The world has become a global village and premium products are available all over. This dramatic change in business has made the job of designers and brand managers difficult. They are now faced with the need to create an emblem that can break language barriers and relay a single universal message to the viewers.
Branding
experts and logo designers pay high importance to displaying the power of their products/services through unique symbols. The challenges of a globally accepted corporate logo design are thus manifold. Since people spend only a few seconds to understand the meaning of an insignia, if it’s hard to understand, one may not be able to capture a consumer’s attention.
Establishing a USP is challenging too. When you are selling a car in both USA and Italy, Italians may say “we have brands like Ferrari and Lamborghini, why should we buy a USA based company’s car?” Therefore, the emblem must convey the value of your products and make people realize why it’s so special.
Designers and branding professionals should dig deeper into consumers’ psyche and identify what they desire. Once they know what people want to see in a brand, they need to incorporate those factors in their corporate insignia to make a brand universally popular.
Have you ever thought why people go gaga over iPhone? Jobs said it’s a combination of iPod and phone. So what? Every cheap phone plays MP3 and video! What makes iPhone special?
It’s true that iPhone has nothing exclusive that other cell phone brands’ premium models don’t, but buyers simply love to own anything that has an Apple logo! As a branding guru, you have to make people believe that they are not just buying a product, but becoming a part of a valuable brand. However, to do this successfully, you must maintain the quality of your products as well.
Logo, Globalization and Origin of Product – these three factors are deeply related. When customers buy a product, they obviously look at the corporate emblem, but more importantly, they pay attention to the manufacturing country as well. Buyers tend to believe that third-world countries use low quality materials to manufacture a product. That is why, consumers like to buy a “made is USA” iPad, but may avoid a “made in China” iPad.
That is how globalization has changed the perception of business and corporate identity. If you want to dominate the global market, make sure that your logo is good enough to influence the psyche of your target buyers.
You have written a very interesting post. You mentioned that besides the logo, customers take a look at the manufacturing country to take the final buying decision and if a product is made in India or China, they tend to avoid it. Does that mean an Indian/Chinese company can never build a strong brand identity, even if it designs a memorable logo and offers quality products?
Comment by Eddard Stark — July 15, 2012 @ 1:04 am
Welcome back Eddard!
‘M afraid you misunderstood our point. We said consumers like to buy a “made is USA” iPad, but may avoid a “made in China” iPad”. Producer of both these products is Apple but the location of their factories shapes consumers’ decision. However, your question is valid to some extent. People really look down on products that are made in third world countries. You asked me “Does that mean an Indian/Chinese company can never build a strong brand identity, even if it designs a memorable logo and offer quality products?” I think the quality of a product is the ultimate decision-maker. Otherwise, companies like Tata and Wipro could not have earned global reputation. Companies need to create a great logo and provide ideal solutions to establish strong corporate identity.
Comment by Logo Design India — July 17, 2012 @ 6:57 am