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Leaders in Brand Transformation™

Archive for the ‘Brand Identity’ Category

Free Logos!

July 6th, 2011 by Dan Bergeron - Filed Under: Brand Identity, Brand Positioning, Brand Valuation

It’s a funny thing… the word free seems to really draw a crowd. And for good reason! There is a tremendous amount of perceived value in getting something for nothing. But not all freebies are free, and specifically I’m talking about company logos (we refer to these as brand identities).

It’s not hard to find a free logo. It could be clipart, a stock image you found on the internet, or maybe the guy who makes your vehicle decals offered to ‘do up a logo’ for your for free. Hey, even the IT guy knows a thing or 2 about graphic design right? While these may appear to have no cost associated, here is where you’ll pay:

Brand positioning
 An experienced brand strategist and seasoned creative team can create an image that captures more than just what your company ‘does’. They can weave in the personality, aspirations and felt sense that you want your company to stand for over time. This is what separates authentic brand images from ‘logo’s. If your strategic position as a business (value, premium, boutique etc.) isn’t carefully crafted into your logo, the cost could be eroded pricing, premiums and missed customer engagements. People often will feel a certain way triggering a physical action based on a quick 2-second first impression, so you need to ask yourself; is the identity is really ‘speaking’ for your business?

Collateral Costs
Branding companies have the background and experience to see the complete landscape of future use for your company’s brand identity. Whether this is outdoor use, stationery, signage, vehicle, golf balls or the Good Year Blimp’ message board, a logo should be designed to be practical, legible and simple. It’s amazing how many times we’ve seen logos designed with a single purpose in mind and then require significant modifications over time.

Pre-Mature Rebrand
If you’ve been successful in your start-up, it may become evident very quickly that your logo is off the mark, it doesn’t stand for what the company is evolving into. This can trigger the need to re-design and re-launch the brand image far sooner than is normal resulting in confusion amongst your customers and prospects. It is certainly normal for companies to go through a systematic brand update from time to time, but these are often refreshes to sustain their growth rather than wholesale changes.

    Ultimately, your brand should be authentic, unique, relevant and resilient. It’s unlikely that the source of the free logo was strategically engaged to a point of creating an identity that meets these criteria. We strongly encourage you to obtain the services of an experienced brand strategist or designer.

    So, is a free logo really free? As my Dad used to tell me (at nauseam), “You get what you pay for, and you’ll pay for what you get!”.

    Another Champion Brand is Out of the Gate and On Track

    May 10th, 2011 by Dan Bergeron - Filed Under: Brand Identity, Brand Positioning, Client Success, Interactive Branding

    In 2010 the Calgary BMX Racing club reached out to RFX for help towards a long overdue refresh of the club’s identity. As a local not-for-profit, youth & adult, male & female, sport organization, celebrating their 30th year of operations, the club desperately needed an identity that both captured the essence of the sport and had convincing appeal to their broadening demographic of participants.

    The new identity needed to work towards both modernizing the club, and promoting the 2010 Provincial Grands & Alberta Championships – the sport’s premier provincial event that Calgary BMX Racing was chosen to host.

    Drawing upon the diverse talents of our team, RFX was very enthusiastic about taking the project on, and offered our services for nothing more than in-kind support.

    Art Director, Bryan McCloskey’s past experiences in skateboarding apparel design strongly contributed to striking the right tone and balance of the new logo design, combined with a custom illustration (by Jason Klapak also of RFX) in the form of a promotional poster, cemented an exciting new creative identity platform for the club.

    Response to the poster and new identity was overwhelming and helped Calgary BMX Racing present the best-attended and most successful BMX event ever held within the province of Alberta. Lance Mottershead, president of Calgary BMX Racing commented; “the on-point reinvention of the identity greatly advanced recognition of our club and brought a legitimacy to sport that hasn’t been recognized since it’s inclusion in the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympic Games”.

    In early 2011 RFX was once again engaged to further broaden the Calgary BMX Racing brand by completely rebuilding the club’s stale and ineffective website.

    Launched May 1st, the new website is proving to be a most effective information tool for both new recruits and returning club members. With vastly improved functionality, clean interface and intuitive navigation, the Calgary BMX Racing website sets a new standard in not-for-profit sport organization communications.

