OUGD601 - THE POWER OF BRANDING - NOTES

THE POWER OF BRANDING: https://www.designcouncil.org.uk/news-opinion/power-branding

- A brand is a set of associations that a person makes with a company, product, service, individual or organisation.
- Associations may be intentional - they may be promoted via marketing and corporate identity. 
- May be out of their control e.g. poor press review can tarnish the products manufacturers overall brand by putting negative associations in peoples minds. 
- Coca-Cola is the best known product / brand in the world.
- "If Coca-Cola were to lose all of its production related assets in a disaster, the company would survive. But contrast, if all consumers were to have a sudden lapse of memory and forget everything related to Coca-Cola, the company would go out of business." - Coca-Cola executive.
- The original cola drink "the real thing"?
- Visual associations might include the unmistakeable red and white logo and corporate colours, or the unique shape and tint of the original glass bottle. 
- Any organisation can benefit enormously by creating a brand that presents the company as distinctive, trusted, exciting, reliable or whichever attributes are appropriate to that business.
- In recent years the digital communications revolution has completely transformed this balance of control. The consumers voice has become louder and much more public. 
- Consumers can publish their experience of a brand and compare it with the experience of others. 
- Websites such as Tripadvisor and general review sections on a product allows consumers to compare their personal experience and can influence potential buyers.
- Branding is a way of clearly highlighting what makes your offer different to, and more desirable than anyone else.
- Effective branding elevates a product or organisation from being just one commodity amongst many identical commodities, to become something with a unique character and promise.
- It can create an emotional resonance in the minds of consumers who choose products and services using both emotional and drag,atic judgements. 
- People are generally willing to pay more for a branded product than they are for something which is largely unbranded (despite them being virtually identical products).
- The key ingredients of any brand:
The big idea: what lies at the heart of your company?
Values: what do you believe in?
Vision:  where are you going?
Personality: how do you want to come across?
IKEA - The big idea:
- A good example of a company with a big idea - based around the notion that good design is for everyone, not just design snobs.
- Fit our homes with well design furniture and products at affordable prices.
- Pret a Manger - values
- Valuing fresh food and minimising wastage.
- All its food is made on location each morning with no sell by dates and left overs are given to homeless charities and shelters. 
-How you can start to control the elements of your companies personality:
- Graphic design - the visual identity - hard corporate or soft, friendly caricature?
- Tone of voice - the language used spoken & written.
- Dialogue - can your users contribute ideas and get involved in the organisation?
- Customer service - how are staff trained to communicate with people?
- Gü - start up brand - chilled desserts market as premium product whose name (made up word) hints at the thought of gooey chocolate or treacle.
- Name and graphic black and white packaging all broke the 'rules' of design and branding in the sector and the product stands out strongly in supermarkets.