right foot, and that it lays the groundwork for a valuable long-term relationship for both parties based on mutual respect and trust.

Microsoft’s new logo – the first in 25 years

by Marketing ON 24 August 2012

For the first time in a quarter of a century, technology giant Microsoft is changing its logo.

The new logo is in line with the new design direction of Windows 8 and Windows Phone 8, known as Metro (officially Windows UI), the tiled interface of which is a radical departure from previous Windows products. Windows 8 is scheduled for an October launch.

General manager of brand strategy, Jeff Hansen, revealed the new logotype and symbol combo, the first time a symbol has been part of the company’s official mark: “It’s been 25 years since we’ve updated the Microsoft logo and now is the perfect time for a change. This is an incredibly exciting year for Microsoft as we prepare to release new versions of nearly all of our products. From Windows 8 to Windows Phone 8 to Xbox services to the next version of Office, you will see a common look and feel across these products providing a familiar and seamless experience on PCs, phones, tablets and TVs.

“This wave of new releases is not only a re-imagining of our most popular products, but also represents a new era for Microsoft, so our logo should evolve to visually accentuate this new beginning,” he wrote in a blog post.

Starting today, the new logo will be used prominently on Microsoft websites, advertising and marketing material and is being rolled out at the company’s US retail stores already.

“Fully implementing a change like this takes time, so there may be other instances where you will see the old logo being used for some time,” writes Hansen.

The typeface used in the logotype is the Segoe font, which Microsoft uses in its products and marketing communications.

The video below unveils the new look:

Building a master brand

by Marketing ON 27 June 2012

Campaign: Masters Home Improvement brand creation

Client: Woolworths Limited/Lowe’s joint venture

Agency: Hulsbosch

Background

Masters is a new DIY retail concept launched into the Australian market on 2 May 2011. Hulsbosch was appointed to work with Woolworths, in partnership with US home improvement giant Lowe’s, to create the new Masters Home Improvement brand. Hulsbosch was entrusted with designing and overseeing all brand applications including the name, identity, signage and the complete in-store experience.

The idea behind the Masters brand was a strategic business move by Woolworths Limited to break into the $42 billion home improvement market, currently dominated by the Bunnings Warehouse chain owned by Wesfarmers. With Bunnings as the clear market leader, the importance of creating impact was key to the new brand’s successful launch.

Masters offers a range of over 35,000 home improvement products to trade and retail customers include lighting, paint, flooring, kitchens, outdoor furniture, appliances, gardens, walls and windows, power tools, storage, plumbing and bathrooms, and its 12 current stores are intended to expand to a network of 150 sites across Australia over the next five years.

Objectives

The big picture challenge that faced the brand was entering a market which was lead by an established and sole competitor, Bunnings, and having a strong enough brand proposition that could promote interest and trial, thereby winning customers in order to build a loyal customer base.

In 2009 Woolworths appointed Hulsbosch to develop the name, identity, the brand’s entire look and feel, store interiors, livery, uniforms, signage systems, collateral and merchandise. The retail brand was to be timeless, memorable and instantly recognisable.

In a market dominated by competitor brand, Bunnings, Masters needed to have a positioning that could instantly capture the attention of retail and trade consumers of both sexes of all ages and cultural backgrounds.

Having an existing relationship with Woolworths, Hulsbosch had an opportunity to evolve Woolworths’ positioning strategy of ‘Better quality, better service, better price’ by empowering customers with information on how to select and use specific products.

With customer service identified as a key area that could set the brand apart, Hans Hulsbosch travelled to the US to experience hardware shopping at Lowe’s and their competitors first hand.

Strategy

By immersing itself in the home improvement market both nationally and internationally, Hulsbosch armed itself with extensive research to develop the Masters name and visual identity.

The solution for the name, ‘Masters’, came from a simple insight. If you want to build or renovate your home or business, who do you trust to do the job? Answer: the master builder; the master painter; the master craftsman.
Woolworths recognised the values inherent in the name. It is synonymous with excellence, skill, professionalism, trust, guidance and artistry and backs up the Woolworths positioning from which Hulsbosch had borrowed inspiration.
So too, it could connect with both staff and customers alike empowering them with clearly defined goals to be ‘masters’ of customer service and their DIY projects, respectively.

Execution

The visual articulation of the brand identity was inspired by the turning thread of a drill-bit. The forward motion symbolises the search for a better future and the colour of dark blue is the tradesman’s colour, chosen to represent the brand.

Through collaboration with Leffler Simes Architects, Hulsbosch created bright, airy and spacious store interiors. Stores are brightly lit and colourful with polished concrete flooring to place more emphasis on attracting female shoppers.

Buzzers are located around the store which, when pressed, alert a nearby staff member to that location to assist customers. Customers can use pagers to enable them to continue shopping while their paint is tinted, and selling more ‘non-hardware’ lines such as white goods, as well as having McDonald’s restaurants and McCafés in selected stores are all intended to create a completely satisfying in-store Master’s brand experience.

