face your brand! the visual language of branding explained sample book

AlexanderGreyling

The cardinal truth about visualbrand creation for the beginner*

What they didn’t, wouldn’tor couldn’t tell you aboutthe most importantpart of branding!

*Academic, Accountant, Architect, Attorney, Account Executive, Analyst,Brand Manager, CEO, CFO, Copycat, Creative Director, Design Student,DTP Operator, Doctor, Engineer, Entrepreneur, Freeloader, Geek, GraphicDesigner, Marketing Executive, Miser, Monopolist, Politician, Scrooge,Web Developer

www.faceyourbrand.co.za

The visual languageof branding explained

c

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Enjoy reading this sample and I sincerely hope it will inspireyou to purchase the complete book.

Alexander Greyling

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DIGITAL EDITION NOTES

Before any design professional, purist or perfectionistcriticises this eBook in terms of design, typography or layoutplease read the following notes.

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iv

FFAACCEE YYOOUURR BBRRAANNDD!! THE LANGUAGE OF VISUALBRANDING EXPLAINED

Published by Alexander Greyling in August 2009, PO Box1958, Northcliff, 2115, Johannesburg, Gauteng, South Africa


© Pyramid Trust 2009

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may bereproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in anyform or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying,recording or otherwise) without the prior written permissionof the author.

Set in Tahoma 10,5pt/15pt

Editors: Gillian de Jager, Michael Waddacor

Proofreader: Michael Waddacor

Cover illustration and design, text layout and typesetting:Alexander Greyling

ISBN 978-0-620-44310-4

09 1

Interpretation of of the digital edition code: The double-digitnumber is the year of the book’s digital edition and thesingle-digit number is the number of the book’s digitaledition. Biannual revisions of the text and the updating ofhyperlinks are planned for this book.

Face your brand! is an independent publication and has notbeen authorised, sponsored or otherwise approved by AppleInc.

Adobe, the Adobe logo, Acrobat, the Acrobat logo, Distiller,PostScript and the PostScript logo are trademarks orregistered trademarks of Adobe Systems Inc in the UnitedStates and/or other countries.

Apple, Apple TV, Aqua, eMac, iMac, iPhone, iPod, iTunes,LaserWriter, Leopard, MacBook, Macintosh, Mac OS, Numbers,Safari, Snow Leopard and Tiger are trademarks or registeredtrademarks of Apple Inc, registered in the United States andother countries.

Dewar’s and White Label are registered trademarks.

Direct X, Encarta, Excel, Internet Explorer, Microsoft,Microsoft Office, MS-DOS, MSN, PowerPoint, Tahoma,Windows 95, Windows 98, Windows Media Player, WindowsMobile, Windows Vista, Windows XP, Xbox, Xbox 360 andZune are trademarks or registered trademarks of the Microsoftgroup of companies.

Jack Daniel's and Old No.7 are registered trademarks of JackDaniel's.

Johnnie Walker, Red Label, Black Label, Green Label, GoldLabel and Blue Label, the Striding Figure/Man device and

v FFAACCEE YYOOUURR BBRRAANNDD!! .. .. ..

associated logos are trademarks of Diageo Brands BV,Molenwerf 10, 1014 BG Amsterdam, The Netherlands 2006. Allrights reserved.

Mozilla, mozilla.org, Firefox, and the Firefox logo aretrademarks or registered trademarks of the MozillaFoundation.

Netscape Navigator is a trademark of NetscapeCommunications Corporation.

OpenOffice.org is both the name of a software product — theOpenOffice.org Productivity Suite — and the name of theopen-source project which designs, develops, maintains,translates, tests, documents, supports and promotes the Suite- the OpenOffice.org Community.

PowerPC is a trademark of International Business MachinesCorporation.

UNIX is a registered trademark of The Open Group.

The author respects the intellectual property of others and allcopyright material, logos, trademarks and registeredtrademarks contained in this publication are and remain theproperty of their respective owners.

Currency conversion

In this publication, the author cites financial values inAmerican dollars (US$) with an equivalent in South Africanrands (ZAR). The rand was trading against the dollar at about10:1 at the time of writing. Exchange rates continue tofluctuate.

vi FFAACCEE YYOOUURR BBRRAANNDD!! .. .. ..

Disclaimer

Although every precaution has been taken in preparing thispublication, the publishing author assumes no responsibilityfor errors or omissions. Neither is any liability assumed fordamages resulting from the use of the information containedin this publication. While every effort has been made to makethis publication as complete and accurate as possible, nowarranty of fitness is implied. The information in thispublication has been provided on an “as is” basis. Thepublishing author shall have neither liability nor responsibilityto any person or entity with respect to any loss or damagesarising from the information contained in this publication.

vii FFAACCEE YYOOUURR BBRRAANNDD!! .. .. ..

1

CONTENTS

IS THIS BOOK FOR YOU?

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

PREFACE

FOREWORD

INTRODUCTION

1/SOME BRANDING BACKGROUND

Logo, brandmark or brand or what?

Visual branding

Predator/prey behaviour and the herd instinct

Innovate, do not imitate!

Nature’s role in branding

2/WHAT IS BRANDING?

The origins of branding

What makes brands successful?

The water of life: from the monasteries to themasses

The AA ll ii eenn that spawned sequels, a quadrilogyand two crossovers

Horses, bulls, PIs, cops, vice and automobiles

Animals, politicians and the survival of acentury-old brand

From a one-hit wonder to a superbrand band

PP rroo bboonnoo affection helps beckon 140-milliontourists annually to the Empire State

If you wish for peace, prepare for war

Jews invented Christmas

The forbidden fruit of information technology:life before and after Microsoft

3/BATTLES, RAPE, PARASITES, DIAMONDS ANDOTHER BRANDING TALES

Cyber brand battles: David vs. Goliath

The history of Goliath: Copycat Bill and Microsoft(M$)

Microsoft’s Windows and Apple’s OS

Microsoft Office, OpenOffice and Apple iWork

Microsoft’s Internet Explorer, Netscape, Mozilla’sFirefox and Apple’s Safari

Microsoft’s Xbox, Nintendo’s Wii and Sony’sPlayStation

Microsoft’s Zune and Apple’s iPod

Microsoft and Apple Retail Stores

Windows Mobile, Symbian OS, Apple OS iPhoneand RIM BlackBerry smartphone operatingsystems

Copycat Bill and the law

The brandmark equity of Microsoft and Apple

2 CONTENTS ...

Brand exploitation by the parasites: the myth ofno-name brands

Brand Hitlers and the co-branding coin

Heads

Tails

Brand rape, incest, bastards, hybrids and mutants

Diamonds are forever but monopolies don’t last

A diamond is a girl’s best friend

Brilliant branding and repositioning in a marketyou no longer control

4/THE QUALITY AND COST OF GOOD BRANDING

What is quality branding anyway and how do youdefine it?

What will it cost?

Brand equity

Short-term profits versus long-term brandinvestment and equity

Branding for franchises

5/HOW TO CREATE GOOD BRANDING

Why does it have to be visual?

Create the right perception in your prospect’s mind

The incredible power of association

The seven essential elements of a successful brand

The life of a brand

Birds are clever dinosaurs

Incongruent branding

3 CONTENTS ...

6/CHOOSING A NAME

What’s in a name?

It should be a four-letter word

Personalise it

Professional

Other important considerations

Brand architecture: line extensions, side brands,families and children

Do your homework

7/THE SCOTTISH WAR CRY: YOUR SLOGAN,DESCRIPTOR AND POSITIONING STATEMENT

Define your brand

Add your USP

Your slogan

8/THE RIGHT SYMBOL

Symbolism in our society

Brand Barbarians

Abstract or real?

A recognisable symbol

An abstract symbol

9/THE PSYCHOLOGY AND SCIENCE OF COLOUR

Colour legibility

Colour names

The colour wheel

Primary colours: unmixed pure colour and itsassociations

Secondary colours: two equally mixed primarycolours

4 CONTENTS ...

Tertiary colours: two unequally mixed primarycolours

Hues

Tones

Shades

Tints

Neutral colours

Discords

Metallic colours

Colour systems

Pantone®

RGB

CMYK

Monochromatic

Control the source

10/TYPE AND TYPOGRAPHY

A brief history

Typography and branding

Primary and secondary type design usage for themost effective branding

Free type

11/GOD’S SIGNATURE – YOUR BRANDMARK IN THERIGHT FORMAT

The perfect face

The boredom of symmetry and the beauty ofharmony in your brandface

Other branding considerations

Less is more: the Japanese design principle

5 CONTENTS ...

12/EVOLUTION, REVOLUTION AND MAINTENANCE

Evolve or revolt

The law of entropy

Create a brand bible

Different platforms

The two-image file formats

Raster image file format

Vector image file format

How does this work?

Change champion and brand custodian

13/COPYRIGHT, OWNERSHIP, INTELLECTUALPROPERTY AND OTHER LEGAL ISSUES

Copyright © and ownership

Trademark ™

Registered trademark ®

14/LET YOUR BRAND FACE AN AUDIT

Your brand symbol — possible score: 80

Your brandname – possible score: 123

Your brand descriptor and slogan/positioningstatement – possible score: 44

Your brand colour/s – possible score: 60

Your brandmark in the correct visual format –possible score: 30

Other factors – possible score: 26

Add up your score and deduct the following

How did your brandmark score?

6 8/THE SCOTTISH WAR CRY: YOUR SLOGAN ...

15/LOGO COMPETITIONS, OUT-OF-THE-BOX LOGOS,STOCK LOGOS, CHEAPIES, ONLINE LOGO DESIGN,SAME DAY AND SPEEDY GONZALES

16/USING A DESIGN PROFESSIONAL

Do your homework

How to brief The Suit and The Creative

Your product or service

The competition/opposition

A comparison with other non-related productcategories

The name

The descriptor, positioning platform and slogan

The colour

The symbol: abstract or real?

Type and typography

The look, feel and tone

Quote and quality

Was the design brief met?

It is a process, not an event

17/CONCLUSION

18/FURTHER READING

GLOSSARY

BIBLIOGRAPHY


ABOUT THE AUTHOR


8

IS THIS BOOK FOR YOU?

Read this book if you have decided to: be a betterentrepreneur start a business buy a business becomea partner in a business change the name of your company change/revamp the logo/trademark/brand identity of yourcompany segment your market diversify into othermarkets add new products to your existing range/coreproducts increase market share have an edge on, orwipe out the competition become self-employed be abetter designer/architect/marketing or communicationsmanager/politician/entrepreneur.

Monopolists, dictators, medical doctors, lawyers,chartered accountants and engineers could greatlybenefit from this book but, sadly, their sheltered employmentand/or right-brain amputation does not breed innovation orencourage good brandmark generation, so it stunts healthycompetition.

