If you are familiar with brand platforms, you’ve probably noticed that they are often illustrated in a pyramid format, such as the one above.

Because of this, I’ve often correlated the brand pyramid with the Hierarchy of Needs Pyramid, which illustrates a theory proposed by Abraham Maslow in his 1943  paper A Theory of Human Motivation.

In his paper, Maslow organized human needs on five levels. The lower levels hold the crude needs of basic survival; the top  is considered idealistic — a place where many people never get.

In a brand pyramid, the lowest levels are associated with the basics of the brand – they are very feature focused. As you move up the pyramid, the personality of the brand is revealed. Sadly,  the top of the brand pyramid is a place where many brands never go and those elements are under utilized.

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It’s tough when the glory days have gone by, when your brand and your product are no longer the talk of the town. Trying to reclaim the good old days is not such a bad idea from a brand’s perspective. Theoretically, you’ve got fans out there who used to love the product and the brand, and you want to leverage any brand equity that’s out there. Unfortunately, some marketers forget that the good ol’ days might not have been so good for everyone and trying to leverage old-fashioned ideas just ends up insulting people. 

Such is the case with the current Schlitz ad campaign, which proclaims, “The Cars were Cooler; The Girls were Hotter; The Music didn’t Suck; The Beer was Better.”

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Sometimes one of the first and longest lasting brand or design decisions involves color selection. Every color has a different feel, look, or emotional resonance. Colors will evoke strong feelings towards a brand or design, so it is vital to choose a color that will represent an identity effectively.

“Research reveals people make a subconscious judgment about a person, environment, or product within 90 seconds of initial viewing and that between 62% and 90% of that assessment is based on color alone.”
- Why Color Matters

(via SwissMiss)

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