Stores have defined areas for trade and retail customers, and there is a consistency of message articulated through a distinctive visual language from the store’s exterior signage, which sees the identity brought to life with a 3D treatment, to the way-finding car park signage, high level in-store corporate banners, in-bay signage and self-service checkouts.

To develop the educational signage system, Hulsbosch worked with dozens of client vendors, breaking each product category down into simple ‘how to’ explanations. The team developed a colour strategy to classify products by task, type and quality. In all, Hulsbosch designed and implemented over 3,000 internal signs. Other brand iterations included truck livery, merchandise, staff uniforms, credit cards, name-tags and brochure work.

Results

Half-yearly results showed Masters clearly outstripped Bunnings in growth, posting a 16.4% increase in sales figures in the six months ending 31 December 2011 – almost two and a half times the growth experienced by Bunnings.

In Woolworths Limited third quarter sales results for the 13 weeks ended 1 April 2012, it reported an increase in total group sales of 3.8%, to just over $14 billion.

While most of the company’s divisions saw modest improvements, Masters was once again the stand out of the group, posting a 29.4% increase in sales, from $163 million to $211 million, year-on-year.
The launch of Masters has generated a significant amount of press coverage, which is likely to translate to increased brand awareness over time, and the brand launch has been welcomed by the industry as it introduces competition in a sector that was being driven by one major player.
Additionally, the company has announced that it will be launching a Masters Home Improvement transactional website in the fourth quarter of the fiscal year as part of Woolworths’ new ‘multi-option offer’.

The below video features an interview with Hans Hulsbosch detailing the inspiration behind major aspects of the brand creation as well as briefly illustrating its development.

$3M backing for Shoes of Prey mainstream push

by Marketing ON 7 June 2012

Australian start-up Shoes of Prey plans to use $3 million in funding secured from heavyweight backers to invest in a major marketing push and take the design-your-own-shoe brand mainstream.

Based in Sydney, the three-year-old online retailer received large financial backing from US venture capitalist Bill Tai, Silicon Valley blogger/investor Michael Arrington’s CrunchFund and Mike Cannon-Brookes, co-founder of the Australian-based global enterprise software Atlassian, according to a report in the Sydney Morning Herald.

Co-founder and CMO of the multiple-retail-award winning company, Jodie Fox, told Marketing the funding would go to expanding their marketing team and experimenting with new innovations.

“One of the things we’re most excited about with the funding is trying out some of the things we’ve been wanting to experiment with from a marketing perspective,” Fox said.

“We plan to keep working on initiatives to innovate on social shopping functionalities that have yet to launch on our site, and expand our product offering.” Predominantly a pure-play online retailer, barring a few dalliances with pop-up stores and markets, the brand also plans to “blur the lines between online and offline retailing” and experiment with ‘storytailing’, Fox revealed.

Shoes of Prey’s other co-founders, ex-Google employees Michael Fox and Mike Knapp, discuss the blurring of retail and media being used by retailers to create stories around their products, known as storytailing, on their blog — 22michaels. The trend could have serious implications for fashion media, with retailers such as Mr Porter dabbling in high-quality, magazine-style publications that use product ranges to create fashion content.

Jodie Fox’s marketing responsibilities are to be split into five as the start-up takes on roles traditionally the domain of media companies, such as copywriter, web graphic designer and videographer. Other hires are also being made to take the size of the team from 14 to 24.

Fox, who was named Telstra’s Business Woman of the Year 2011, told the Herald the deal was proof that Sydney had the ideas, talent and execution to hold onto bright young entrepreneurs who’ve been increasingly leaving the country for the fertile start-up grounds of Silicon Valley.

“In light of the calls from [Sydney Lord Mayor] Clover Moore and [Google Australia managing director] Nick Leeder just last week to turn Sydney into Silicon Beach, we’ve got the proof that we have the talent and the Silicon Valley buy in to make it happen,” she said.

The company recently launched another niche online shopping site called Sneaking Duck, which aims to turn prescription glasses into a fashion item that wearers own multiple versions of.

Brand health check: the 4 golden rules

by Jason Sew Hoy ON 4 June 2012

From retail to technology, great brands make great businesses. But what makes a great brand, and how can you build one that stays front of mind? Give yours a health check with the following golden rules:

1. Great brands represent values

Brands that work well usually express a value. This could be quality, value for money, a green or ethical approach, or fun.

To ensure that yours is working effectively, make sure that your ‘visual language’ (your logo’s design and colour scheme) says the right things.

From font to colour palette, match your branding with the key value you want customers to perceive. JB Hi-Fi for example is about ‘bargain prices’, and they use a strong visual signature with bold colours and a lot of handwriting to emphasise the bargain basement persona. If you’re a consultancy, consider calmer tones and rounded shapes.

