As the new year begins, we can look forward to the many lists that will recap the biggest events of 2008. In the design world, it’s a time to review the best and worst designs of the year. It’s also a great time to take a look at the trends that developed and consider what trends are likely to develop in the future. (more…)
Trends. Fads. Styles. Innovations. Each brings new ideas, fresh thinking and novel motivations into the marketplace. Consumers track them for new “things” and new modes of self expression. Marketers track them for new ways to communicate with and meet the needs of consumers.
In order to follow trends without sabotaging your brand, you have to monitor their impact, success or failure, and apply that information to your own products and consumers — carefully.
If you can do that successfully, you’ll gain a competitive advantage: connecting with your consumer in a meaningful way.
Here are a few ground rules to keep in mind:
Making business decisions based on savvy trend watching does not need to be scary. Just think of it as a way to keep your brand fresh and evaluate the way you communicate with your target audiences.
When a company has been around for a while, inevitably someone says, “We should do a timeline.” And before you know it, one has been thrown together and tossed up on the corporate website — often without imagery or relevant content or any type of interactive functionality.
This, of course, begs the question “what is the real purpose of a timeline?”
I like sports. Ok, I like sports a lot and I also like following the trends of design in sports. I especially look forward to seeing which teams change or update their brands, logos, uniforms or colors at the beginning of every new season. These changes can range from the complex — logos, uniforms, colors, etc., to the minute — piping on the numbers. It’s apparent that, no matter the change, teams are always looking for ways to stay current while still maintaining their brand equity. This can be a tricky road to navigate, especially for teams that have been around for awhile and have a loyal, passionate fan base. What I find most intriguing are the teams that have recently returned to the more traditional, classic designs from their past.
Let’s face it, change can be scary.
Especially when it comes to a company’s brand mark. It is the single most visible aspect of a brand. It appears on everything — stationery, signage, marketing collateral, packaging, websites and more.
One of the single biggest concerns about changing a brand mark is the impact the change will have on existing brand equity. Make no mistake about it, changing a company’s brand mark will most definitely have an impact on brand equity. But that’s the point really, because the motivation behind a well thought-out and expertly executed brand mark update or change is to build brand equity.
I couldn’t agree more with Karen Sams recent blog about online pressrooms. She essentially said that putting critical, time sensitive information online so that journalists, who depend on the information, can access it easily is crucial. A business doesn’t lose anything by creating a press room –it still controls the strategy and messaging of its news and information — but it gains a lot. The positives of online media sites are: repetitive visits from journalists and editors — which ensures how your message is delivered, since you are providing the content — from the perspective of online vs. print and mail, a cost savings.