If you are from China, Korea or Taiwan the foundation ofbrands is intellectual property, a foreign concept to you.Reading this book may help you on your way to start torespect, protect and understand branding. If you are from

Korea and eat your own pets, the only thing you could dowith a brand is rape it, like Daewoo, and since this book isabout the contrary – creating brand equity – it may notsatisfy your sick appetite. However, give this book a shot onyour menu – who knows, maybe you’ll learn something byeating it. I will still not buy anything branded LG or Samsungor Kia or Hyundai or SsangYong.

If you are from Canada, you should be familiar with visualsof the cruel and commercial slaughter of seal pups, a posterof a woman trailing blood from her fur coat with the headline,“It takes up to 40 dumb animals to make a fur coat – butonly one to wear it”. Powerful stuff that spawned internationalsuperbrand IFAW (International Fund for Animal Welfare). AllI can say is, I support the culling of seal clubbers. However, ifyou support seal clubbing you are lower than snakeexcrement at the bottom of the ocean.

You should also be familiar with that brave Canadian, CaptainPaul Watson, who heads the Sea Shepherd ConservationSociety (SSCS). The Captain’s aggressive and no-nonsenseefforts and intervention contrast starkly with Greenpeace’spassive stance. He is commendable for trying to stop illegalwhale hunting (masquerading as research) by the Japanesewhaling fleet in the Antarctic Ocean south of Australia.

The Captain knows how to use branding effectively by sailinga black-painted ship called the Steve Irwin. Named after theCrocodile Hunter and christened by his wife Terri, who said:“If Steve were alive, he’d be aboard with them!” This cleverbit of branding helped Captain Watson to gain not onlysupport from the Australian public and territorial and logisticalsupport, but also global backing for the SSCS.

9 IS THIS BOOK FOR YOU? ...

In the widely published Whale Wars, the documentary realityTV series that aired on Animal Planet, Captain Watsonharasses and attacks the Japanese under the pirates’ blackflag of old, featuring the dreaded skull and crossbones. Buthis version of the crossbones features a shepherd’s staff(representing the care and protection the SSCS affords thesea creatures) crossed with Neptune’s spear (signifying directintervention as the best way of defence at sea). Inrecognition of the only organisation that has saved the livesof nearly 500 whales, 5% of proceeds from the sale of thisbook will go to the SSCS.

If you are a miser or a scrooge, do read further. Youwill save a lot of money but be warned – branding involvesinvesting money, like buying this book, which is a riskybusiness, since past results are no guarantee of futureperformance. Then go give this book to your wife’s sister’sbrother-in-law’s daughter who has just bought a PC withCorelDraw and bully her into doing a freebie brand for you.

And lastly, copycats, please buy this book and read it afterrepeating the following: I understand original and creativethinking might damage the few cells left between my ears,and that it could also be a hazard to the health of the rest ofmy body. I am, however, sincerely interested in discoveringthe reasons for my conduct and how to adjust this parasiticbehaviour so that I can contribute to my society in ameaningful way. Oh, just before you put down this book, turnthe pages back to the title page and read the bit about“©Pyramid Trust ...” You have been warned!

This book (or owning a PC for that matter) will notturn you into a designer. For that you need talent (somethingthat cannot be added as an optional extra after birth), lots of


it and dedication so you can pass an entrance exam at atertiary learning institution where you will spend at leastthree years of full-time training in graphic design andassociated disciplines, followed by many years of practice inthe industry, aided by very expensive specialist computerhardware and software, usually from Apple Inc.

After reading this book, you should be able to brand acompany or product, brief and converse with a designer (ifyou are a designer, you should be able to develop a properbrief and converse with the client) and manage the creativeprocess with ease, implement and maintain a brand identityprogramme and hopefully, help create, build and nurture asuccessful brand that will continuously pay handsomedividends in terms of your career and, yes, your bankbalance.

If you are a designer and want to be smart, buy two ormore copies of this book. Give one to the client oncommencement of his branding programme; it will make yourlife so much easier and you could look like a hero. (Repeatthis with every prospective or new client.) Read a copyyourself, so that you know what the client now knows and sothat you don’t look like an idiot. If you found you kneweverything already, well then, thanks for supporting a fellowdesigner. Then give that copy to another designer or the nextprospective client, or if all else fails, a miser or scrooge. Andmaybe I can learn something from you; email me [email protected]


15

PREFACE

In commerce and industry, on TV, billboards and shopfronts,in magazines and newspapers, on the World Wide Web, in thehigh-street stores and supermarkets, in fact nearlyeverywhere, there is generally bad, bleak or no visualbranding. With the worst economic recession since the 1930s,it is now more important than ever to have a brand that isvisually fit or beautiful to give you a chance of survival.

So what is beauty and can we quantify it? A substantialamount of work by scientists supports a Darwinian theory ofselection, which predicts a survival advantage based onphysical attractiveness or beauty. “Beauty is defined as thequality or combination of qualities in an entity which evokesin the perceiver a combination of a sense of ‘strongattraction’ and a sense of ‘strong positive emotion’.” – DrStephen Marquardt, oral and facial reconstructive surgeon andinventor, famous for his patented beauty mask.

Dr Marquardt asserts that it is possible to figure out exactlywhat makes a beautiful face. He used his professionalexperience, along with his studies in engineering, to build apatented mask that he believes defines the ideal face. Themask is based on a mathematical construction which uses the

ancient Greek ratio known as the golden mean (themathematical ratio of 1:1,618, otherwise known as phi or thegolden ratio), a proportion that for centuries has helpedartists, architects and others create eye-pleasing forms andworks of art (see Chapter 11: GOD’S SIGNATURE – YOURBRANDMARK IN THE RIGHT FORMAT).

He claims to find that people of either sex who are consideredattractive in various cultures have facial features that fit thismask. The mask shows the structure of a beautiful face andwhen placed as a transparency over pictures of variousbeautiful people – men, women, Caucasian, black, Asian – italways lines up and fits.

Still think beauty is in the eye of the beholder? I think not.Face your brand! is the brandmark’s beauty mask. It deals indetail with the seven compelling visual elements that result inthe visual brand beauty and attractiveness that could giveyour brandmark the edge for survival. Take the brand audit inChapter 14: LET YOUR BRAND FACE AN AUDIT, and find out ifyour existing or intended brandmark has brand beauty and isvisually fit. This is the first book to address visual brandingfor the beginner by a design professional with vast experiencein branding, ranging from small family businesses tomultinational corporations.

Although this book was written from an African perspective,the branding lessons we learnt in South Africa, the jewel ofAfrica, are universally applicable. Proof of this are the SouthAfrican brands that produced multibillion-dollar global players,such as De Beers and SABMiller. The De Beers diamondadvertising and marketing campaign that promoted diamondsas a symbol of love and commitment is acknowledged as oneof the most successful and innovative in history and in 2000,“A Diamond is Forever”, the company’s slogan since 1947, wasnamed as the best advertising slogan of the 20th century.

16 PREFACE ...

The Oppenheimer family is worth US$5,7-billion (ZAR57-billion), placing them in position 62 on the Forbes 400 list ofthe richest people in early February 2009 and making clanleader Nicky Oppenheimer the richest man in South Africa.Afrikaans tycoon, the late Dr Anton Rupert, founded theRembrandt group that has now been split into two entitiesafter restructuring: Swiss luxury goods company Richemontand investment holding company Remgro Limited.

Richemont is the third-largest luxury goods company in theworld by turnover and owns such luxury brands as Cartier(jewellery), Alfred Dunhill and Sulka (designer clothing),Seeger (leather bags), Piaget, Baume & Mercier and VacheronConstantin (Swiss watches) and Montblanc (pens). Son JohanRupert’s shareholding in these respective companies makeshim worth an estimated US$900-million (ZAR8,59-billion) andthe second-wealthiest man in South Africa.

We are at the forefront with our supermarkets and bankingsystems. Raymond Ackerman, the supermarket king, amassedin excess of a billion dollars and Lauritz (“Laurie”) Dippenaar,the king of banking, with more than half a billion US dollars(ZAR5,23-billion) is not far behind. Our advertising industry isone of the most respected in the world and our design talentis sought after in the USA, UK, Canada, the Middle East andAustralasia. We perfected the electronic vehicle security thathelped to make Bill Venter the tenth-richest man in SouthAfrica with a US$220-million (ZAR2,22-billion) fortune.

We invented the first automatic pool cleaner. Ourcontroversial brand of rugby players, the Springboks, thatplayed their first game more than 100 years ago, have wonthe prestigious Rugby World Cup twice. We have fieldedformidable players in cricket, golf and other sport. Celebritiessuch as Gary Player, Ernie Els and Retief Goosen have becomelegendary brands.

17 PREFACE ...

Bruce Fordyce, who won the Comrades Marathon for anunprecedented eight consecutive years between 1981 and1988 and again in 1990, is still the current world recordholder over 50 miles (set during the 1983 London to Brightonultra marathon) as well as the 50-mile record for the UnitedStates All Comers Race. He is the former world record holderover 100 km set in 1989, the year he skipped the ComradesMarathon.

Mark Shuttleworth (the second self-funded space flightparticipant) made world headlines when he sold his CapeTown-based Internet security company to VeriSign, earningZAR3,5-billion, about US$575-million at the time. Evenapartheid created one of the best-known and respectedbrands (as well as a string of Nobel Peace Prize winners) inthe world: Nelson Mandela. South Africa, the cradle ofhumankind and the face of a peaceful Africa, has a lot ofbrand wisdom to share.

Regardless of where in the world your brand lives, if its faceis just in need of some fresh make-up, a makeover, minorcosmetic surgery, a facelift or a complete face transplant, Isincerely hope the expert information in this book will helpyou become a successful brander who will leave a prosperouslegacy for your children.

May the face of your brand evoke in the perceiver acombination of a sense of strong attraction and a sense ofstrong positive emotion that will peak their dopamine levels.

Alex GreylingJohannesburg, South AfricaAugust 2009

18 PREFACE ...

19

FOREWORD

This book’s manuscript was emailed to me on a cold wintermorning as I was preparing a lecture to colleagues tocelebrate the “teaching and learning” that was taking place atthe group of educational institutions where I am privileged tohave taught visual communication for the last 10 years. Onreading the first few chapters, my paper took a turn, as theysay, for the worse as I became completely engaged with themanuscript and lost track of my work at hand.

Two or three frosty mornings later, as I was attempting tofinish my presentation, I realised the proposition, which thisbook delivers, formed the core of the lecture I was about todeliver. An introduction to the visual language of brandingwas essentially the same departure point for my presentation.

After 25 years in the brand communications industry, I believethat to fulfil the expectations placed on brand communicators,they will need to employ a set of skills that will include a fewbeyond today’s typical scope of skills. No single designer, letalone brand communicator, is likely to have all the skillsrequired, yet the body of information contained in thesechapters begins to reveal the range of competencies effective

brand communicators will need to start understanding andapplying if they want to meet future visual branding demands.

Without doubt, the brand communicator working in Africa oranywhere else in the world must have the ability to createand develop visual responses to many communicationproblems and challenges. They will need to solve vast andoften complex communication problems over a range ofbranding-related disciplines.