The better your visual language corresponds to your values as a business, the stronger your brand will be.

Remember also that brands are never instant – while first impressions count, brands take a while to develop. They’re as much about reputation as they are appearance.

2. Great brands offer connection

From Electrolux to Apple, people make judgements on and emotional connections with brands.

To help them, your brand must work to differentiate your products from your competitors. A useful exercise can be to imagine your brand as a car. Mercedes, for example, says ‘class’, Volva says ‘safety’ while Toyota says ‘reliability’.

The ultimate goal is a single overarching value: just one word or attribute. Of course your products or services will have many positive attributes, but brands often do their best work by focusing on just one, especially at the outset.

Focus group testing can help to ensure that your message matches your intent.

3. Great brands are memorable

If you can build a unique brand, you’ll be also building one that’s remembered.

What makes a memorable brand? Again, simplicity helps. Often, it’s simply a colour or a scheme (think Cadbury’s purple or NAB’s red and black). Sometimes it’s a slogan (‘Lowest prices are just the beginning’ or ‘Eat Fresh’).

Consistency is key. Make sure that you pick the strongest element of your brand and promote that across all your advertising and marketing materials.

4. Great brands evolve

The best brands, like the best businesses, adapt over time. Once your brand is established, continue to ask whether it reflects how your business is currently positioned. Is it a hangover from when your business was something else?

Social media is highlighting how fluid brands are and how audiences control and shape them. So in addition to design, it’s important to invest in an online presence for your brand: one that matches your brand values.

Summing up

The best brands are a combination of design, differentiation and connection. Building one requires a solid foundation of smart design, followed by determination and persistence.

It can be hard work, but the more you invest, the more your brand will begin to do the work for you, putting your business top-of-mind for customers in any marketplace.

3 things marketers need to know about design

by Jason Sew Hoy ON 24 February 2012

Marketing and design have the potential to be one of the great pairings of the modern world, seamlessly working in synergy so that each impacts the other positively. Yet many marketing/design combinations focus solely on flat, if pretty, images that lack substance, and much of what great design can do is lost in the superficial.

Here are three ways to rethink the marketing and design relationship:

1. Understand what design can and should do

Design should embody how you want people to perceive and use your products and/or services. It is not just a visual representation of your brand; it can, and should, trigger an emotional connection with prospects and current customers. Good design, as with good marketing, will have people imagining how your product or business can improve their lives.

Think of design as a function that communicates a message. Apple, for example, is famous for its minimalist design, which gives the impression of simplicity and tells us that its products are easy to use. On an emotional level, this says to the user, ‘I will make your life less complicated’. As a marketing tool, design will determine people’s overall experience of the brand and convey its values.

2. Learn how to work with a designer

The best way to understand design is to position it against art: art is an expression, design is an impression. An artist takes the lead on an artwork and what it communicates; a designer will work in collaboration with the business to ensure that a design creates the right impression of the organisation. It is therefore important to find a designer who is in sync with your business: ask questions and look at their portfolio to get a grasp on their style and determine whether it fits your brand.

One of the biggest barriers in the relationship between marketing and design is the top-down approach in which the marketing department dictates what a designer should produce without supporting that brief with organisational vision and values. You may not know exactly what your end result will look like, but you should have an idea of how you want it to make your customers feel and what values it represents for your brand. You hold the vision – design is the tool to achieve it.

Marketers also need to recognise design as a journey. A designer will never get it right the first time, but throughout the process your feedback will lead them to the desired destination. The more involved you are, the better the end result will be. You can’t expect a designer to come back two weeks after an initial meeting with the perfect result – you need to spend time shaping their ideas into what you want your brand to be.

3. Keep yourself educated about design

If you’re reading this blog, you’re already in the right place! There are plenty of business design blogs out there, and you could potentially spend hours filling your head with design-related tips, tricks and information. But the key isn’t to become an all-out design expert – it’s to acknowledge and recognise what design does, and what it can do for your company in particular.

One of the most wonderful things about design is that it’s all around us – simply opening your eyes grants you an all-access pass to the design world. You interact with other people’s designs every waking moment of the day, whether you’re singing in the shower, driving to work, Skyping a colleague on another continent at your desk or standing in line at the market.

Chances are you already have an opinion on whether the designs around you are effective and what could be improved to make your experience better. The trick here is to start thinking consciously about how design makes you feel. Actively recognising what makes great design experiences great is a fantastic way to educate yourself – and to boost the likelihood of coming up with a powerful and successful design for your own brand.

Think of a pairing like director Sofia Coppola and fashion designer Marc Jacobs. Each has talent that justifies their individual celebrity, yet Coppola’s role as Jacobs long-time muse has led to a special synergy that sees their collaborations go beyond the brilliance of the individual. Just like great marketing/design pairings, one plus one really can – and does – equal much more than two.