This week's book is short, easy to read and I highly recommend: The only book you will ever need in branding.
Whilst there is a lot more in the book, here are some points that have changed the way I look at branding forever. It also showed me how little i know about branding!
- Don't over complicate things. You don't need to spend to much time or money on your brand.
- Your logo / website / facebook page, etc. should have 2 or 3 primary colours max. E.g. McDonalds - Yellow & Red. Virgin - Red & White.
- Get a musician to do a simple jingle. E.g Coca-Cola or McDonalds.
- Then get a graphic designer, animator or director to do up a simple YouTube video with previous customers giving you testimonials. Pretend the YouTube video is a TV advert. For a small amount of money, you can make have a professional ad / YouTube video.
- At the start & end of your video, have your logo + slogan with a little jingle (see point 3). Then have the logo fade out to the testimonials. Have a link to the video on your homepage or even better, embed your YouTube video in your Website homepage.
- Don't try to target everyone, target a specific audience. For example, Toyota sold the new Lexus cars as 'Luxurious Japanese Cars' rather than just 'Japanese Cars'. This way Lexus didnt interfere with the Toyota brand.
- Don't keep changing your logo or slogan. Make small modifications but ultimately the same brand you have at the start, shouldn't change.
If you have any questions feel free to comment. I'll do my best to answer you.
Have a great weekend!