This mission can only be successfully achieved through abroad understanding of the diverse issues relating to thecognitive, social, cultural, technological and economiccontexts of brand communication. Responding to audiencecontexts by recognising physical, cognitive, cultural and socialhuman factors that shape visual communication decisions canbe aided by an understanding of, and an ability to utilise,tools and technology.

To be such a flexible and nimble practitioner of visual brandlanguage, you could do well to keep a copy of this book closeto you for whatever the morning you have to confrontbecause the information herein is incredibly useful. I certainlyfound it so on a cold morning.

Kevin CollinsAcademic navigatorVega School of Brand CommunicationsJohannesburg, South AfricaAugust 2009www.vegaschool.co.za

20 FOREWORD ...

21

INTRODUCTION

What was possibly the most significant event of the 20thcentury, the Second World War, would not have occurredwithout the power of branding. The most powerful, potentand controversial brand and branding programme ever mustbe that of the National Socialists of Germany, the Nazis,supported and underscored by Hitler’s personality.

Look at the identity of the Nazis: the infamous black, bold,angular and perfectly proportioned, modular, clockwise-hooked swastika — the base turned through a 45° angle formore of a dynamo-like, dramatic effect — symmetricallycentred and restricted on a contrasting, formal, clinical whitecircle against a dominant field of blood red.

Applied as an armband, it was punched out on neutral grey orblue uniforms and even more so on black, exclusively worn bythe elite Gestapo. Red was reserved for use in insignia for thegenerals and senior staff officers, and for trim such as thelapels of a general’s greatcoat and the vertical stripe downuniform trousers. Borrowed from Roman times, and not bycoincidence, are the standards (or banners) so effectivelyused in mass rallies, capped by the spread-winged noble

eagle, clutching the wreathed swastika as well as theprominent use of the Black Letter type design.

In the late 1930s, Germany was at the forefront of the artswith the Bauhaus movement, headed by the architect WalterGropius, who designed some modern sans-serif type, still inuse today. Not surprisingly, the Nazis saw this institute as tooliberal and freethinking and chose a type design that was intotal contrast and reflected instead the proud heritage of theFatherland and the far-right nationalists. What could be moreperfect than the decorative, heavy gothic type, dating back tothe Rhineland of the fourteenth century, contrasting sobeautifully with the contemporary clean lines of the swastika?

Before the advent of colour TV and when black-and-white TVwas still in its infancy, the Nuremberg mass rallies on Partei-Tage (Party Days) helped to play the role of building thevisual brand. Massive multiple red standards, emblazoned with

22 INTRODUCTION ...

National Socialistsof Germany Gestapo

As wornby Hitler

The enemy:die Juden

27

SOME BRANDING BACKGROUND

Chapter 1

Logo, brandmark or brand or what?

Logo is the traditional term used to describe a symbol such asa pictograph forming the centrepiece of a corporation ororganisation’s corporate identity. It could also be called alogotype in the absence of a symbol and if made up of agroup of type characters. A brandmark is not just anotherword for a logo, but stands for a group of essential elements,which could include the brand symbol, the brandname,descriptor and slogan all appearing in a single distinctive anddominant colour in the correct visual format. However, in timeand with mass exposure, superbrands such as Shell, Nike andApple use the brand symbol as the only element of theirbrandmark. For more details, see Chapter 5: THE SEVENESSENTIAL ELEMENTS OF A SUCCESSFUL BRAND.

The term brand is used to describe all aspects associated witha brand and its positioning in terms of price, product offeringand market share.

Accordingly, in this book I do not refer to a logo but to abrandmark. The only exception is in Chapter 15: LOGOCOMPETITIONS, OUT-OF-THE-BOX LOGOS, STOCK LOGOS,

CHEAPIES, ONLINE LOGO DESIGN, SAME DAY AND SPEEDYGONZALES. In this context, logo is the traditional term usedto describe only the symbol of a brandmark.

Visual branding

The first encounter that the prospective consumer or clienthas with your brand will be verbal or visual. Face your brand!is about lining up the visual with the verbal; to present acohesive, concrete image for the abstract concept itrepresents: the right name combined with the right visualelements. This book is not about financing your brand, norcosting you branded products at the correct price. Nor is itabout the correct choice of services or products or the day-to-day administrative support of your brand. It does not concernyour human resources or your distribution network, yourlocation or your IT infrastructure.

Naturally, all of that and a lot more play a role in the successof a brand. If you do not have adequate finance to execute alarge order, and your product or service is substandard as aresult, this will influence your brand. Face your brand! issolely about the visual branding of your product or service,wherever that occurs. After reading some of the informationin this book, you may ask: But how come such-and-such-a-brand lacks the recommended visual elements yet the entityis number one in their category and doing very well?

The answer is that there is a lot of bad branding out thereand the reason for that entity’s success (which could beshort-lived) is not always evident. A bad brand could have atotal or partial monopoly in terms of distribution – such as anational franchise – price or location. It could be a well-established and entrenched brand that has been around fordecades and has had little or no competition so far.

28 1/SOME BRANDING BACKGROUND ...

34

WHAT IS BRANDING?

Chapter 2

The origins of branding

When the first comments about this book came back, onereader said I had not explained enough about brands,branding and examples of the application of successful andfailed branding. Branding used to be perceived as the domainof fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) but is practised acrossthe board now that the power of branding has been realised.In this chapter, I have used various examples of brands thatsometimes date back decades or even a century, or arebrand-new. From the first brand that was expanded to aglobal market in 1896 by the Scots with their water of life, tohorses and bulls on supercars in the 1960s, to aliens inHollywood in the 1970s. From the pro bono affection thatsaved New York in the late 1970s to the latest forbidden fruitsnow available in your local Apple Retail Store. From “make myday” to the day that all retailers love.

These brands are all well known and illustrate that success ispossible across a broad range of products and services,provided you have the correct branding. No matter howuninteresting or exciting your product or service is or whether

you own a mom-and-pop store or a multimillion-dollarbusiness, survival today without proper branding is highlyunlikely.

The Bible says that God branded Cain for killing his brother.The Greeks, Romans and the cowboys of the American WildWest all used branding to give their property a distinctivemark to prove ownership. In Nazi Germany, Jews wererequired to wear a Star of David as an indicator of being amarginalised group in German society. Branding literallymeans “to burn with a branding iron to indicate ownership ofanimals” and at that time, brands were designed by usinginitials and graphics in a way that would make it difficult forothers to imitate. In commerce today, letters, numbers,words, names, symbols, or any combination of these elementsforming a single visual brandmark, are used as a sign ofidentity to signal a company’s pedigree and business. Inaddition, a brandmark distinguishes a company’s products orservices from the similar products or services of rivalbusinesses.

What makes brands successful?

A successful brand creates an instant association with aproduct or service. The highest level of achievement in theworld of branding is to create a brandmark that is instantlyrecognisable, even if the name of the brand is not present.Examples are Nike, McDonald’s, Shell, Mercedes-Benz andApple.

Brandmarks are associated with linguistic and visualrepresentations. These are usually formed of the brandnamewith a symbol or sometimes, although not ideal, bothrepresentations rolled into one. Even though the Coca-Colabrandmark lacks a symbol, it is set in a unique type (script)

35 2/WHAT IS BRANDING ...

Take the famous cartoonist, Tom Browne, to lunch, buy him adrink and then ask him to draw a figure on the back of themenu to personify your brand. That’s how the Johnnie WalkerStriding Man, one of the first globally recognised advertisingfigures, was born. It has reportedly become one of theworld’s first internationally recognised brandmarks, ahead ofthe distinctive Coca-Cola script.

The “Keep Walking” advertising campaign was launched in1999, the first global campaign for the brand. The characterkeeps walking through history in “Striding”, the 2008television commercial that marked 100 years since therebranding of the whisky. In the same year, the world’slargest Striding Man made its appearance in the form of abuilding wrap in Johannesburg, South Africa, and is visiblefrom many vantage points in the city. The billboard spansthree sides of a 35-floor skyscraper in the central businessdistrict and is the size of 70 rugby fields. The wrap coversalmost the entire building’s surface, except for the windows,


The progression of the Striding Man starting with cartoonist Tom Browne’s1908 cartoon. In 1999 the Striding Man was mirrored, now facing the otherway, and appears in gold only against black in advertising campaigns.

Animals, politicians and the survival of a century-oldbrand

This is the story of a brand which has matured over the past100 years into a global superbrand and an example of thepower of branding regardless of time, politics, race or culture.It helped heal the wounds after a bitter war over a centuryago. It caused national sportsmen to rebel against their owngovernments and later united a nation after apartheid wasdismantled and, as a result, yielded what is widely viewed asone of the 100 Greatest Sporting Moments in history. Today,after repeated onslaughts by politicians with racial quotasystems and unsuccessful threats to change its name, thebrand has emerged stronger than ever, and stands proudly forwinners and the ultimate respect a sporting side could earn:world champions.

The South Africa national rugby union team, commonlyreferred to as the Springboks or Boks for short in English,Springbokke or Bokke for short in Afrikaans and Amabokobokoin Zulu, has won the Rugby World Cup twice (1995 and 2007)and is currently ranked number two in the InternationalRugby Board (IRB) World Rankings.

The Springboks play in green and gold jerseys, and officiallytheir emblems are the Springbok, a South African antelopewhich is also South Africa’s national animal, and the king


The Springbok brandmark does not legally belongto the South African government but to the SARugby Union (SARU), previously known as the SARugby Football Union (SARFU), which registeredthe trademark in 1996

™

“Bohemian Rhapsody” that was voted, several times, thegreatest song of all time. The band decided to make a videoto go with the single. The result is generally considered tohave been one of the first “true” music videos produced andwas the first musical video offered free of charge to anyprogramme, network or station which would air it. In 2003, ANight at the Opera was ranked number 230 on Rolling Stonemagazine’s list of the 500 greatest albums of all time.

The brandmark, affectionately known as Queen’s Crest, is inthe form of a heraldic design resembling the royal coat ofarms of the United Kingdom. Its focus is the queen’s crown,positioned on an oval shield which is created by a ribbonsimultaneously forming the capital letter Q. Stylisedillustrations of the four member’s zodiac sun signs; two lionsfor Leo (Deacon and Taylor), a crab for Cancer (Bryan May),and two fairies for Virgo (Freddie Mercury born as Farrokh

Bulsara) surround the Qshield in various positions. Inastrology, the planet Mercuryis the ruler of Virgo and wasobviously the inspiration forFreddie’s surname. Thesedesign elements are all setagainst the background of aphoenix rising from theflames.

I remember walking past arecord shop back in 1977 inJohannesburg when for thefirst time I heard “BohemianRhapsody”. Bryan May’s guitarplaying stopped me dead in


The definitive album of the classic Britishrock band featuring Queen’s Crest

Pro bono affection helps beckon 140-million touristsannually to the Empire State

The need to brand New York City came during the city’s fiscalcrisis in the late 1970s. Crime was rampant, the city’s cofferswere empty, businesses and their employees were desertingNew York City and tourism was suffering. The State of NewYork commissioned graphic artist Milton Glaser to develop acampaign, and the “I�NY” slogan was born, with its goal topromote tourism.

