The strategic and technical thinking and development that goes into logo is always done behind closed doors. For the people (mainly your target audience) that aren’t privy to this process, how do you know if your logo is representing your company clearly and effectively? Granted that a logo is only a small part of an overall brand presence, it is however a vital organ that allows your brand to develop for the rest of your business. A simple reality check can keep your logo working for you.

Here are 5 tips to determine whether your logo is a great mark:

1. Distinctive
   Does your logo have unique qualities to stand out from the crowd and more importantly from your competitors.
2. Practical
   The need to have a practical logo is crucial. With the ever increasing presence of digital media, making sure your logo reproduces effectively across all mediums is important for logo integrity. Is your logo legible when scaled down in size? Does your logo reproduce confidently in digital form and does it work on coloured backgrounds or in reverse (white on black)?
3. Simple Visual
   Communication is important, your logo must be visually recognisable in an instance with the need for verbal coaching. A great logo should contain only one visual idea, logo elements that compete with each other will only dilute your logos message. A logo with an icon should be accompanied by a clean and clear company name.
4. Message
   Your logo must have a clear and precise message that represents your companies key positioning. Keeping your message simple allows your target audience to relate and adopt your position in the market.
5. Appropriate
   Does the logo represent your business correctly and it’s strategic positioning? In the end this must be spot on.

You might have ticked all the above box’s and therefor on the right path with a successful brand. If you have only ticked 1 or 2, then your logo will need some extra attention from yourself and a brand agency in order to reposition your logo and company correctly. You might be thinking ‘my logo is only a year old, it should be fine’ or ‘i’ve had this logo for a long time and it has been working great for the company’, that might be the case but the reality is that your company is continually growing/evolving with time, your companies position and it’s message have most likely altered also.

Applying this simple method to your logo regularly is important in maintaining a logo and brand that is relevant to your company and your target audience.

The brand design process included a 5 stage brand development process which defined the brand strategy and resulted in a corporate image which was applied across their brand and marketing assets.

What is branding or brand?

• Is it a logo, no
• Is it the feeling a company or product gives you, kind of.

Branding is the total experience your company delivers to its customers from start to finish.Branding is about where you fit in the market, how you are perceived, what you look like, what you sound like and in some case what you taste like. Brand is everywhere in your business, you just may not have admitted it to yourself yet.

But Boyd we agree with you. How do we get ‘that’? I would like to give you some real ways to do this today.

More than ever brand is critical. Why?

• The market is more competitive; the Internet has dramatically affected this notion.
• The market is more price sensitive; the customer expects more-
• The customer has more choice than ever; they are not as loyal

I know you have heard this all before but most people I meet to consult with are not entirely open to accepting these factors and not prepared to really make understanding their customer their number 1 priority. All the great brands take this simple care to the highest level. So the first step to unlocking the brand in your company is to be open to this idea in the first place…

The first place you need to start is at 30,000 feet.

What’s 30,000 feet? It’s a concept to understand the big picture. Understanding your own vision and big picture is the most important driver in your branding discovery journey. When you view your business and your brand from 30,000 feet and keep it really simple you can make sense of everything. How does this happen? I believe the every business needs to define specific strategies in the following 3 key areas:

1. Brand strategy
2. Communications strategy
3. Marketing strategy

But these all sound like the same things. Don’t they? No, they are distinctly different but connected intimately. Let’s break them down.

Your brand strategy is:

• Your belief system
• You essential purpose
• Your ‘why’ for existing.

Put simply where do you want your brand to fit into the market? This must be defined clearly in the beginning.

Involving staff in this process is strongly recommended. Start thinking of your staff as your brand ambassadors. Recruit people who fit your brand ambassador profile!

Think about the personality of your brand. This is often referred to as the tone of your brand. This subtle and intangible element is really important to understand. Most people’s brand personality tends to represent them. That’s Ok but make sure you think that it’s relevant and you’re comfortable with it. In fact, my original brand was Corporate Image and whilst I love the brand because it was my first, my real passion and core brand strategy is with my umbrella brand Big Picture Group because. Why? Because it now most accurately reflects me and my way of thinking. Remember, your brand strategy may need to change as you do. When your brand does not represent your real and deep desires and purpose you have already failed in my opinion.

This outcome may be as simple as we want to provide the freshest fruit with the shortest delivery time with the friendliest service. But how can we convince people that this belief is true?

The next step is to develop your communications strategy. Your communications strategy is:

• The brand story or the ‘pitch’
• It’s your brand messages
• It’s about proving to the market you are living your brand strategy- these are often referred to as ‘proof points’

Knowing how to layer the messages and balance the mix of messages over time is really the key here. Many businesses tend to shove all their strengths and features into one advert and repeat the advert with little benefit. It’s about telling a story over a period of time adding more and taking some away each time.

So bottom line, you need great content to push your brand strategy and core-positioning objective. Many people don’t value great content in branding and tend to think it’s purely a visual thing.

Your essential brand building blocks are:

• Brand Personality (tone, emotion!)
• Brand Name (not your initials, something which really means something)
• Brand Visual (logo, break the visual cues of your market)
• Brand Slogan (positioning statement / brand promise – be bold)
• Brand Story (content)
• Brand Imagery (people, offices, product, theme based)
• Brand Tools (stationery, signage, brochures, website, video etc etc)
• Brand People (staff! No matter how well your staff adhere to using the new logo if they couldn’t care less about they job they’re doing, that’s your brand)
• Brand Place (are the lights on, or is your team working in darkness? Is the office clean and uncluttered? Does it have signage that’s consistent with your brand? Does it look and feel alive? Your work place is your brand).

Once you have defined your brand and communications strategy as outlined above you need your brand to have a marketing strategy. Your marketing strategy is the vehicle for your branding experience. It’s the way you get your brand out there.

So you can see I have covered three key pillars of thinking from developing your brand strategy (your essence or singled minded belief), your communications strategy (all the great things you want to tell the right people to prove your brand strategy wins) and then the marketing strategy.

We won’t cover marketing strategy in this session but for the purpose of today’s process these are my top 5 tips when taking your brand to market:

1. Be memorable, be prepared to be bold to stand out
2. Dominate the web (SEO, SEA, SMO, Banner Advertising, Email)
3. Use direct marketing and build your database (email, mail, SMS)
4. Ensure your staff know what your marketing strategy is, particularly the sales team!
5. Ask your clients for feedback on your marketing strategy; the cheapest and most effective market research tool available.

In fact, use your clients to test your brand, communications and marketing strategies.Small business can have a great brand and deliver a great brand experience for its customers. It really is about being true to what you believe in, committing to it and living it through your service, tone, messaging, visual cues (such as your logo). It’s about creating staff belief in your brand and getting their commitment. Lastly, choose carefully where you want to promote your brand.