Heroic Designs – March 2009
Developing Your Brand
As a little boy in rural Oklahoma I got to help my hero, a cowboy named Steve, brand a cow. As much as I wanted to be a cowboy for the rest of my life, little did I know that I would leave rustling cows behind but keep the branding iron with me. Now I help individuals and businesses develop their own brands (and yes, that is a picture of me above).
I’ve been slowly developing and exploring my own personal brand for several years. Recently I pushed it a little bit further by buying the domain GraphicDesignHero.com. Instead of selling myself as a graphic designer I’ve started making the bold claim that I’m a graphic design hero. My customers agree.
I found a great article entitled “9 Branding Tips For Small Businesses”. I thought I’d share a few tips with you. For sure, check out the entire article here.
- The design of your logo really doesn’t matter as much as what you do with it. Use it everywhere and use it consistently.
- Have a professional website and don’t let more than 2 years go by without an update. Be certain people are looking you up online.
- Data shows that people need to be exposed to a brand at least seven times before they buy. If you simply do one touch and stop, you’re wasting valuable budget dollars.
- Stand for something. If you’re trying to be everything to everybody, chances are you’ll attract no one.
Brand Camp
I’ve learned a lot about branding from a comic strip artist named Tom Fishburne. Tom is a marketing professional and part-time funny guy. He runs a blog that features his doodles and thoughts on marketing. At first I started reading his comic strip because they hit close to home, but as time has passed he’s been teaching me a lot about branding as well.
Another interesting is Under Consideration: Brand New. They review brand revisions by major corporations. I found them because they exposed an over-the-top creative brief developed by Pepsi to justify their new logo. You can review it for yourself and decided if it’s a joke or for real. My favorite comment regarding the controversy can be found here.