Almost every day, you can read in the news of design and marketing portals that a brand agency has subjected the brand design. The brand identity or even the corporate design of a client to a refresh, a relaunch or a modernization. In this context, there is often talk of modern brand design, contemporary brand identity and revision of the brand image.
Now, as an average consumer and interested reade. You could ask yourself why it is actually necessary to modernize a brand design. Isn’t this brand design actually a derivation of the corporate design. Which in turn is supposed to represent the identity of the company? And is brand design then possibly nothing more than the logo of the respective company on a package and thus apparently a form of packaging design?
Even though some of these brand and design terms are often used synonymously and are usually more or less related. There are differences and important subtleties in the implementation or realignment.
How are brand design and corporate design related?
Ideally, the corporate design represents the company in its entirety in a visual way. A good corporate design ensures that the target group immediately thinks of the company. Its portfolio and perhaps also a special corporate philosophy when they look at the design. The corporate design is used to a large extent for marketing measures, but is also used at trade fair stands and presentations. For e-mail and print correspondence, corporate publishing and on the company’s own website.
An important part of the corporate design is also the company logo. And this is exactly where the connection to brand design arises. After all, a corporate design with the best recognition value can also be a brand design at the same time – but it doesn’t have to be. This can be illustrated well by two well-known companies.
If you think of IKEA, for example, the image of the Swedish furnishing group with all kinds of associations arises in your mind’s eye. In this case, the corporate design is also the brand. So the blue and yellow company logo is also the brand design.
When you hear the name Nivea in return. Most people probably think of a white and blue tin can and the smell of white cream. Very few consumers are even aware that Nivea is a brand of Beiersdorf AG. Here, Nivea is the brand with its own brand design. The corporate design of Beiersdorf AG is also presented in Nivea blue. But no one thinks of Beiersdorf when they hear the classic blue and white combination.
How does a brand design come about?
The development of a brand design is a time-consuming process. There are far more considerations to be included in this development process than may seem conceivable and logical at first glance. Because, of course, the brand design should be attractively designed and fit the company. But so-called branding, i.e. the process of developing a brand into one’s own brand identity, must take much more into account.
The design of the corporate design usually follows internal company structures. The corporate design reflects the company’s actions, products or services and possibly also unique selling points. Brand design, on the other hand, focuses on the combination of these entrepreneurial identification marks and builds a bridge to market-specific conditions and especially to the target group.
The right concept also plays a significant role in this branding process. The first step is the brand and market analysis, which can be made up of a target group and competition analysis as well as classic market research. As a result, a strategy is developed on how to bring the company and its corporate design together with the requirements from the analysis.
Only then is the overall concept created, which also includes the development of the logo design with the selection of the type of logo, matching colors, claims or even slogans. The establishment of the resulting brand design is carried out through suitable marketing measures, which in turn first require a marketing strategy or a communication concept.
When is a redesign necessary?
A good brand design not only creates recognition value, but in the best case also creates an emotional bond. Many traditional companies therefore shy away from subjecting their brand design to a complete relaunch.
A good example of a real outcry for such a relaunch was earned by Ferrero with its ever-popular children’s chocolate in 2005. The company had unceremoniously replaced the face on the packaging. Which had been known for more than 30 years and had often been changed in small sequences. It should be more modern and smart. A protest action called “Away with Kevin” was the answer of the chocolate lovers on the Internet.
This example makes it clear how important it is to proceed carefully when revising a brand design. Because, of course, the face on the chocolate packaging had once been contemporary in the 1970s and had long since become obsolete more than 30 years later. And yet it was precisely this face on Ferrero’s best-known product that made up the brand identity and its emotions for consumers.
A refresh or complete relaunch of a brand design needs to be well thought out and carefully implemented. The target group is and remains important. Certainly, at first glance, it seems attractive to follow current design and color trends for a modern brand design. However, those who implement such short-lived tendencies once a year for their brand design risk a loss of brand identity and ultimately lose the trust of their customers.
Summary
Brand design is an important component of corporate identity. It creates a connection between corporate design, market participants and competitors and, above all, the customers. A brand design must fit the company, arouse enthusiasm, emotions and positive associations in the target group and always appear timeless and appealing.
If your own brand image is established after a certain time, special caution is required when planning a complete relaunch. Here, less can mean more. However, only if the basic message and image of the brand design still fits the corporate philosophy. The corporate design and also the perception of the target group. The decision on refresh or relaunch ideally begins with a reflection on one’s own corporate values. Corporate identity and the brand itself.
However, the decisive factor for the degree of change should definitely be the customer. Traditional companies in particular are well advised to subject their brand design to minor modernizations over the years rather than completely turning the brand design upside down. However, the prerequisite for this remains that the corporate identity. Including corporate design and behaviour as well as marketing measures. Continues to be one hundred percent credible and trustworthy and is thus also convincingly conveyed by the brand design.