The I Love New York brandmark is a rebus, a pictogram orpicture representation of a name or phrase, consisting of thecapital letter I, followed by a red heart symbol � , belowwhich are the capital letters N and Y, set in a rounded slabserif typeface called American Typewriter. Glaser expected thecampaign to last only a few months and did the work probono.

Launched in 1977, the “I�NY” design became the mostrecognisable brandmark of any city in the world. Thecampaign was so successful it was plastered on everythingfrom coffee mugs to buttons and bumper stickers. JohnLennon and other famous names have all been photographedwearing T-shirts emblazoned with the slogan. This innovativepop-style icon became a major success and has continued tosell for decades.

The image became especially prominent whenthe Twin Towers fell on September 11 2001after terrorist attacks on the city, whichcreated a sense of unity among the people ofNew York. After September 11, many visitorsto the city bought and wore the shirts bearingthe “I�NY” brandmark as a sign of their


Eastwood reportedly made it famous as “the most powerfulhandgun in the world” in the movie Dirty Harry. It was alsofeatured in the popular film Taxi Driver in 1976.

Although at the time of its introduction, the Model 29 was themost powerful production handgun and it certainly looked thepart as well, it was soon overtaken by competitors. After themovie’s release, Smith & Wesson could not keep up with thedemand for the Model 29. In the late 1990s, Smith & Wessondiscontinued production of the basic Model 29 but have sincethen at various times manufactured the model in limited orcustom configurations.

“Go ahead, make my day” is a phrase written by Joseph CStinson and spoken by the character Harry Callahan (playedby Clint Eastwood) from the 1983 film Sudden Impact. In2005, it was chosen as number six on the American FilmInstitute list, AFI’s 100 Years ... 100 Movie Quotes.


The Smith & Wesson Model 29, madefamous by and is still most often associatedwith the Dirty Harry series of films starringClint Eastwood

And how true that is today, with the bonus cheque andannual holidays over the festive season, extended shoppinghours at one’s favourite mall, bargains to be had at almostevery shop with plenty of months to pay. In the Westernworld and a large part of the Eastern bloc, no other eventlasting for only 24 hours generates so much income forretailers. According to a survey in Britain on Boxing Day 2007,£1,2-billion (ZAR16-billion) was spent on unwanted gifts thepreceding day and Sky News reported that sales of £1 000per hour in individual shops in malls on Boxing Day were notuncommon.

As a result of thiscommercialism of Christmas,consumers (including mywife who is incidentallyJewish) erroneously believethe urban legend that thered-suited Santa Claus wascreated as a marketing toolby Coca-Cola. What apowerful association andclever piece of brandmanipulation that Coca-Colastarted back in 1931!

To boost sales during theslow winter months,memorable drawings (basedon an 1881 illustration byThomas Nast) were created,featuring a figure larger thanlife, the red-and-whitegarbed Santa holding,


Thomas Nast's famous drawing, "MerryOld Santa Claus", from Harper's Weekly,January 1 1881, p8-9

The forbidden fruit of information technology: lifebefore and after Microsoft

Today the Apple brandmark stands for innovation, reliabilityand cool products. It reflects functionality, balanced withproduct beauty. The company has managed to turn the box ofwires hidden in the study into a “must-have” lifestyle item.Few people realise that we could have had iPod and iPhonemobile digital devices (iPod and iPhone) and iMac computers(iMac) 10 years earlier. Still fewer people realise how Apple isgoing to change their lives and affect their future.

In the late 1970s, Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak created theApple Macintosh, commonly shortened to Apple Mac, the firstcommercially successful personal computer to feature amouse and a graphical user interface (GUI, pronouncedgooey) instead of a command-line interface.

In the early 1980s, Jobs was among the first to see thecommercial potential of the mouse-driven GUI. Jef Raskin, anApple employee, who envisioned an easy-to-use, low-costcomputer for the average consumer, wanted to name thecomputer after his favourite type of apple, the McIntosh, butthe name had to be changed for legal reasons. Thebrandmark, an apple with a bite taken out of it signifying thetasting of the forbidden fruit, truly delivered just that. In1985, the combination of the Mac, Apple’s LaserWriter printer


The ultimate brandmark; the symbol that stands forinnovation, reliability and cool products. Obviously youknow the brandname!

102

BATTLES, RAPE, PARASITES, DIAMONDS AND OTHERBRANDING TALES

Chapter 3

Remember the VHS/Betamax video format battle? VHS wonand became the standard for home entertainment, butBetamax became the standard format for the professionalentertainment industry because of its superior quality. Proofthat the client or customer is not always right.

But my story here is about monopolies and about Davidversus Goliath. In South Africa in the 1970s, a beer namedColt 45 was intended for marketing by Luyt Breweries (yesthis is the infamous Louis Luyt of SA Rugby fame, see Chapter2: ANIMALS, POLITICIANS AND THE SURVIVAL OF ACENTURY-OLD BRAND). About a week before the launch ofColt 45, SA Breweries (now SABMiller, a major South Africanplayer in the international market) advertised its intention tomarket a beer called Stallion 54. Advertisements were placedin the press and Stallion 54 was launched before Colt 45 wasavailable.

Not surprisingly, both beer labels sported a rearing horse.Luyt took SA Breweries to court, but lost. Luyt breweriesstood no chance against the SA Breweries monopoly and Colt45 soon disappeared into the sunset. At the time, I was a 20-

year old design student who thought the Colt 45 label lookedcool and fancied drinking it (it was also supposed to be astronger beer than the usual offering from SA Breweries) so Itook its demise very personally. Since then I have avoidedbuying SA Breweries products, settling instead for Scotch andthe occasional Windhoek Lager from neighbouring Namibia.Goliath 1, David 0.

In 2007, Heineken terminated its 40-year-old contract withSABMiller to brew Amstel Lager under licence in South Africa.This lager accounts for 9% of the local beer market. Themove had the result that SAB lost control of the most popularpremium beer brand in South Africa. At the time it accountedfor about 70% of SABMiller's premium beer offering, whichremains the fastest-growing market segment at an annualgrowth of 22,5%.

SABMiller, facing a major challenge to its beer monopoly inSouth Africa, responded with a similar trick to the one used inthe 1970s, by launching Hansa Marzen Gold in a green bottlewith a gold foil top, looking not surprisingly much likeAmstel’s packaging, in an attempt to leverage the SABMillerdistribution chain and the temporary gap in the market.Commenting on the termination of the licence, SABMiller CEOGraham Mackay said: “Our consumers remain our first priorityand we are confident of our continuing ability to provide themwith a comprehensive choice of superior and differentiatedbrands, backed by our strong marketing and distributioncapability.”

However, this time around Mr Mackay's “strong marketing anddistribution” and a bit of gold and green will not cut it forHansa Marzen Gold. It does not stand a chance, simplybecause it lacks the brand equity that was built over 40 years

103 3/BATTLES, RAPE, PARASITES ...

Brand rape, incest, bastards, hybrids and mutants

Supercar and sportcar manufacturers have a reputation forgetting into one another’s beds, and the relationship is rifewith inbreeding, incest and rape. They are also notorious forextending their brands into the competition’s niche market to“make more profit” and, in the process, end up looking liketheir competition. Look at any exotic or luxury car company’sshowroom and you will find most Range Rover, Mercedes-Benz, BMW and Porsche vehicles are boring black, white orsilver. Now take a look at the supercars: orangeLamborghinis, red Ferraris and bottle-green Aston Martins.The sooner motorcar manufacturers stop their promiscuousbehaviour and realise that being unique and distinctive issynonymous with successful branding, the sooner they willstart making a profit.

When Chrysler bought Lamborghini in the late 1980s,everyone seemed delirious with happiness. Phrases such ascash injection, plant makeover and accessibility to foreignmarkets had everyone in a seventh heaven. The 25thAnniversary model, the Countach’s swansong, saw thatfamous icon being put out to pasture. Once Chrysler hadsatisfied its lust when Lamborghini had developed andproduced the V10 power plant for the Chrysler’s Dodge Viper,the liaison ended. Sure, the legendary Lamborghini Diablo(Italian for “little devil”) was also conceived through thisunlikely alliance, but at what cost?

Luckily, the Diablo – with lots of love and nurturing from therecovering Italian single parent – grew into a 6-litre, 550horsepower, refined monster and ultimate supercar. Thencame a new romance for Lamborghini. Once again, the usualovertures were made, this time from Audi (part of VolkswagenAG). Unfortunately, this resulted again in brand rape with the


plain-looking Murciélago the offspring. No longer soundinglike a Lamborghini should and styled by a Belgian, only somevague lines indicated its Italian bloodline. Sure, it is fast.Sure, it is refined. But it is also sterile, boring andunimaginative. A very expensive Audi? What happened to theaggressive, revolutionary and outrageous design that madeLamborghini the envy and dream of every boy and adult foralmost 40 years?

Lamborghini’s next forced liaison resulted in the multipleconception of the Gallardo – a much better-looking BabyLambo that looks and sounds like the real thing and hasbecome the top-selling supercar of all time – and a boring,ugly grey twin, a concept car called Audi Nuvolari, the visionof Audi’s next grand tourer (GT). Its power plant has thesame V10 Lamborghini Gallardo engine with the top speedelectronically governed to 250 km/h. Same parents, sameengine, different looks. So what is left that’s Italian? Andwhat are you buying?


Many believe the Lamborghini Diablo – the last model before the Murciélago– was the end of an era: the end of the thoroughbred bloodline andanything after that lacks proper breeding

Diamonds are forever but monopolies don’t last

Powerful, emotional and consistent branding helped to createthe De Beers diamond monopoly. When it was threatened inthe 1990s by conflict diamonds and producers such as Russiadistributing diamonds outside the De Beers-controlledchannel, De Beers again turned to branding to save the day.They repositioned themselves in a market they no longercontrol and are now more profitable with a 40% market sharethan when they had an 80% market share in the 1990s. Letme bring you into the picture.

De Beers engages in exploration for diamonds, diamondmining, diamond trading and industrial diamond manufacture.Mining takes place in Botswana and Namibia (through itsjoint-venture partnerships with the respective governments),as well as South Africa and Canada, in every category ofindustrial diamond mining: open-pit, underground, large-scalealluvial, coastal and deep-sea. The Diamond TradingCompany, the rough-diamond sales and distribution arm ofthe De Beers Group, sorted, valued and sold about 80% ofthe world’s rough diamonds by value until the early 1990s.

These diamonds were then sold to the Diamond TradingCompany Sightholders whose representatives travelled toLondon several times a year for the sale or Sight as it wascalled. Today Sightholders (now numbering only 79) arerequired to comply with the De Beers’ best practice principles,which set out various objective standards of conduct in threemain areas: business, social and environmentalresponsibilities. (I designed brandmarks for two of theSightholders at the turn of the century and no mention wasmade of these noble standards; Mr $ and his rareappearances were the only standard I was reminded about.)


