Effective visual identity keeps the cash register ringing

Sony rules in Asia," shouts Media Magazine’s headline.

Sony is truly a certified category killer, as the result of the first Top 1,000 Brands in Asia poll will show. The consumer electronic powerhouse dominates the brand marketing landscape as it emerges number one on the list based on a proprietary survey conducted by SuperBrands Asia. Eight countries – China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Philippines, Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia – were part of the initial round of research that involved people aged 15 to 64 years old, typically with sample size per country of 500.

"What makes Sony’s success story worthy of celebration is its obsession with quality, appetite for unstinting innovation, its uncanny ability to connect with customers, and its appreciation of branding as a long but ultimately rewarding journey," Media reports.

Sony captured the world’s imagination with the Walkman in the ‘70s, and in the recent past, the PlayStation 2. To date, Sony has sold 340 million Walkman units, seven million PlayStation consoles and now has an equally ambitious target for its Cybershot digital camera range and the revamped Vaio computer line. Other brands that made it to the Top 10 list are Nokia, Kodak, Panasonic, Coca-Cola, Canon, Toyota, Honda, Fuji and Nike, in that order. And Philippine brands that prominently figured in the top 1,000 include San Miguel Beer, PLDT, Shoemart, Jollibee, Ginebra San Miguel, Robinson’s, Bank of the Philippine Islands, Philam Life, Rusty Lopez, Bench, Pop Cola, Globe and Smart.

A Trusted Promise

What is a brand? A brand is more than a trademark, a registered logo, a tagline or a well-known name. It is a promise of consistent consumer-wants satisfaction, aiming to provide positive experiences at every encounter. It is a trusted promise of quality, service and value, established over time and proven by the test of repeated use and gratification. People enjoy brands in many ways. Their experience may start with the promise of a name. It becomes real when someone purchases stocks in a corporation, chooses a cellular telephone service, or visits a fast food restaurant and makes a menu selection. The involvement may end with a letter, press release, bank statement, or a utility company invoice. But, it stays in our memory bank as a set of impressions and it lasts as brand loyalty.

Addison Designs Consultants Pte Ltd, a leading international strategic design consultancy based in Singapore, focuses its work on a very critical element of branding – the visual branding system or brand identity. It is all about using aesthetics as a strategic tool to influence consumer awareness, interest and preference. It is a stimulus that provides opportunities for organizations to appeal to customers through a variety of sensory experiences leading to satisfaction and enduring support.

Brand identity is the power to hold the casual glance and capture the imagination. It is best illustrated by the world famous "Mickey Mouse ears." We all know they represent Disney. And we wonder too how much revenue these ears have generated for Disney over the last 60 years? What about the Nike swoosh, the stylish Absolut Vodka ads, or the ubiquitous trademarked Coca-Cola bottle? They all revolutionized their respective categories through desirable visual images and friendly projections that eventually made an impact on their respective bottom lines.

Successful brand identities speak directly to the end users. They are approachable, simple, clear and easy to understand. Usually they have a single element that acts as the focal point for the brand – McDonalds’ golden arches or IBM’s blue color, which became the standard for the entire IT sector, are two very frequently cited examples.

Addison, represented by Elizabeth Graham, its client services director in the recently concluded IABC conference in Malaysia declared that there are three criteria that the design agency uses to assess an identity’s effectiveness – visibility, suitability, and the power to captivate.

Rising Above The Clutter

Is it visible? The answer seems obvious, but it is amazing how many companies commit the mistake of adopting identities that are all-but-visible in the cluttered environment of people’s daily existence. Two things can lead to poor brand visibility. First, we can’t achieve visibility if the components of the identity itself lack impact – a highly detailed symbol with lots of "negative space," for example, or a typeface that is hard to read, or a recessive color palette.

Second, even a strong identity will become invisible if it is too small and understated in application.

