Strong brands aren’t necessarily remembered for the products it sells, but the emotional connection consumers have to the brand itself.

A recent study from Millward Brown ‘The Brandz Top 100 Most Valuable Global Brands Ranking’ has reinforced this, stating:

“As you look through the list of the top 100 brands, you’ll see names that you recognize, names that evoke an emotional connection…These responses to  brand draw customers, drive investment, and help assure long-term corporate stability.”

Once established, a strong brand creates a competitive advantage, allowing it to “[command] a price premium and decrease the cost of entry into new markets and categories. They reduce business risk and help attract and retain talented staff.”

So now you know why you want your brand to be the best it can be (maybe even make the top 100 one day!). How do you get there?

Connecting Images can assist you with an integrated communications campaign that will ensure your brand resonates for your customer and evokes an emotional response. Call (03) 9819 2566 to arrange to come in for a coffee and a chat.

Creating, re-branding or refreshing a business’ image can be at times, a stressful and complicated process. Read some of our previous posts to find out what makes a brand iconic and how to create an effective corporate identity for your business.

When re-branding, our clients often ask us which colours will best suit their websites. For this very reason, we have added a full colour chart to the website to assist our clients is selecting web safe colours that are consistent with your businesses’ image.

If you are struggling with the complexities of projected and reflected light, RGB, Hexadecimal, CMYK or spot (Pantone® PMS) colours we’re always willing to assist. Whether it be with our expertise or simply by making our colour guides available to clients, we’ll help you make sense of colour.

Whether you’re jetting off with QANTAS, or just savouring your Vegemite on toast this Australia Day long weekend, take a moment to consider what it takes to make an Aussie brand truly iconic?

What makes Australians patriotic about a food that is brown and gooey, resembling axle grease? Is it a flying kangaroo logo that still makes more Australian’s choose to fly QANTAS?

It’s this very patriotism that makes a brand Iconic, an emotional connection that select brands and products can induce. They capture the markets imagination and more often than not, take the consumer down memory lane.

A truly iconic Australian brand will embrace the Australian lifestyle (whether real or imagined), via the actual product or via the marketing campaign.

It’s often argued that an Iconic Brand cannot be consciously created, and that it is cynical to try and do so; but there are several key factors that all iconic brands seem to evoke:

Heritage: they are enduring, long lived brands.

Consistency: iconic brands tend to evolve rather than go through dramatic changes.

Relevance: they manage to stay fresh and maintain relevance over time.

Leadership: while not necessarily being the biggest they are always the most respected.

Integrity: iconic brands always recover from crisis.

So this Australia Day, tilt your Akubra, munch on your Arnotts and rest your weary Blunstones as you salute those Iconic Brands that add so much to the Australian way of life

Projecting an accurate image through your corporate identity and branding is essential; as this is often the first contact a prospective client or customer has with your organisation first impressions can be the only one that counts!

As you probably know, corporate identity is not just about placing a piece of clip art on everything from your letterheads and invoices to your power point templates. The philosophy, culture and your offering all need to be integrated into this important visual representation of who your business is and what it does. While it is a creative process, it certainly doesn’t have to be difficult and can indeed be an enjoyable journey of discovery.

A corporate identity should be:

* Consistent - To avoid confusion and to convey a sense of stability and reliability in your product or service it is important to convey a consistent corporate identity.

* Indicative – A corporate identity should reflect your organisation’s values, the direction you are headed in and the products or services you offer.

Through conveying a consistent corporate identity you can begin to build a recognisable brand, and instil confidence that your organisation will deliver what it promises to its clients or customers. A strong brand breeds loyalty, goodwill and trust, making selling easier, faster and cheaper.

Whether looking to refresh or overhaul an existing brand, or launching a totally new idea, Connecting Images will distil your message into a meaningful, memorable, distinctive symbol.

For more information, contact Merilyn or Cal on (03) 9819 2566.

It’s the most effective form of marketing, but the hardest to create. The majority of people are motivated to initiate discussion if they feel they’ve ‘discovered’ an interesting, helpful or innovative product or service – so, here are some tips and tricks for creating ‘buzz’:

• Have databases of connected ‘key influencers’ to spread the word.
• Create a space to enable and support those likely to be passionate about your brand – partner with groups or businesses with shared target markets and complementary services or products to open up a world of new contacts who you keep informed regularly.
• Set up a discussion forum or managed blog on your website where customers can post their comments, opinions and reviews.
• Create compelling, entertaining, valuable communication that your customers will look forward to receiving. If the communication is electronic, promote the sharing of information by including a ‘send to a friend’ function on your email.
• Listen to and record customer feedback and suggestions (both positive and negative) to get ideas for improvements and updates to your products and services. When you implement a change, let them know it was because of their input!
• Get your staff excited about and involved in what you’re doing – if they’re having fun, they’ll create a great customer experience, and that gets people talking!

NRMA presented 20 teenagers with free mobile phones to communicate to their mobile address book the virtues of a new roadside service Free2Go. Aimed at the youth market, within two hours of the launch, 200 new members had signed up. Applications continued at the rate of approximately one per minute for the rest of the day! And all for the cost of 20 mobile phones.