Get the picture? De Beers is big – very, very big! It is wellknown for its monopolistic practices throughout the previouscentury, when the company used its dominant position tomanipulate the international diamond market by persuadingindependent producers to join its single-channel monopolyand then flooding the market with diamonds similar to thoseof producers who refused to join.

The company purchased and stockpiled the diamondsproduced by other manufacturers in order to control pricesthrough supply. Ernest Oppenheimer stated: “Commonsensetells us that the only way to increase the value of diamonds isto make them scarce, that is to reduce production.” Now allthat was left for the monopoly to become fully fledged was toincrease consumer demand.

A diamond is a girl’s best friend

Consider this: a diamond – the rarest and hardest naturalmineral known – is worth no more that half its retail value.There is no hard-and-fast rule for the pricing of polisheddiamonds, but professionals in the polished-diamond industryuse a worldwide market price list, the Rapaport, based on thefour Cs, which are carat, cut, colour and clarity, as a generalguideline for evaluating polished diamond prices. And ajeweller usually adds a 100% mark-up to the Rapaport quotedprice. Apart from industrial applications, diamonds have noother value except when polished for their perceived beauty,which we all know is in the eye of the beholder. This bringsus to another aspect: the power of emotion.

In 1999, I experienced this first-hand while prospecting fordiamonds (just like the diamond diggers did at the turn of thecentury) along the Orange River, a stone’s throw away fromwhere the first diamond was found in South Africa. There are


167

THE QUALITY AND COST OF GOOD BRANDING

Chapter 4

What is quality branding anyway and how do youdefine it?

In one of the most profoundly important bestselling novels ofour time, Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance (1974),Mr Robert M Pirsig describes his quest (very strenuousjudging from the shock treatment he had to endure along theway) to define quality. In short, quality spawns both classicand romantic form. Both have to be present.

Take a motorcycle. The classic underlying and practical formconsists of precisely machined parts and, when assembled,result in near-perfect mechanics, capable of outstandingperformance with the function of transporting an individual(and in some cases a passenger) from point A to B.

The romantic and often overt form is the paint job, highlypolished and finished, complemented by lots of shiningchrome and a badge forming a pleasing shape that appeals tothe eye and the emotions. The yin and the yang. Science andArt. Left-brainers and right-brainers. The rational and theemotional. The masculine and the feminine. Blue and pink.You can play this game with professions too: the accountant

versus the designer, the engineer versus the gourmet chef.Lawyers and philanthropists. Politicians and ... well, youguess that one. Or with countries, such as Germany and Italy.Britain and France. Or your brand.

Your brandname, the ingredients or components of theproduct, the nature of the service, these are all classic. Theemotions your brandname evokes, its appearance andtypographical construction, the visual symbol and associationwith your name, the colour, these are all romantic. I knowyou will question the use of the romantic form if let’s say yousell classic form products such as motorbike clutches. You willargue that a classic type of person (the mechanic) will buy itand besides, once it is installed, who will ever see it? So ofwhat use is the romantic form?

Let me tell you about the clutch plate of the most popularFrench car in central and northern Africa. They use a well-known quality brand (also French) manufactured in SouthAfrica at a dirt cheap price: less than US$1 (ZAR10). (To savecosts, production runs are tagged on to the back of largeorders of other brands or during quiet times.) Now there isnothing wrong with this, except for the word “France”,stamped on the clutch plate. The metal chassis of the clutchplate is also painted a bright, almost luminous green.

It is shipped to France in a cheap plastic bag by thecontainer-load, where it is repacked in a sturdy but cheapfluted box and flexo-printed (the cheapest form of printing onfluted boxes en masse), once again in bright, almost luminousgreen with a plain and bold slab-serif brandmark. Thisbranded and packaged clutch plate is now exported tonorthern and central Africa and sold at an absolute premiumand, in turn, a huge profit. Also note how the cost was

168 4/THE QUALITY AND COST OF GOOD BRANDING ...

178

HOW TO CREATE GOOD BRANDING

Chapter 5

Why does it have to be visual?

Seeing is believing. When you first heard a favourite song onthe radio and before you saw the music video, what picturedid you form in your mind of the singer? And were youdisappointed or pleasantly surprised when you finally saw thesinger on TV?

When you spoke to someone over the phone for the first timebut had not met them in person, you try to put a face to thename and voice. You search your memory for a face thatresembles the name and that is how you make yourselfremember the person. Were you disappointed or surprisedwhen you met the person face to face? Most of the time, youare surprised by the person’s actual face. But, now, you willnever forget. Why? Because you filed the face with the namein your memory, reinforced by the visual evidence of meetingthe person. Don’t you think it is better to give people theperfect picture to remember your product by, instead ofleaving it to their imagination or lack of imagination?Something you can control and manipulate to suit your brandvalues and promise, and leave a positive first and repeatimpressions.

Create the right perception in your prospect’s mind

In The 22 Immutable Laws of Marketing (1993), Al Ries andJack Trout end the chapter describing the law of perceptionwith the following conclusion: “Marketing is not a battle ofproducts. It is a battle about perceptions.” The same can besaid about branding. Perceptions of which brand is the bestare in the client’s, customer’s or prospect’s mind and areoften opposite to the truth. A good brander’s job is to createthis perception cleverly with the correct visual imagery andelements. A picture speaks a thousand words. If you build theright perception into your picture, you make it a lot easier foryour client, customer or prospect to believe. After all, don’tthey say seeing is believing?

In South Africa, the boundary walls around our propertieshave a lot in common with perceptions and branding. Drivethrough any average neighbourhood and you will see thewalls. As a result of the alarming increase in crime since thebirth of democracy in 1994, homeowners have had to increasethe height of their property’s boundary walls from a metre tosometimes three metres to keep the criminals out. However,this security improvement now obscures the view of thehouse from outside and that could be exploited if the house isnot very attractive.

The boundary wall now effectively becomes the face of thehouse and this presents a unique opportunity to improve oreven totally change, at a relatively low cost, the (perceived)look of the house that is now hidden from sight. Up goesdecorative face brick or texture-plastered finished walls in avariety of colours, from bright to natural earth colours. Lightsare cleverly recessed or prominent as a design feature. Firstimpressions and perceptions are often lasting impressions andan impressive boundary wall will definitely influence a

179 5/HOW TO CREATE GOOD BRANDING ...

186

CHOOSING A NAME

Chapter 6

If you have just started a business, the chances are that youhave already been at the lawyers or accountants andregistered a company or brand. The chances are also that youhave made your first mistake. These wonderful professionalshave probably advised you about an area of expertise nevercovered in their training at university: the name of this newlegal financial entity or brand.

Marketing, branding, creativity and consumer perceptions are,frankly, not included in the curriculum of understanding thelaw/vulturing/tax/profit/undertaking or embalming. If they areguilty of this offence, call them right now and ask them tostart the process of changing the name. You can give themanother name after you have read this chapter. The cost ofthis call and the name change is negligible in comparison withthe money you will save now and make in future!

The next mistake you have most probably made was to callyour company or brand a generic name, such as the PaintCompany or Fruity Juice. If the cliché “the name says it all” inmore than a single word is true of your brandname, then youknow it is the wrong choice. Instinct is once again at play;

you want people to know what you do or sell. And so do allyour competitors. People do not remember generic names;they remember proper nouns like your name. If you werecalled “dark male with brown eyes” or “tall blonde femalewith blue eyes” and there are so many millions of themaround, how on Earth will anybody be able to remember yourname?

Don’t make the mistake of confusing your product or servicedescription with your brandname. They should be separated.Brandname – one short word and no more – followed by yourproduct or service description, integrated if possible, withyour positioning statement or slogan. Dell is a word which hasno meaning, but today stands for personal computers.

You build a brand by offering the prospective client orcustomer a very short word that will, in time, represent yourproduct or service in their mind. And stay away from genericnames; in addition to your competition using it in all sorts ofcombinations and so confusing the client or customer evenmore, you cannot register a generic brandname as atrademark.

The legal entity that owns the brand could be a combinationof the brandname and the product or service description. InSouth Africa, CIPRO (Companies and Intellectual PropertyRights Registration Office) requires that part of the name of alegal entity, be it a close corporation or a company, mustinclude the product or service description so as to aid themwith registering the entity in the right category and, inaddition, protecting your name by not registering a similarname in your category of business. So, by using a propernoun as your brandname, combined with the product orservice description, you kill two birds with one stone. That

187 6/CHOOSING A NAME ...

194

THE SCOTTISH WAR CRY: YOUR SLOGAN, DESCRIPTORAND POSITIONING STATEMENT

Chapter 7

Define your brand

“The goal of a positioning statement is to create and occupya space inside the target clients’ or customers’ head for yourbrand and the function is to control your company and itsstakeholders so it stays on this strategy, clear and precise.”From Crossing the Chasm (1991, 1999) by Geoffrey A Moore.

The word slogan comes from the 16th-century Scots Gaelicword for war cry: sluagh-gairm, literally meaning “armyshout”. This is the time when you need to distil your war cryinto one sentence (preferably in no more than seven words;the ideal maximum still found to be effective on billboards)what your brand is about and why your product or serviceoffering is unique and, therefore, better than that of yourcompetitor.

Add your USP

Now you must talk the walk. The generic description of yourbusiness folded into your brand’s unique special property orproposition (USP). What is your claim to authenticity? Whatmakes you uniquely valuable to your client or customer? Thiswill also force you to define what differentiates your product

or service. Take a good look at all your competition and whatthey claim and do not claim. Write this down. Now examineyour product or service and decide on your USP. Are you the:first, original, biggest, best, leader, only, quickest, hungriest,nearest, most exclusive, most convenient, most expensive,most professional, most personal, most experienced? Do youcater for a niche market?

This statement must be outward-looking and spell out thedirect benefit of your brand’s differentiation to theprospective client. What are the added value and benefits ofyour product or service that matter to the prospective client,what cannot be obtained anywhere or with difficulty at ahigher price somewhere else? And it is no use simply to claimyou are cheaper or faster or give better service – you have tospell out why there is added value to make it believable andcredible.

Start by summarising your company’s service or products (thedescriptor) and your claim to authenticity (USP) in oneparagraph. Be concise with your descriptor. If read on itsown, your prospective client or customer should know exactlywhat you sell. Include the product or business category anddo not assume people know this.

I often pass a new restaurant in a revamped shopping centreclose to my home. It has very expensive neon signage thatreads Blah-Blah Restaurant, but with no hint of what kind offood they serve. For health reasons, I am very selective aboutmy choice of restaurants and, therefore, I am always on thelookout for a possible new eating venue. The intersection isbusy and the name is too long to remember, so the telephonedirectory is not an option. Whenever I pass that way, I amalways in a rush and promise myself one day I am going tostop and ask them what kind of food they serve.


198

THE RIGHT SYMBOL

Chapter 8

Symbolism in our society

“What we call a symbol is a term, a name, or even a picturethat may be familiar in daily life, yet that possesses specificconnotations in addition to its conventional and obviousmeaning”. The words of Carl Jung.

