When Is a New Brand Identity just a Visual Refresh? - Part 1

The world of design is constantly evolving as the tastes, trends, styles and movements of art fade in and out.  Brands seem to change their visual designs just as often, trying to stay modern and relevant by emulating the latest in design through their logos and ads.  From a creative standpoint, this constant change is an important tool in reengaging your audience, drumming up awareness and pr, and reinventing your image.  However, this may not always be in the best interest of the brand.


A brand's visual identity is extremely important.  It's the element consumers relate to at all your touchpoints - media, advertising, and point-of-purchase.  It's only natural you'd want your visual identity to stand out, make a statement, and say something about your brand and your product.  But is your visual design speaking to your brand promise and positioning or your skills in design?  The difference depends on whether your company build a brand identity or refreshed your visual system.  A brand identity provides you with the opportunity to take all that your company stands for, your brand promise, positioning and personality, and present it to your audience in a visual form.  A visual refresh is modern and contemporary and focuses on creativity and beauty in design.


Below is a closer look at what separates these two styles and how you can tell them apart.

1. A brand identity is created when the brand is conceived and only changes if there are significant alterations to the brand. For example, new operating principles or positioning, changes to the customer brand promise, or new products or services that change the relationship between the customer and the brand.
2. A visual refresh often coincides with a new advertising campaign or occurs cyclically, maybe every 5-10 years.
3. A brand identity is designed for long term use.  The design choices are timeless and meant to live outside of trends.
4. Visual refreshes are short term.  They are designed to be replaced, regularly updated, or to fit the needs of a select occasion.
5. New brand identities involve a complete reworking of the current system.  The priority lies on matching the positioning of the brand, not preserving the current system.
6. As the name implies, visual refreshes are generally a revisioning of the current system, keeping the same basic shape and design while updating the style, colors, and appearance.
7. A brand identity is rooted in logic and research, vetted against the brand platform and what customers will respond to.
8. A visual refresh focuses on design creativity, trends and innovation.  Its purpose is to attract attention and make a statement.

Each of these systems has their own uses and benefits.  In parts two and three we will take an in depth look at each system including pros and cons and case study examples.  Look forward to part two next week.

Valuing Your Customers: Case Study on Murphy USA

One of the last companies I would have imagined having a social media relationship with is my gas station, but after taking a look at what Murphy USA has done I'm embarrassed that I didn't think of this sooner.  Taking cues from larger retailers like Target, Murphy USA, which primarily operates in Wal-Mart parking lots, has launched a suite of social tools to engage customers and provide exclusive deals and promotions, including:

• an iPhone and Android application using GPS to deliver up to the minute gas prices at your nearest Murphy USA gas station as well as neighboring competitors
• exclusive coupons and discounts on gas, food and beverages via the application
• text updates before gas prices go up
• a check-in promotion through location-aware application Whrrl entering users in a contest to win $50 in free gas

This level of social integration is unheard of from most national retailers and is even more groundbreaking coming from a largely commodity-based service such as gasoline.  That's why the new suite of services is pure genius.  Knowing that it's consumer audience is principally price and location-driven when choosing gasoline, Murphy USA's application provides consumers with the tools to make an educated decision on both.  And since Murphy's is a discount brand and located at arguably one of the most prominent retailers, the brand's gas is almost always the app's recommended choice.

From a branding perspective, Murphy USA's new tools and services increase the brand's engagement with customers in three powerful ways.  First, it increases brand awareness.  Murphy USA may not be a brand many consumers recognize by name, this author included, but as a social media maven and price-conscious consumer I'm more apt to pay attention to the brand now because of the new application's ease of use and superior discounts.  Second, it positions the brand as an entity that values its customers and seeks to provide savings and discounts in an industry that often takes advantage of consumers' need for the product.  Lastly, as a result of the above, it ultimately increases brand loyalty from consumers who have benefited and saved using these services.

So how does this translate to your business?

• Provide value to your customers where others in your industry do not, whether it be through discounts, time-saving tools, simplifying the shopping process, or an exclusive knowledge base
• Put the customer before your bottom line, an increase in awareness and loyalty means an increase in sales, which offsets the costs of discounts and promotions
• Utilize new technology and social media to listen to your audience, discover their needs and communicate your brand's value to them

Effective Social Media on YouTube & Twitter: Case Study Old Spice

YouTube is now the second largest search engine on the net and with Google, the number one search engine, now indexing YouTube and Twitter feeds, these services should be at the top of any Social Media or Search Engine Optimization strategy. Combine these efforts with a viral campaign that also engages and interacts directly with consumers and you have the brilliance that is Old Spice.

