A Unified Front - Part 1.

I recently spoke to a new client who was unhappy with his current business card.

The card itself was solid.
Nothing fancy, it wasn't going to win any design awards but it was simple and well laid out.
It had all the correct information but it was missing something in his opinion.

After a quick 5 minute conversation we came around to the realisation that it was the logo that he was unsure of.

What made it worse is that he had some local newspaper advertising done and mentioned his uncertainty to the art department.
They had tried to help him out, made some changes and updated it.

Now he has 2 logos...
Similar, but with very different looks and certainly different personas.

He then proceeded to ask me to make a few changes, "nothing major" just a colour and maybe "get rid of that bit" and "keep that bit if you like".

I had to ask why he wanted 3 logos?

"i don't, I just want to get it right" and then added "as cheaply as possible".

I politely explained to him that he really needed to look at his overall brand.
From where I sat I could see the business cards of 5 staff members, building signage, a company vehicle, uniforms etc etc.

Why would you want them to be all different?

Now the term brand is being thrown around at the moment like it is a guarantee for the success and longevity of any business.
However it will do nothing for you if you don't understand why you have one.
Or more importantly why you should protect it.

I have heard many descriptions of what a brand is however I think Jeffrey P. Bezos (Chief Executive of Amazon.com) sums it up simply and effectively.

“A brand for a company is like a reputation for a person.”

So how does that matter?

Well, I believe consistency is key.