Symbols are objects, characters, or other concreterepresentations of ideas, concepts, or other abstractions. Asymbol may be an object, picture or a written word, sound, orparticular mark, which represents something else byassociation, resemblance, or convention. Numerals aresymbols for numbers and that is why brandnames containingnumerals are so confusing. The only thing that languageconsists of is symbols. The word “cat” is not a cat, butrepresents the idea of a cat.

Psychology has found that people, and even animals, canrespond to symbols as if they were the objects theyrepresent. Pavlov’s dogs salivated when they heard a soundthat they associated with food, even if there was no food.Common psychological symbols include a gun to represent apenis or a tunnel to represent a vagina.

The interpretation of abstract symbols has had an importantrole in religion and psychoanalysis. As envisioned by SigmundFreud and Carl Jung, symbols are not the creations of mind,but are distinct capacities inside the mind to hold a distinctpiece of information. In the mind, the symbol can find freeassociation with any number of other symbols, can beorganised in any number of ways, and can hold the connectedmeanings between symbols as symbols in themselves.

Brand barbarians

Take PricewaterhouseCoopers. Their brandmark consists of arather small emblem to the right of the initials PWC. There isno strong symbol associated with their name. If you havenever heard of them and somebody recommended them toyou and a few months later you need an auditor, will youremember PricewaterhouseCoopers – a 22-letter word thatmakes no sense? I think not. Have you ever met Mr Price orMr Waterhouse (or is it Mr Pricewaterhouse) or Mr Coopers?

People are often very bad at remembering a person’s name sohow are you going to remember three names strung togetherin some illogical fashion with no face or symbol attached toit? And imagine sending an email [email protected]? That givesyou a 22-plus chance to make a mistake. The charteredaccountants’ solution to branding; create it with aspreadsheet! And that is not all – pick the one day of theweek with the most negative associations attached to it andread on:

SAN FRANCISCO, June 11 2002. Greg Brenneman, presidentand chief executive officer of PwC Consulting, said: “ThePricewaterhouseCoopers brand has given us a great heritage.Our new name – Monday – is exactly what we want it to be

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205

THE PSYCHOLOGY AND SCIENCE OF COLOUR

Chapter 9

I am going to say it again: whatever your opposition does,whenever possible do the opposite. If his corporate colour isgreen, make yours red. Because emotion and personal tasteplay such a large role, this becomes a very difficult taskindeed. Some people have intense emotions about certaincolours: either for or against. See this as part of aligning yourbrand.

You should choose a colour not used by your competition, andthen work on making it your colour. Let your brand own it.Sometimes a second colour is needed to contrast with thecolour of choice. Yellow needs a darker colour to offset it,such as purple or red. But apply the cardinal rule as always:one colour must always dominate and multiple colours shouldnever clash or compete.

The negative associations of a colour may not necessaryapply to your brand, unless you choose to punctuate that.The dominant use of black does not always mean death, evilor the unknown. Used with white or yellow, for instance,black could spell quite the opposite: illumination, hope andclarity. Sometimes we need the negative to emphasise the

positive. What would daylight be without knowing thedarkness of night? If an undertaker uses black, this might bedisastrous. However, if other firms use it, black could behighly successful, practical and economical, for exampleblack-and-white newspaper advertising for a lightingwarehouse retailer.

Be sensible about aligning your brand with the right colours –blue and purple are not good colours for food. Look at thecolours of fruit and vegetables, or cooked meat. Reds,oranges, yellows and greens and their tints and tones aresuitable for food. Pastel colours (light tints) are feminine anddo well when used as part of the branding of perfume, soapsand feminine products. Browns (dark shades) are verymasculine and earthy, and ideal for male cosmetics, clothes,the building industry, et cetera.

Stay away from the dated and boring – such as maroon ordark blue and grey for corporate brandmarks. Never useshocking pink for an expensive, upmarket product. Look atthe darker tones of colours to find something more sober andexclusive. Colours have many tints, tones, shades and hues tochoose from that will help you make your brandmark uniqueand distinctive in its category.

Colours mean different things in different countries. In China,red is the colour of the dragon and means luck andprosperity, and white is associated with funerals – though theimpact of Hollywood and globalisation is changing this. Checkcolour associations against local culture to avoid anyconfusion or incorrect connotations.

Colour legibility

Certain colour combinations are more legible than others.Research studies have proven that the colours with maximum

206 9/THE PSYCHOLOGY AND SCIENCE OF COLOUR ...

Green (blue mixed with yellow) – cold, pleasing, money,growth, wealth, fertile, neutral, safe, soothing and one of themost common colours appearing in nature, also a good food

209 9/THE PSYCHOLOGY AND SCIENCE OF COLOUR ...

PRIMARY

Secondary Secondary

PRIMARY

Secondary

Tertiary Tertiary

Tertiary Tertiary

Tertiary Tertiary

PRIMARY

TINTS

SHADES

Black added White added

NEUTRAL COLOURS

TONES

Grey added

216

TYPE AND TYPOGRAPHY

Chapter 10

“Reed College at that time offered perhaps the bestcalligraphy instruction in the country. Throughout the campusevery poster, every label on every drawer, was beautifullyhand calligraphed.

“Because I had dropped out and didn’t have to take thenormal classes, I decided to take a calligraphy class to learnhow to do this.

“I learnt about serif and sans-serif type, about varying theamount of space between different letter combinations, aboutwhat makes great typography great. It was beautiful,historical, artistically subtle in a way that science can’tcapture, and I found it fascinating.

“None of this had even a hope of any practical application inmy life. But, 10 years later, when we were designing the firstMacintosh computer, it all came back to me. And we designedit all into the Mac. It was the first computer with beautifultypography. If I had never dropped in on that single course incollege, the Mac would have never had multiple type orproportionally spaced fonts.

“And since Windows just copied the Mac, it’s likely that nopersonal computer would have them. If I had never droppedout, I would have never dropped in on this calligraphy class,and personal computers might not have the wonderfultypography that they do.”

Extract from a speech given by Steve Jobs (CEO and co-founder of Apple Computers) to Stanford University graduatesin June 2005.

A brief history

What is typography? The art or skill of arranging type so it ispleasing to the eye. Making words or text readable, legibleand attractive. Revealing that which it was meant to contain.Bringing the idea through the window of type into the mind ofthe spectator. To understand type and the use of it, we willhave to journey briefly back in time to the invention ofwriting.

This was the origin of type as we know it today. It startedwith alphabetic writing, which people tried to make beautiful.Manuscripts were illuminated, decorated and illustrated byscribes while writing books entirely by hand. The invention ofmovable type by Gutenberg in Germany, around 1440, made itpossible to reproduce books on a relatively large scale.

The first known book printed in the Western world wasGutenberg’s Bible, using type that simulated the writing thenused for Bibles and church service books north of the Alps. Asprinting spread across Europe from the Rhineland, the typecalled gothic or black used at that time was copied and wasadjusted over time in Italy, being consummated in romantype.

217 10/TYPE AND TYPOGRAPHY ...

Italic script was invented as a result of copying a fast writingstyle used in Italy for official documents and letters. Itremained around as an alternative text style for another twocenturies. Gradually roman type almost replaced black type asthe standard in Europe. Some use of black type, also calledOld English, has survived, for example in newspapermastheads and legal documents.

As can be seen in the example of roman type, serifs (smallstrokes) were added to the ends of letters for decoration andto finish lettering cut into stone. This was called serif typeand evolved over time through subtle changes into differenttype.

The earliest, called Old face, was based on the forms madeby a broad-nibbed pen at an angle of 45°, as held most easilyby a writer. Rather obvious in the round letters “e” and “o”,this was called oblique shading as depicted in Caslon.

Transitional was the name of the next stage in doing awaywith this oblique angle, and as Times was prominent in thiscategory. Modern face/slab serif was the next logical step innot bracketing the serif and is today still very popular inFrance. A type design illustrating this is the well-known

218 10/TYPE AND TYPOGRAPHY ...

Bracketedserif

Squared,less roundedserif

OLD FACE SANS-SERIFTRANSITIONAL

Deletion ofbracketedserif

MODERN/SLAB-SERIF

Deletionof serifaltogether

The evolution of type from serif to sans serif

226

GOD’S SIGNATURE – YOUR BRANDMARK IN THE RIGHT FORMAT

Chapter 11

The Greeks said that all beauty is mathematics and, in fact,there is a number that can describe visual beauty: the goldenratio. It is a mathematical ratio which seems to recur inbeautiful things in nature, as well as in other objects whichare regarded as “beautiful”. It is a mathematical ratio of1:1,618 and this number is called phi.

Phi appears throughout life and the universe. Some believe itis the most efficient outcome, the result of natural forces.Some believe it is a universal constant of design, thesignature of God. Whatever you believe, the pervasiveappearance of phi in all we see and experience creates asense of balance, harmony and beauty in the design ofeverything we find in nature. It should be no surprise,therefore, that humankind would use this same proportion1:1,618 to achieve balance, harmony and beauty in its owncreations of art, architecture, colours, design, composition,space and even music. The ratio of 1:1,618 (the golden ratio)is also referred to by other names, such as the phi ratio, theFibonacci ratio, the divine ratio, the golden mean and thegolden section.

Two equal ratios are called a proportion. Since all goldenratios are equal to each other, two golden ratios shown asequalling each other are referred to as a golden proportion.As the golden ratio is found in the design and beauty ofnature, it can also be used as an incredibly effective tool toachieve beauty and balance in design and art.

The golden section, golden or divine proportion was usedextensively by Leonardo da Vinci. All the key dimensions ofthe room and the table in da Vinci’s The Last Supper werebased on the golden ratio, which was known in theRenaissance period as the divine proportion. In the humanhand, each succeeding joint of the finger-bone is 1:1,618 thelength of the preceding joint. The distance from elbow to

wrist is 1:1,618 of the distancefrom wrist to fingertip. It evenshows up in a heartbeat on anECG (electrocardiogram); thedistance between the last twopeaks is 1:1,618 of the distancebetween the first two peaks.

There are religious references tothe divine proportion. Noah’s arkuses a golden rectangle. In theBook of Genesis, God commandsNoah to build an ark saying: “Andthis is the fashion which thoushalt make it of; the length of theark shall be three hundred cubits,the breadth of it fifty cubits, andthe height of it thirty cubits.” Themost beautiful spiral is based onthe divine proportion.

227 11/GOD’S SIGNATURE – YOUR BRANDMARK IN ...

1,6181,618

1

An equiangular spiral as seenin nature in the shape ofNautilus, the spiral of a galaxyand shape of a hurricane

236

EVOLUTION, REVOLUTION AND MAINTENANCE

Chapter 12

Evolve or revolt?

Few brands enter adulthood with the same face they startedlife with. Financial pressure and budget constraints at thebirth of a brand often do not allow for the use of aprofessional designer. A friend or relative or somebody artistic(most of the time with no skills except art as a subject atschool) is given the task of creating a brand. Bad designers,the personal taste and interference of a non-designer (“I wantto show it to my wife/PA and ask her opinion”) also causemistakes along the way.