Old Spice has harnessed the power of their newest icon (the rugged man on a horse, Isaiah Mustafa) to produce what seems like an endless series of web videos, published on YouTube, responding to customer, celebrity and blogger questions tweeted to the brand on Twitter. There are so many things right about this scenario. First, by holding this promotion on Twitter, Old Spice is attracting new fans and followers to its social media profiles. Second, Old Spice is strengthening its relationship with its customers leading to long term brand loyalty. Isaiah is a huge sensation right now with both male and female viewers. Allowing users to interact with the man is a big win for the brand. Finally, and most importantly for my small business owner audience, this effort is extremely cheap! Not only is YouTube great for SEO, but it's also completely free. You can publish all of your commercial and promotional videos to the site at no cost and have them seen by millions thanks to Google's superior indexing. Thus Old Spice could produce a day's worth of :60 spots, most likely with a lower production cost since they are web only, and deliver them directly to fans in real-time.

To take a look at Old Spice's YouTube channel and get some ideas for your next campaign, click here.

Small Business Social Media Success Story

I can't tell you how many times small business owners have told me that they don't need a social media presence because their business is too small, their customers aren't high tech or it just wouldn't benefit them.  Worse yet, they argue that they already have a Facebook page and that it just sits there and doesn't do any good.  If this sounds like you or someone you know, take a look at this case study from Tillamook Ice Cream.  This local, small town business leveraged its loyal audience on Facebook to collect user generated content and hire fan actors to create a business-driving TV ad.  By engaging their fans, listening to their personal stories with the brand, and featuring them in a televised commerical, Tillamook Ice Cream increased brand loyalty and awareness for a very low cost.  The best part is that these results are 100% reproducible for your business!

Check out the article and Tillamook's Facebook fan page below.

• Article on Open Forum
• Tillamook Fan Page

What's in a Brand Name?

That which we call a brand by any other name would smell as sweet.  Those of us on the inside know, the value of a name, whether it be provocative, catchy, made up or descriptive, is temporary at best.  The trouble is that to principle stakeholders of a brand, founders, owners, investors, and C-suites, a name either be very personal or overly relied upon.  In truth, a brand or product's name can be useful in the early launch stages as a way of attracting awareness (provocative or made up names inspire the consumer to want to know more, like Yahoo!) or educating the consumer about the product (descriptive names hint to the function within the name, like Build-A-Bear).  However, after the initial PR and press for the brand or product's launch fades away, all that's left is the functionality and value of the actual product.  That's what truly matters, not the name.  Does the name Apple in any way add value to the products it sells that wouldn't exist if the name was Banana or Cherry?  What matters is that they make high quality products.  

Businesses always place far too much importance on names.  That's why it always strikes me as funny when a company either spends thousands developing a name, or better yet, hopes that a new name can save a failed, unwanted or late to the party product.  That's what Comcast appears to be doing.  Noticing that some of it's largest competitors have bundled new services under umbrella names like AT&T's U-Verse and Verizon's Fios, Comcast has decided to rebrand its current suite of offerings as Xfinity.  The problems are as such:

• It's most likely too late to jump on the bundling band wagon craze
• Early and mid adopters who wanted to bundle already have and are in contracts
• Their services haven't changed, so there's no reason for current customers to upgrade accept price, if there is even a price discount
• Since bundling and receiving television and phone digitally over broadband are old concepts, there's no excitement factor for the name the garner

And that's the sad truth of it.  Hopefully Comcast isn't relying on this name to do anything spectacular and realize that they are just playing catch up.  We'll know soon by the amount of marketing and PR they put behind it.  

"Google Me" vs Facebook: Why It Will or Won't Work

If you're reading this, chances are you're either already a Facebook addict or are realizing that it's about time you checked it out.  You may also be aware that there are dozens of other competitor/supplemental/replacement/alternative sites out there as well vying for your attention - most of which will never reach the same size and influence as Facebook.  The newest anticipated player in the mix, however, may stand a chance at doing just that, if not surpassing it.  That's because it's Google.  The bug amongst the blogosphere is that Google is poised to launch it's own social network, independent from Google Buzz and Latitude, called Google Me.  Although we don't have any firm knowledge about the service yet, or know if it is even definite, if the service sets out to clone Facebook, as speculated, it could have some huge advantages over the market leader.