    Canada is #1 Brand in the world

    November 8th, 2010 by Dan Bergeron - Filed Under: Brand Experience, Brand Identity, Brand Positioning

    According to FutureBrand’s 2010 Country Brand index, Canada has edged out the USA for the top spot on the list of the worlds most respected brands. Climbing from 12th position only 4 years ago, this shows a general improvement in the way Canada as a nation is perceived by global audiences.  Likely due in part to the Olympic effect, Canada remains high on the list for both tourism and businesses to consider as top destinations. Australia and New Zealand ranked 2nd and 3rd respectively.

    Great Brands don’t suck

    June 16th, 2010 by Dan Bergeron - Filed Under: Brand Experience, Brand Identity, Marketing

    I recently attended the Art of Marketing (#taom) conference here in Calgary, and had a chance to take in some amazing speakers discussing the latest in marketing trends and creativity. One of the thoughts that stuck with me was ‘The path to building a great brand starts with not sucking’. Yes folks, I also believe it is just that simple. You can only live behind a veil of beautiful design for so long until suckiness starts to ooze through if you aren’t sincere in your actions, and committed to providing quality in both your product and your customer experience.

    Thanks Art of Marketing!

    AGRI-TREND is Recognized Among the 2010 REBRAND 100 Global Awards Winners

    March 5th, 2010 by Dan Bergeron - Filed Under: Brand Identity, Client Success, RFX News

    March 05, 2010— The AGRI-TREND Group of Companies was named one of the world’s most effective rebrands in the sixth annual REBRAND 100® Global Awards. REBRAND 100 is the highest recognition for excellence in brand repositioning, and is the first and only global, juried program of its kind. RFX Brand + Communications’ rebrand of AGRI-TREND encompasses a strategic reorganization of the various brands, an overall simplification, and development of a strategic road map to accommodates future growth.

    “I am genuinely impressed with the work from this year’s REBRAND 100 Global entrants,” said Callison Executive Vice President and 2010 juror, Paula Stafford. “It is apparent companies are working hard to provide a 360 degree, comprehensive brand language. They see the value and strength of consistency, clarity of identity and message in reaching their respective audiences. Some entries were spot on in connecting with their targeted customers, patients and clients.”

    To select winners, a new, international panel of industry experts convenes yearly to review the best of the submissions. They consider “before” and “after” images of brand transformations with written summaries. Emphasis was on executed strategy that made an emotional connection, and met the stated objectives and needs of the identified target market. Jurors were unaware of the brand strategist’s name and size when reviewing the projects. Consequently, a small consulting firm had as much opportunity to be selected as did global organizations.

    Over 36 industries and 29 countries are represented among the 2010 winners. They ranged from the City of Pula’s Office of Tourism in Croatia to Nike, and Walmart, the worlds largest retailer. Some of the competing brand consultants included Interbrand, Radley Yeldar, Lippincott, and Siegel+Gale, in addition to in-house teams, small agencies, and representatives of multinational corporations. The rebrand could have been an enterprise-wide effort, a change in a single brand component, or a brand extension.

    The 2010 panel of 10 included Friederike Biegel, Director of Strategy, Peter Schmidt Group in Germany; Founder, Director & Principal Designer; Ashwini Deshpande of India-based Elephant Strategy + Design; Uche Nworah, Channel Brand Manger for Glo; Andrew Gorman, Creative Director, Radley Yeldar, and Kit Hinrichs, former Pentagram Partner and founder Studio-Hinrichs.

    About The AGRI-TREND Group of Companies.
    AGRI-TREND has 4 main operating divisions servicing agricultural clients across Canada, the US and as far away as Australia. AGRI-TREND has expertise in Agronomy, Carbon Credits, Grain Marketing, and Precision Farming. In addition, they have also developed an industry leading data management platform, tailored exclusively for their clients. To learn more about AGRI-TREND, visit them online at www.agritrend.com.

    About REBRAND™ and the REBRAND 100® Global Awards:
    REBRAND™ is the first, and only expert-led, global resource focused on brand transformations. Its REBRAND 100® Global Awards, is the highest, recognition for excellence in brand repositioning. Featured in such media as The Wall Street Journal, CNN Money, BusinessWeek, and Yahoo! Finance, the annual awards has entry deadlines in late September. View case studies from numerous industries at www.rebrand.com

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