Branding Mistakes
Everyone should read this to avoid making mistakes while creating or relaunching your brand.
In 1982, Colgate decided to enter the frozen food market trend by coming up with a line of Colgate-branded frozen food called Colgate Kitchen Entrees. Colgate thought that consumers would eat boxed meals with the Colgate brand on it. Because nothing says “this tastes amazing” like a spoonful of toothpaste. This risk taken by Colgate has been marked in branding history as what not to do! The disaster was said to be responsible for lower toothpaste sales and proving that this marketing idea was a backlash to the company.
In the moment, the growing ready-to-eat meals market seemed like a great space for an established company like Colgate to expand their company. There was just one difficulty for Colgate: their brand. Colgate was already renowned as a toothpaste brand, and the introduction of a ready-to-eat meal product under the same brand name and logo didn’t sit well with consumers. Colgate had spent years branding themselves as a toothpaste company, and the new product just wasn’t consistent with their existing brand image.
This is a great example of branding gone terribly wrong. A Lesson to learn from this is that a brand’s value is tied to the product. That in simple words explains the utmost importance of branding with respect to a product.
For companies dedicated to their businesses’, there has never been a better period to embrace branding as a key driver for growth and productivity. The internet has helped smaller companies to be at par with larger companies, especially for those companies who target a smaller niche. Many people mistake a logo as a brand, but in reality a logo is a small portion of the branding process.
When branding is done well, it brings out the personality and emotion behind the business which is then visually represented with the logo design like using it on stationery, products, packaging, signage, etc. Unfortunately, a lot of companies overlook the importance of establishing a brand and the branding process. Instead they choose to hasten the process, never experiencing the benefits. A few mistakes in branding have been highlighted below:
- Design Inconsistency
If it is a brand redesign a company wants to opt for, it shouldn’t stray too far from what made the brand successful and distinct in the first place. The clients who were loyal, should recognize the company post-redesign. Unexpected changes can estrange even loyal fans of the brand. The brand should not be diluted in search of higher revenue.
The perfect example of this is Gap’s now-infamous logo redesign slip-up. In 2010, the casual clothing retailer scrapped their classic square logo in favor of a drastically different, minimal new direction:
According to a Gap spokesperson , the major design shift was anticipated to change the brand’s image from “classic, American design to modern, sexy, cool.” Unfortunately, that’s not exactly what happened. The criticism against the aggressive change created uproar on the internet, and less than one week after the new logo was announced, Gap decided to go back to their roots and re-adopt their original blue box logo.
- Over complicating the brand
Examine how Coca Cola’s classic script logo has changed since its first usage in 1887. While the fonts used have varied slightly, the original look is still largely intact after more than 127 years of service.
Small businesses can learn a lesson from this beverage company. When beginning the branding process, it can be appealing to add more variables than you truly need. But the logo doesn’t need to be over complicated with multiple colours and it doesn’t need to have multiple elements to represent the different branches of the company. Clean, simple elements are more likely to be recognized and recalled by consumers, so it is advised to avoid over complicating the company’s branded elements.
- Inconsistent corporate identity
A company must use the same name, logo and tag line every place where the company is to be mentioned. The company name on the sign must match what is on the business card and website. The idea that the brand identity must be embedded in the minds of the potential customers is very important for branding to be successful.
- Poor graphic visuals
Every time the company name must be recollected by a client/ customer, it must be kept in mind that 65% of the people in the world are visual learners and remember things better if there is a visual image attached to it. It is advised to create a consistent visual picture and logo that represent the company.
- Not training employees
Employees working in a company are potentially walking, talking billboards. Vigorously training them about the name, logo and tagline of the company is a marketing campaign in its own which helps in branding.
- Failing to focus branding on the core service
In order for branding to be successful, one core product or service is taken into focus and marketing that product or service helps in the overall branding of the company. The company shouldn’t confuse the public with long lists of all the products and services that are offered. Concentrating on the core product or service gives out the message about the high value of the core product and that the other products and services also have high value. A good example of this is KFC, they concentrate extensively on their “fried chicken” as that is their trademark.
FabCoders being a renowned agency for branding in Goa, trust us to come up with the right branding for your business. Call us on 9545410696 or email on info@fabcoders.com to discuss your branding project.
