The importance of protecting your brand identity
If we had to give you a list of brand names like Coca Cola, Nike, Qantas, Disney we are pretty sure that you will immediately get a visual image in your mind for each. This is no accident. Big, successful brands spend fortunes on getting their Brand Identity right, because they understand the value to their business of doing so. The principles apply even if you are a smaller brand, or establishing a new brand.
In this article we will look at the importance of creating the right unique brandmark, and how this can transform your relationship with your customers and impact your bottom line.
BRAND IDENTITY & TRADEMARKING:
Good brand design is not just about a logo design, although this plays a critical part. Other elements come into play, and these together create beautiful brand synergy if done well - ultimately the whole becomes greater than the sum of its parts.
Distinctive logo designs are something with which we are all familiar. The wonderfully traditional Coke logo, recognisable around the world. The Nike Swoosh, representing how a ball goes into a basketball net. The Qantas Flying Kangaroo.
These not only bring a symbol or device into play, but also the important use of colour. Both Coke and Qantas use red. But we instinctively know that they’re different hues. There is a psychology behind the use of colour -called Colour Theory - whereby colour helps to evoke a certain feeling or emotion related to a branding Melbourne.
The colour blue, for example, is considered to be a very likeable, approachable colour. No wonder then, that social networks Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn all use blue in their corporate branding.
Blue is also the colour of Big Business and is helpful in imbuing trust - think IBM, Intel, American Express.
Yellow is happy. Red invokes energy. Green is peaceful. And so on.
Another important element in brandmarking is the tagline. These become integral with a brand and can take on a life of their own. Think:
“Eat Fresh”
“Because you’re worth it”
“The Spirit of Australia”
These slogans are as much identifiers of the brands as the logos.
Even fonts come into play. Serif fonts are more formal and used for brands evoking classic elegance.
Brands looking for clean, modern identities will often use sans serif fonts:
Good brand identity design combines all these elements - device, logo, colour and font - will give your brand a unique place in the minds of your consumer. This becomes your brandmark - one of the biggest assets of your brand.
CASE STUDY: Airbnb:
Sometimes, a brand needs to evolve, as we discussed in our article on Brand Audits. Let’s see how a tech startup brand evolved their brandmark to become one of the most valuable brands in the hospitality industry.
When Airbnb started in 2007, it looked like this… an alternative to hotels for those on a budget (interestingly literally meant an airbed!)
In 2009 the brand wanted to focus more on the community aspect, and a totally new logo was designed, shortening the brand name and losing the pink.
Their biggest change came in 2014, with the development of a completely new look and logo device, font and colour. With massive business growth the company realised it had outgrown its brand.
“It turns out the answer was right in front of us. For so long, people thought Airbnb was about renting houses. But really, we’re about home. You see, a house is just a space, but a home is where you belong”, explained Airbnb CEO Brian Chesky. “And what makes this global community so special is that for the very first time, you can belong anywhere”
And so the tagline “Belong Anywhere” came to be.
A brandmark, like any asset, needs fierce protecting. It’s an intangible asset, but an asset nonetheless. Your brand becomes your Intellectual Property (IP) - this unique combination of factors that belongs to your brand alone.
“The Trademarks Act 1995 (Cth) (updated July 2016) covers the registration and the authorisation of use for symbols, slogans, sounds, names, designs and other unique indicators in order to establish an identity of products and services.”
Why is it important to trademark your brandmark, and therefore your IP?
Because unfortunately theft of elements or the entire brandmark by other brands is a thing. Copycat brands often use very similar imagery, colours and identity to try to steal market share from leading brands. Let’s look at a local example that tried to copy one of Australia's best loved brands…
CASE STUDY : VEGEMITE vs BUTTERMITE
In 2018 and application for registration of a new brand called Buttermite, and trademarking of the logo below, were filed by a competitor of Vegemite. It’s easy to see how a consumer could easily be deceived into buying the competitive brand. Not only does the name contain “MITE” but the logos are clearly deliberately, similar.
The case ended up in court, and Vegemite won the battle in June of 2021, putting a stop to the copycat brand.
Brandmark development and implementation take an extraordinary amount of resources, both human and financial. Without the protection of a trademark you could end up having invested those resources for nothing.
Trademark registration should be conducted in every current and future potential market. The practice of “trademark squatting” sees people registering trademarks in countries where they are not currently registered, and then suing for trademark infringement or holding the brands to ransom.
CASE STUDY : PENFOLDS
Penfolds wine is globally recognised as one of the worlds best labels. In China it is an aspirational brand with a huge following - known under the chinese name Ben Fu. Unfortunately for Treasury Wine Estates, who own the Penfolds brand, they didn’t consider registering the Chinese name in China. Local businessman Li Daozhi registered the name, and started selling wines under the name Ben Fu.
The legal battle that ensued took 10 years to resolve, until Penfolds finally reclaimed their brand name.
Is it time for brand health check?
If you haven’t conducted a brand health check or audit, now may be a good time to do so - one, to ensure that your brand is still relevant and two, to ensure that you’re protecting one of your most valuable assets.
As the only dedicated dual Brand and HR experts in Australia, Dovetail Brand Engagement are well placed to bring objectivity and the essential expertise needed to best position your brand with a long term vision and to future proof your business for the competitive challenges ahead. More >