Why Google Me Could Win


Google already owns my data: The phrase "Google me" (meaning the verb here, not the suspected website, no pun intended) exists for a reason.  Google is first and foremost a search engine, and as such, has access already to every piece of information on the internet about me.  It knows all my curent social profiles, the activities, movies, music and so on that I've listed on them, and where my name has been written about on other sites.  Furthermore, it knows my search history, who I'm connected to on Gmail (Google Mail) and Google Talk, what I watch on YouTube, where I'm going to be on Google Calendar, what I blog about on Blogger, what topics I'm interested in reading about in Google Reader, and the list goes on.  Because of my already deep attachement to the brand, Google could build a stronger profile of me than I ever could...which is kind of scary.  This leads to the next reason.


Google Me could interface with all my existing services: The TechCrunch article linked to earlier warns against Google arbitrarily linking the new social network to it's previous products and services; however, if this is done wisely, it could be a huge selling point for highly integrated Google users, such as myself.  First, Google can automatically begin to build my network from my contact list in Gmail and use Google Talk as the default chat client (which includes AIM built in as a bonus).  In an earlier blog post I discussed how Facebook messaging was one of the killers of personal email.  Although it is more convenient to message someone on Facebook, because you don't have to keep track of or obtain their email address, you do still have to log in to the site in order to view your messages.  Google Me could integrate the site's messaging with Gmail so I could receive my messages in real time on my phone, reviving personal email.  Facebook events are a great way of sharing invites with a large number of people, especially open invitations from businesses, but after I confirm my attendance Facebook doesn't sync the information to my actual calendar.  Google Me could automatically populate my Google calendar with my RSVP status.  No need to click on share buttons, Google Me would be able to auto post articles in Google News or Google Reader that I star or share.  The blog you are reading is composed on Blogger.  Since Google owns Blogger, it can automatically update my news feed every time a new article is published, eliminating the need for third party solutions.  Google Me could also use Picasa to store photos, YouTube to host and share videos, Maps to integrate, well, maps, into event invites, Shopping to create storefronts and much, much more.  The possibilites are actually a little overwhelming and baffling at the same time - why hasn't Google done this already??


Better and wider integrated SEO, ads and analytics: This reason is all about eliminating repetitive third party applications.  As businesses, we already maximize our search engine optimizations for Google Search and we trust our online ads and web traffic to Google Ads and Analytics.  Now with social media, we have to optimize for and track data with even more tools, like Facebook Ads and Insights.  Google Me would have preexisting SEO, Ads, and Analytics built in from the start.  No additional ad buys, no additional metrics to integrate in your ROIs.


Google is still the most visited website: Facebook may have more global users than Google's individual applications like mail and calendar, and users may spend more time on Facebook in one sitting, but Google is still the number one ranked site in the world for unique visitors.  The implication here is that unlike every other Facebook competitor, Google will have immediate and significant exposure to its new product along with an implicit higher trust level than an unheard of service.  This would mean faster growth and uptake and an increased opportunity to surpass the master.


Why Google Me Could Fail


Is it too late?: Facebook continues to grow its user base every day and current users' data becomes more and more dependent on the site with every use.  All the connections, groups, fan pages, photos, birthdays, events, and contact information we store on Facebook keeps us forever attached to the service.  In order to truly succeed, instead of playing second string like Twitter, it would need to fully replace Facebook in the user's eyes.  Would people be willing to fully abandon their connection to the site or would this be another project early adopters eventually forsake because the majority of their networks won't convert?  Could Google Me be simple enough that late adopters or Facebook jumpers would give it a shot?


Facebook Connect: Google, and several other sites, have enabled users to login to third party sites using their Google credentials via OpenID for quite some time.  It's Facebook Connect, though, that has garnered all the attention, both positive and negative.  On one hand, Facebook Connect allows users to easily login and share their information with additional sites without having to sign up or reregister.  At the same time, this feature has been rebuked for privacy concerns - how much information is being shared and are users aware of it?  The amount of press Connect has earned combined with the increased level of integration it is experiencing (often in addition to or replacing Google OpenID) may make web site developers and businesses owners less apt to switch back again.


Is Google too big? If Facebook receives criticism for its privacy concerns, Google is bound to experience the same feedback.  Google's sheer size and aforementioned ability to scan the web and know nearly everything about you is bound to draw privacy concerns from even the most early of adopters.  In addition, Google tends to be a more open service, either having info completely private or open to everyone.  A new set of security standards would likely need to be considered in order to quell fears.  Finally, Google has already experienced security scandals, even recently, including Google Buzz defaulting to public and Google Maps collecting Wifi data.


We'll hopefully know more in the near future, but I for one am definitely willing to give this service a shot.  As more information becomes available, we will issue follow ups to strengthen or weaken the arguments made in this post.


Update: According to a TechCrunch report, Google is conducting surveys on users' social media habits including online and offline friend interactions.  Check out some sample questions from the survey here.