Uninteresting, rigid and dull shapes such as squares, circlesand impractical long, thin horizontal or vertical formats areoften a problem. The size of the name in relation to othergraphic elements and pay-off lines might be out of kilter.Taste, trends and fashions change, and so may the elementsof your branding. A type design in vogue 10 years ago mayhave fallen from grace since; one of the dangers of usingtype which have been overused and hence become tired andpassé. A classic type design or, better still, a type designedfor your brand is much better. It does not date, is unique and

gives your brandmark some insulation against mercurial fads.There is nothing wrong with correcting and refining the visualelements to stay in line with the brand positioning, but do itin moderation. Evolve your brandmark and position it fortomorrow to avoid unnecessary changes. Subtle changes arenot easily noticed and a facelift is sometimes welcomed,whereas a revolution could cost your brand its life.

Sure, if the brandmark reflects a dated, old-fashioned image,the best time to update it is right now. The longer you wait,the more it will cost, and the more you will speak with aforked tongue. But do understand the cost implications.

Things have to be really awful to justify a revolution; like anuclear power station that had a prompt reactivity excursion.A revolution is also bloody and costly because you will haveto start from the beginning, from scratch. Kill the old brandand create a new brand. That means spending all that money,time and effort all over again, and then some more. This alldone while your competitor is taking advantage of your self-imposed handicap. Remember Lenin and Stalin? Be warned,you might be a casualty of your own revolution.

If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. I have seen perfectly goodbrandmarks changed for no good reason or simply because ofpersonal dislikes. This leads to date rape: some smartmarketing executive raping the brand to show his worth andjustify his fringe benefits. Get a second and a third and afourth opinion from a reputable design specialist before youchange, otherwise change the marketing executive. You mightbe throwing the baby out with the bath water.

The law of entropy

If you leave your brandmark alone long enough, it will at bestbe corrupted or at worst devolve into a state of boring

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245

COPYRIGHT, OWNERSHIP, INTELLECTUAL PROPERTYAND OTHER LEGAL ISSUES

Chapter 13

Copyright © and ownership

Copyright is the right of a person who creates an originalwork to protect that work by controlling how and where itmay be reproduced. This means that if you paid for a designor artwork, it does not follow that you own the copyright.Physical ownership of original work also does notautomatically signify ownership of copyright. That normally isvested in the creator, unless it has been assigned in writing tothe new owner. Simply put: if you buy a painting from anartist, you may not copy or duplicate that artwork in any waywithout the written permission of the artist.

If you let any designer or DTP (desktop publishing) operatorcreate any brandmark, symbol, brochure, leaflet or companystationery for you, that person owns the copyright to thatintellectual property (IP). You should get the copyrightassigned to you in writing before you start doing anything.The best way is to get an estimate up front for any work youintend doing and, then in the terms and conditions, includethe proviso that all copyright to the work in that estimate isassigned to you upon payment.

Get the copyright to the IP, otherwise this could come to biteyou later when you franchise your business and some out-of-work creative gets sober and all of a sudden recognises thebrandmark and brand identity you are using wholesale, as oneof his more successful creations.

Today, with the exception of countries such as China andTaiwan, intellectual property and copyright have becomeincreasingly better protected as the power of branding hasbecome more evident. Laws differ from country to country, soplease check with a legal type or bean counter in yourcountry.

“Whenever you introduce a brand, make sure you clear itbefore you start using it. If you don’t, you may well findyourself being sued for trademark infringement, passing off,infringement of a well-known brand, copyright infringement oreven infringement of a registered trademark,” Hans Muhlberg,The Law of the Brand.

Grave words from Hans Muhlberg, LLM, an attorney, a UKsolicitor and a UK and European trademark attorney, straightfrom the inside back cover of his book. See how careful evenI am about the credits. By the way, The Law of the Brandtells you how to go about registering, administering andprotecting brands in South Africa.

People with qualifications like his are extremely well paid andtherefore strongly motivated to come after you if you messwith their clients’ rights. So do your homework: clear thename – you do not want Mr Muhlberg or Mr Adams or MrFischer to pick the flesh off your bones while you look on.

In South Africa, start with the Company and IntellectualProperty Registration Office (CIPRO) in Pretoria and do a

246 13/COPYRIGHT, OWNERSHIP, INTELLECTUAL ...

252

LET YOUR BRAND FACE AN AUDIT

Chapter 14

You now know in summary that the perfect brandmark isformed by a symbol, the brandname, a descriptor and aslogan to position or promote the brand, all in a singledistinctive and dominant colour and in the correct visualformat. But now let’s look at more details of the variouselements, score them and so do an audit of your brandmarkto see how perfect or ineffective your brandmark is. For anonline version that you are also allowed to print, go towww.faceyourbrand.co.za/audit.

The highest possible score attainable is 373. Your score willfall into one of five categories, and comments on thesecategories appear at the end of the questions below. Fromthe question and how it scores, you will also immediately beable to pinpoint and identify the weaknesses in yourbrandmark. Some aspects you may not be able to correct, butothers may be easy to adjust or add. If you plan to create anew brand, here is a unique opportunity to test and build apowerful brand, which is positioned for the future and willhelp guarantee success in a sea of conformity or in the faceof serious competition.

www.faceyourbrand.co.za/audit

As a bonus, use this audit to evaluate your competition.Establish their weaknesses and strengths, and use this vitalstrategic information to take full advantage of the positioningof your brand in your market segment and business category.

This audit has been compiled with the utmost care and theformula proven against many local and successful superbrandswith international status. With continuous input, the formulais still being refined and the anomalies addressed. Althoughthe formula was checked by an actuary, if your score within5% of the next score please take cognisance of the commentsrelating to that score.

Since evaluating the visual aspects of a brandmark does notguarantee overall brand success, the author, his publisher oragent does not take responsibility for any direct or indirectlosses incurred as a result or consequence of this audit. Forthe latest free updated online version go towww.faceyourbrand.co.za/audit. Your feedback will beappreciated and, if you still have questions or your score isincongruent with your perceived or actual brand success (orfailure), please email the author [email protected].

Your brand symbol — possible score: 80

Do you have a brand symbol that stands alone and separatefrom the name? If yes, 15 points or

is it integrated with your brandname? (if you remove thesymbol/s, the brandname is minus a letter/s) If yes, 10 pointsor

is your brandname made up of unique and distinctive typeonly? If yes, 5 points.

253 14/LET YOUR BRAND FACE AN AUDIT ...

www.faceyourbrand.co.za/audit

264

LOGO COMPETITIONS, OUT-OF-THE-BOX LOGOS,STOCK LOGOS, CHEAPIES, ONLINE LOGO DESIGN,SAME DAY AND SPEEDY GONZALES

Chapter 15

The fact that the term logo is used should be an immediateclue of what is on offer. Remember “logo” is the traditionalterm to describe a symbol, such as a pictograph, which formsthe centrepiece of a corporation or organisation’s corporatebrandmark identity. These online sites take a stab atdesigning the symbol part of a brandmark, but be warned.Most of the time it ends up as a very poor effort.

I must warn you that the advertising and design industry isvery promiscuous. I don’t mean this in the context ofprostitutes, at least they charge for their services. I amtalking about repeatedly doing it for free with any John, Dickor Jane and in the company of many. It is called pitching.Show me what you and many others can do and I willconsider using your services in the future. (Once when I wasat a briefing for a security company’s brandmark redesign, Imade my excuses when I realised another 15 advertising anddesign agencies must have received the same invitation Idid.)

Off go the many loose women and men, returning manynights (and days) later with their respective designs and ideas

free of charge, hoping to be favoured with future work. I amnot aware of any other industry that does this and truedesign professionals will refrain from it. They would ratherspend their time on self-promotion and canvassing a clientwho is prepared to pay for an honest day’s work. Besides, ifanything is given away free of charge, how can it have anyvalue?

So, it does not come as a surprise to see the following lewdproposals on the Web. Offer a prize (as little as US$50sometimes) and run an online logo competition on one of thelogo competition websites and get hundreds of logos tochoose from or, if you are in a hurry and have very littlemoney: “For under US$45 choose a logo out-of-the-box!” oreven better still, if you are in a hurry and you have themoney: “Pay enough and you can have your logo withinhours!” From instant “stock logos” for almost no money to“professional custom logos” within hours; from the ridiculousto the sublime.

Why on Earth would you want a logo within hours? Sincewhen should brandmark creation include instant gratification?If you are so impatient (read unreasonable) or disorganised,no self-respecting professional designer or maybe even aclient or customer would want to deal with you anyway.

The online logo competitions usually go something like this:the competition holder (client) registers with the website,completes a very short standard brief with Yes/No tick boxes.An option on one of the sites is “Does it need to look like aWeb 2.0 logo?” (although the author of this questionacknowledges in the same sentence there is no definition forsuch a style). So what is a Web 2.0 logo anyway? The clientadds a few comments of his/her own, sets a deadline and

265 15/LOGO COMPETITIONS, OUT-OF-THE-BOX LOGOS ...

277

USING A DESIGN PROFESSIONAL

Chapter 16

After reading this book, especially the previous chapter, youmight decide to use the services of a design professional.Think of it as a cake (brandmark) you want baked for yourwedding anniversary. As it is very special, you are not goingto risk asking your spouse’s sister’s brother-in-law’s daughterwho does home economics (graphic design student). Nor areyou going to go to the local supermarket (advertising agency)where you choose a cake off the shelf. You would most likelychoose a specialist and professional for the job: the rightbakery (design firm) with a master baker (designer).

A word of warning: ad agencies are not generally suited toundertaking visual brand creation. They are great atmarketing, promoting and advertising your brand but, moreoften than not, they lack the qualified talent and experienceso they farm the job out. However, some agencies do havetheir own in-house design units, which they claim arecompetent and specialists in the field of visual branding. Docheck these out carefully, however.

Start by looking at the cakes (brandmarks) they have createdfor other clients, then speak to the maestro himself (designer

commonly referred to as “The Creative” and the caps are nota typographical error). You might at first get the shopassistant (account executive, commonly referred to as “TheSuit”) but insist on meeting the maestro himself. If they don’twant you to deal with him directly, find another studio as theywill probably be handing the job to a freelancer, or themaestro may lack people skills. Freelancers could be good all-rounders but you want the specialist. You need to put yourmind at ease that the task will be done properly. You alsowant a clear line of communication with the maestro.

Question the maestro about his qualifications and any awardsor significant achievements. He should have spent at leastthree to four years at a tertiary education institution in full-time training in graphic design and associated disciplines,followed by at least 10 years of practice in the industry, witha substantial portion of that in visual branding. Assureyourself he has a thorough understanding of typography andbrandmarks. Prima donnas are plentiful in this industry, somake sure his ego will not get in the way and there is arapport between you and his team.

