The Aspects of Branding - Part 3: Naming, logos and slogans
Perhaps the first picture that pops into our mind when we think of a brand is the name of a product, a logo or trademark. In fact the original intent of a brand label, brand name or trademark was to make one’s product stand out from the rest. Wow? Is that what it is? Does it really boil down to one farmer selling his apples right next to another farmer with similar looking apples except with a different sign or label? Well, yes, sometimes even if two products have varying degrees of quality or different part on the inside a name or distinctive imagery may be the only different thing some people see. if you went to the dairy case at the grocery store and some prankster had ripped off all the labels you would not be able to tell one brand from another unless the cartoon itself was also distinctive but let’s just assume the cartoon is the same in this example.
Even if I was daring enough to start taking the lids of the gallons of milk and started sampling I still might have a hard time tell each brand apart. Truthfully I wouldn’t start sampling different gallons. I might notify the store manager as he at least would know where my preferred brand was supposed to be located on the shelf. Obviously a good and memorable name is important. In a previous post I gave an example of what is considered the world’s most popular soft drink, CoCa-Cola and the offense people took when they tried to radically change the brand. Let’s go back to dairy however for a good example of a company that has build it’s brand above the cheaper “store brands.” I live in the southeastern United States and Mayfield Dairy Farms is a very popular brand and has a lot of brand loyality. Mayfield’s featured products are Milk, Yougurt and Ice Cream and their packaging is recognized by the the yellow boxes with brown text and the logo and mascot is a very recognizable cow. In recent years Mayfield has stood strong against the competition by utilizing their name, logo and mascot. In the past few years we have taken our nephew to see the giant Mayfield cow downtown, get a free sample of a new flavor and participate in an “election” where consumers can chose the new flavor. The name Mayfield is evocative of a peaceful farm setting. A place you would definitely want your dairy products to come from. I’ve never been to a Mayfield farm myself but the combination of the name, warm colors in the packaging sets them apart from the store brands.
Why do I give Mayfield as an example of good naming, logos and other distinctive elements? First of all I am very tempted to give a lot of example from the technology industry. I’m very familiar with technology companies but you see enough of that on the Internet and anytime I can give “face-time” to other industries I think that’s a good thing. Secondly Mayfield has not been my favorite brand, especially of Ice Cream. I’ve pretty much been a fan of Breyers Ice Cream but I admit Mayfield is really working on me as a consumer with their marketing efforts in recent years. When I go to the dairy case in my local grocery store I definitely know where the Mayfield products are and what they stand for.
How are you using your company name, logo, slogan and other visual branding elements to engage consumers?