Graham cites the example of Great Eastern Life and how it was able to enhance its presence in the marketplace through increased brand visibility. In 2001, the company refined its lion symbol, corporate typeface and color palette to improve its presence. The result? In both 2002 and 2003, Great Eastern won a Singapore Brand Award for being "one of the most valuable Singapore brands." Its brand value is currently assessed at 429 million Singapore dollars.

Being Known For Something

Is it suitable? The value of a successful identity does not rest in people’s awareness of it. The value lies in the brand’s reputation – the public’s perception of what the brand stands for, in terms of proven benefits. Awareness is about being known, but reputation is about being known for something. For this reason, Graham asserts that the starting point for creating a successful brand identity is a concise positioning statement that defines the brand’s sustainable points of differentiation, and ensures a clear, consistent voice for the brand.

A case in point here is the new brand identity created by Addison for San Miguel Purefoods (SMP). San Miguel Corporation (SMC) is widely known as the manufacturer of San Miguel Beer, but one of the largest and fastest growing sectors of SMC is its food businesses. Until recently, various divisions within SMC, all using different identities, ran the food operations. Following the acquisition of Purefoods from the Ayala Group, SMC consolidated all its food businesses into a single entity now known as San Miguel Purefoods. A branding exercise was implemented for the new food company to capture the essence of its positioning and clearly differentiate the food business from the beer company. The SMP brand reinforces all the qualities that it is particularly proud of – fresh, wholesome, high quality, affordable foods. It also projects a friendly and approachable corporate culture. In 2003, Graham reveals, SMP recorded profits of P749 million, a 15 percent increase over the previous year.

Engaging People’s Emotions

Is it captivating? Excellent brand identities engage people emotionally. They not only capture the imagination; they also inspire. Graham tells the story of Bumiputera-Commerce Bank (BCB), a merger of two Malaysian banks. It was a by-product of the high priority given to the process of creating a new look for the financial institution that would be as pervasive as Citibank. This goal was quickly achieved through the use of an unusual, proprietary and highly visible color palette, combined with a simple, approachable, yet meaningful symbol. The success of the BCB launch is clearly manifested by the high incidence of a no-prompt identification of the revitalized BCB emblem.

After achieving a visible, congenial, conspicuous and enthralling personality, what’s next? We have to warrant continued success with good management and consistent maintenance. Companies with successful brands spend a great deal of effort to ensure correct usage of their brand identities. First, a senior marketing or corporate communication manager is appointed to review all identity applications. The assigned person is also vested with the power to enforce decisions. Second, the partner advertising agency is thoroughly briefed on the brand identity, its symbolism, meaning and precise handling. Third, a regular review is scheduled to evaluate the program and make recommendations for forward improvement.

Graham points to the Jollibee Food Corporation to demonstrate the enumerated success factors. Consider the following: Tony Tan Caktiong, president of Jollibee was recently named World Entrepreneur of the Year for 2004. It is consistently voted the most admired company in the country; and the first Philippine fast food company to achieve P1 billion in sales, commanding a 65 percent market share. The list goes on and on. Undoubtedly, Jollibee is an icon in the Philippines. We simply love this brand.

Not surprisingly, Graham emphasizes, Jollibee’s visual identity system meets all the criteria for effective branding. It is highly impactful, exuding the company’s core values of wholesomeness, happiness, goodness, family and fun. It is imaginative, captivating and endearing. Jollibee takes the nurturing of its brand identity seriously. It implements programs to secure market leadership. For the past ten years, it has retained an identity consultant on a continuing basis. A senior marketing staff is likewise charged on a fulltime basis to safeguard the sanctity of the Jollibee brand. This individual has a counterpart in the engineering department responsible for the brand’s expression in store design. The two work closely together on a team basis. With all these efforts, the Jollibee brand, without hesitation exemplifies what is visible, suitable and captivating.

Brand identity development is a challenging arena. Its success will rest in part on in-depth research, in part on careful planning and analysis, in part on intuition, and in part, as the Chinese would say, on good luck.

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E-mail bongo@vasia.com or bongo@campaignsandgrey.net for comments, questions and suggestions.