Now show them your recipe (the brief discussed below) foryour very special cake (brand mark) and ask them if they: a)understand it, b) have the ingredients, c) have the expertiseand experience, d) the utensils and oven, and e) will followthe recipe to the letter. You want to get a detailed quote andthen decide on specific and critical timelines. This way youwill not be ripped off and be surprised by a hastily bakedcake resulting in a flop, glossed over with some fancy icing.

Oh, and after you have paid and before you leave the bakery,ask for a receipt (assignment of copyright). You might have toprove ownership of this now sought-after cake on your wayhome.

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291

CONCLUSION

Chapter 17

Now that I have explained the visual language of brandingand shared with you the cardinal truths about visual brandcreation, you finally know what they didn’t, wouldn’t orcouldn’t tell you about the most important part of branding.Now it is time for you to take the next step. Yes, you are nolonger a beginner, you are now a medium-weight well on yourway to becoming a successful brander.

Use the knowledge you have gained from this book anddecide whether your brand’s face needs some fresh make-upor a makeover. Or does it require minor cosmetic surgery, afacelift or a complete face transplant? If you are planning tolaunch a new brand, then start the process right now so thatyou can give your brand the two things it will always be inshort supply and will never have enough of. The two thingsare: first, time for your brand to get established and buildequity; and, second, provide ongoing funding in the form ofprofit for you to continue with your brand’s sustenance andactive promotion. If you already have an established brandwhich needs work, you have no more excuses. Now you knowwhat to do and there is no reason why you should notbecome a real heavyweight brander.

If you scored above 280 in my brand audit, your current orpotential brand may be one of the lucky 5% that will make itto adulthood. Or perhaps it is already an adult and is the onein 50 that will reach maturity and may be on its way tobecoming a superbrand. A stern warning again: watch out fordate rape by the marketing executive’s idea of growth (of hiscareer) by expanding into other markets, and murder at thehands of accountants such as what happened at Enron andFidentia.

After you have followed my advice, you may have created thebest visual brand in your category but, if you wink in thedark, nobody will know about your brand. Remember brandingis a two-part process: creation and promotion. Promote,publicise and advertise your product or service and, in thewords of the late Anita Roddick, founder of The Body Shop,shout from the rooftops! Learn from Obama; find out how touse the new media, most notably the World Wide Web. It isnot only a global marketplace but a giant repository ofinformation and knowledge. There is so much out there, andmost of it is free or dirt cheap if you simply look. And it hasbeen there since Jim Clark brought us Netscape back in 1994when he truly made the world our oyster.

Take a look at the titles in my list of recommended readingand broaden your knowledge of branding even further.

I wish you many years of success and prosperity with plentyof happy clients and customers.

292 17/CONCLUSION ...

293

FURTHER READING

Chapter 18

CCrroossss ii nngg tthhee CChhaassmm:: MMaarrkkee tt ii nngg aanndd SSee ll ll ii nngg HH iigghh-- tteecchhPPrroodduucc tt ss tt oo MMaa ii nnss tt rr eeaamm CCuuss ttoommeerr ss ,, Geoffrey A Moore;HarperBusiness.

This book focuses on the specifics of marketing high-techproducts and Moore’s explanation and expansion of theDiffusions of Innovations model has had a significant andlasting impact on high-tech entrepreneurship. StanfordUniversity describes it as “still the bible for entrepreneurialmarketing 15 years later”.

Also well worth reading is the book Diffusion of Innovationsby Everett Rogers, (fifth edition, New York, NY: Free Press).In this widely acclaimed book, Rogers generalises the use ofthe Diffusions of Innovations model, describing how newideas and technologies spread in different cultures.

In Crossing the Chasm, Moore begins by discussing theDiffusion of Innovations theory posited by Rogers, and arguesthat there is a chasm between the early adopters of theproduct (the technology enthusiasts and visionaries) and theearly majority (the pragmatists). Moore believes visionaries

and pragmatists have very different expectations, and heexplores those differences and suggests techniques to crossthe “chasm” successfully.

Crossing the Chasm is closely related to the TechnologyAdoption Lifecycle model that describes the adoption oracceptance of a new product or innovation, according to thedemographic and psychological characteristics of definedadopter groups. The process of adoption over time is typicallydescribed as a bell curve, indicating that the first group ofpeople to use a new product is called innovators followed byearly adopters. The next groups are the early and latemajority, and the last group to adopt a product is called thelaggards.

Moore states that the marketer should focus on one group ofcustomers at a time, using each group as the base formarketing to the next group. The most difficult step, thechasm, is making the transition between visionaries (earlyadopters) and pragmatists (early majority). If done correctly,a company can successfully create a bandwagon effect, wherethe momentum builds and the product becomes a de factostandard. However, Moore’s theories are only applicable todisruptive or discontinuous innovations.

The adoption of continuous innovations (which do not force asignificant change in the customer’s behaviour) are still bestdescribed by the original Technology Adoption Lifecycle.Moore also states that confusion between continuous anddiscontinuous innovation is a leading cause of failure for high-tech products.

Moore’s techniques for successfully crossing the “chasm” offerinteresting insights that a brander would find mostinformative, about the target market, understanding the

294 18/FURTHER READING ...

300

GLOSSARY

brand — mark of ownership used to identify a company’sgoods and services and to distinguish them from thoseoffered by competitors.

brandmark — formed by a name (frequently set in uniquetype), a combination of words (the name and sometimes adescriptor), a symbol or a combination of a word or wordsand a symbol.

brander — a person who creates and maintains a distinctbrand for a product or service.

CMYK — a colour system used in printing, consisting of thefour process colours: cyan (blue), magenta, yellow and black.K designates black, which stands for key plate and should notto be confused with B, which could also mean blue as in cyan.

brand identity — a visual system, (traditionally calledcorporate identity) which specifies a brand’s unique identity interms of colour, typestyles, symbols and layout. It alsoensures the consistent reproduction of the brand’s identity, asit was intended, across a broad spectrum of possibleapplications.

copyright © — the right of a person who creates an originalwork to protect that work by controlling how and where itmay be reproduced.

Chinese — a race in the Far East that approves of eatingdogs. The Sharpei breed nearly became extinct as a result ofthis primitive practice, before American breeders saved it.

descriptor — a concise description of what your brand offersin terms of services or products.

design — the skilful arrangement of elements by a talentedspecialist, resulting in a novel solution.

FMCG — fast-moving consumer good.

golden section, mean, rule or principle — this is basedupon a mathematical construction using the ancient Greekratio known as the golden mean (the mathematical ratio of1:1,618, otherwise known as phi or the symbol ol or thegolden ratio, the Fibonacci ratio, the divine ratio, the goldenmean and the golden section).

This proportion has for centuries helped artists, architects andothers create eye-pleasing forms and works of art. Thisformula for dividing an area into theoretically harmoniousproportions results in a rectangle of a most elegant andpleasing shape, roughly 2:3 in proportion. The ratio of1:1,618 (the golden ratio) is also referred to by other names.

graphic designer — a professional born with lots of talent(cannot be added as an optional extra after birth) anddedication who has studied at a tertiary learning institutionfor at least three years of full-time study in graphic designand associated disciplines, followed by many years of practicein the industry, aided by extremely expensive specialist

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BIBLIOGRAPHY

Allen, Frederick. 1994. Secret Formula. New York:HarperBusiness.

Campbell, Alastair. 2000. The Designer’s Lexicon. London:Cassell & Co.

Craig, James. 1971. Designing with Type. New York: Watson-Guptill Publications.

De la Coix and Tansy. 1975 (6th edition). Gardener’s ArtThrough the Ages. New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich Inc.

http://www.beautyanalysis.com (accessed on numerousoccasions between January 2003 and June 2009).

http://bivioconsulting.blogspot.com/ (accessed on July 12009).

http://blogs.zdnet.com/Bott/?p=490 (accessed on July 182009).

http://blogs.zdnet.com/BTL/?p=23616&tag=nl.e539 (accessedon 1 September 2009)

http://www.beautyanalysis.com

http://bivioconsulting.blogspot.com/

http://blogs.zdnet.com/Bott/?p=490

http://blogs.zdnet.com/BTL/?p=23616&tag=nl.e539

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310

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

With more than 30 years of rich experience, AlexanderGreyling is a free-spirited maverick having never worked for aboss. He was born in 1957 in Rustenburg, the capital of SouthAfrica’s North-West province, as the youngest of ninechildren. After spending most of his youth on a nearby farm,his family moved to the province of Gauteng.

At the age of 15, Alexander was admitted to the prestigiousJohannesburg School of Art, Ballet and Music where hestudied art, design and sculpture and matriculated in 1974.He then completed two years of compulsory national service,with his last year as a junior officer in the Infantry of theSouth African Defence Force.

He was admitted to the Johannesburg College of Art (laterTechnikon Witwatersrand and now the University ofJohannesburg), where he studied graphic design for threeyears. In his final year, he lectured on art at the TechnikonWitwatersrand and the Joubert Park Technical College while,at the same time, attending evening classes in marketing atthe Technikon Witwatersrand.

To pay for his college tuition, Alexander freelanced bydesigning brandmarks (logos) and corporate brand identities.By dealing with upstarts, mom-and-pop businesses, illiteratemarkets in the apartheid era and, later, sophisticated nationaland international brands, he gained invaluable experience andinsight covering a broad range of branding, design andadvertising challenges.

His sector experience includes: automotive, petroleum, oil and lubricants beer, wine andspirits cosmetics financial advertising, annual reports andstock-exchange listings financial services and insurance food and beverages parastatal organisations politics legal and professional property, building and mining resorts and tourism retail and information technology.

Significant highlights of his notable career include: the designand production of the Iscor (now ArcelorMittal) annual reportwith the biggest print run in South Africa at the time; thelandmark 1994 ANC election campaign, the one aimedspecifically at business, that brought Nelson Mandela topower; and the rebranding of Fedics Foods, which resulted inthis company winning the South African Institute forMarketing Management’s (now IMM GSM) marketer of theyear award in 1998.

Greyling is a keen scuba diver and has travelled extensivelyaround Europe, the Middle East, the Far East and most of theIndian Ocean Islands. He has a passion for cars and was afounding member and past chairman of the Lamborghini Clubof South Africa. He also started one of the most prestigiousauto-body repair shops in South Africa.

He is passionate about nature and wildlife conservation andloves the outdoors. His pro bono clients include the Animal

311 ABOUT THE AUTHOR ...

Anti-Cruelty League South Africa and Sea ShepherdConservation Society of Whale Wars fame. He is a past clerkof events for the Land Rover Owners’ Club of Southern Africaand has travelled around South Africa, Botswana and Namibiaextensively, mostly off-road to remote and inhospitabledestinations.

In 1992, he married Dr Sharon Isernhinke (palaeontologist,astrologer and genetic engineer) and acquired twostepchildren. He runs his own strategic brand and designconsultancy, lives in Johannesburg, South Africa and, insteadof having his own children, he opted for a psychoticRottweiler, two dysfunctional budgies and around 20 ratherfat goldfish.

He may be contacted at [email protected]

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