Comments on: Branding Starts With a Purpose Informing its Logo

By: Nicole

Nicole — Wed, 13 Apr 2011 18:09:19 +0000

Hi Jeff,

Sorry for the delayed response. I actually did a presentation for a group of executives a little while ago giving examples of brands who execute well on the ripple effect. This presentation is what encouraged me to start my blog, so naturally I wrote a post outlining some of those examples: http://www.morethanalogoblog.com/2009/07/digital-reasons-to-believe.html

I focus on IKEA and Nike in that post. Another couple of brands I think do a great job is Google (http://www.morethanalogoblog.com/2009/06/google-great-young-brand.html) and TOMS Shoes (http://www.morethanalogoblog.com/2010/04/purposeful-organization-toms-shoes.html)

I hope these posts are able to help you. Please feel free to email me if you have any further questions.

By: Jeff

Jeff — Fri, 18 Mar 2011 02:10:25 +0000

I would love to see you follow up with a couple of examples of the ripple effect for some real companies. I am exploring these ideas for my own branding and could use some examples to get me thinking the right way…

By: Nicole Armstrong

Nicole Armstrong — Sun, 31 Oct 2010 15:29:08 +0000

Hi Dipika,
Great question. I like to start conversations about getting to the organization’s purpose with 3 questions. I cannot take credit for these questions as they are in some form taken from Marty Neumeier, a person who writes on branding, design and innovation, and is someone I admire in the branding world.

But the 3 questions I always like to start with are:

1 – Who are you?
This is simple, it’s usually the organization’s name

2 – What do you do?
This is what the organization provides – what does it produce: physically and/or emotionally

3 – Why does is matter?
This is the most challenging question and is where the purpose resides. This question does not have to be answered over night. Rather it should be thought through and asked over and over again until you reach the root of why what the organization does really matters. How is the organization contributing to its consumers’ lives, it’s employees’ lives, and to society in general.

I think these 3 questions are a great starting point to get client’s to begin thinking about their purpose and the reasons it matters.

I hope this answers your question, and thank you for reading the post.

By: Dipika

Dipika — Thu, 21 Oct 2010 20:22:13 +0000

Purpose as a starting point, definitely!

I’m curious how you start that conversation with your clients?

It can certainly be intimidating for them to hire “a designer” to tackle such large, personal, and potentially esoteric questions.

By: Danny Dyson

Danny Dyson — Fri, 07 May 2010 01:52:33 +0000

Excellent article.. Love your site by the way. It’s nice to see an ‘uncluttered’ blog

By: Nicole

Nicole — Tue, 04 May 2010 10:23:22 +0000

Good point! Usually the brand’s point of differentiation comes through in the value proposition – we promise to deliver this and it’s special for this reason!

Thanks for checking out the post!

By: Boyd Wiebe

Boyd Wiebe — Tue, 04 May 2010 01:10:42 +0000

Great post, great site idea!

One other thing that sometimes has a bearing on my ability to create a visual strategy is asking the client what makes them different from their competition. As I’m doing the research into their industry I usually get a good feel for what their competitors are doing and what will make my client stand out.

By: Erken

Erken — Fri, 30 Apr 2010 19:57:13 +0000

I could not agree more with you! So many people think the logo does it all when in fact it is the reputation you’ve earned through your clients that define your success.

By: Ted Thompson

Ted Thompson — Fri, 30 Apr 2010 12:21:13 +0000

Interesting article, thanks for putting together. Cheers Ted

By: Chri

Chri — Thu, 29 Apr 2010 23:54:53 +0000

Good post Nicole – I like your idea of the Ripple Effect. I’ve used a similar concept to present to potential branding clients, but yours is nicely succinct.

I’ve also recently read Marty Neumeier’s The Brand Gap, which I found insightful and full of great nuggets.