Brand Management
Brand management is one of the most important areas in communications, because a brand can only unfold its strength with proper guidance and best practices in place. In this context we apply the term “brand” to products as well as enterprises.
The topics brand and corporate identity are connected through a corporate design, which visualizes the identity of the company and creates the brand image. The central pillars for a sustainable visual appearance are consistency and uniqueness.
Trust and commitment
Consistency is an often-neglected issue in the development process for a brand, wittingly or unwittingly. In the ongoing production of the visual components of the brand few actually keep an eye on consistency (as long as the logo is printed right, everything’s fine). Every brand represents values and commitment by the company. Though, the brand’s worth eventually depends on the customers’ expectations and trust.
Consistency is the key to gain trust. Those who speak and look differently will not gain trust and support from customers. This principle applies to the corporate design as well. Neglecting a consistent visual appearance undermines trust, because trust can only emerge of reliability and familiarity.
Brand and self-similarity
The authors Oliver Errichiello and Arnd Zschiesche get to the heart of this key fact in their book “Markenkraft im Mittelstand” (transl. “Power of brands of SME”).
"Jedes erfolgreiche Markensystem muss überall eindeutig zu erkennen sein, denn es existiert nur als ein einmaliges System." (S. 50)
(transl. “Every successful brand system must be uniquely identifiable everywhere, since it can only exist as a truly unique system.”)
Reversing the statement clarifies its essence even more – if the brand becomes interchangeable with another company’s brand, its whole purpose is lost. A brand is an investment, like any capital good. Though, it is not purchased in one piece. Every communication, marketing and sales activity/measure/collateral is part of this brand investment. Every discrepancy of the visual appearance wastes the chance of uniqueness and weakens the whole brand system. Consistent self-similarity is the basic principle here.
The authors mentioned above define self-similarity like this:
"Selbstähnlichkeit bezeichnet die Fähigkeit eines Systems zur 'typischen' Weiterentwicklung der eigenen Gestalt. Der daraus resultierende Effekt der Wiedererkennung ist das Fundament jeder erfolgreichen Marke."
(transl. “Self-similarity is a system’s ability of to further develop the typical traits of its own shape. The resulting effect of recognition is the foundation of any successful brand.”)
What we do
Our task as an agency is the establishment of the principles (e.g. via style guide) and controlling proper application. DMKZWO or any other service provider can do the production of CD components. Without supervision and control, a brand system will fail to maintain its strength and utility.
