10 Branding Lessons Stolen From Kickstarter

Hexanine: Branding Lessons Stolen From Kickstarter

In the design and creativity sphere, it seems like the name Kickstarter is on everyone’s lips these days. Sure, the popular crowdfunding platform has grabbed headlines while giving us a varied cornucopia of things like cardboard furniture, iPod watches, and movies based on cancelled TV shows, but there’s more to it than that. Whether you’ve backed a project, launched one, or just observed the furious sprint-to-funding that can ensue, there’s no denying that this Kickstarter style of funding has irrevocably changed product creation, financial models, and maybe even “e-commerce” itself.

And even beyond those achievements, the platform has also affected brands. Kickstarter has altered the exchange between people and the companies or products they support — which has important implications for brands looking to connect with their audiences. The unique type of relationship created by crowdfunding is powerful, and it’s important to know that effective, emotional audience engagement has grown beyond our old transactional models.

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Navigating the Niche: Embracing the Power of Micro-Communities

Hexanine: Navigating Niches

The world is changing. We are rapidly evolving away from a marketplace ruled by mass culture, to one filled with a riotous patchwork of specific niches. Not long ago, one-size-fits-all communications, branding, and products stood at the top of the heap. Whether it was the Big Three TV networks, Top 40 Radio, or products designed for the Average Jane, traditional marketing and branding sought the widest spread and the largest customer base. But in 2014, these bastions of lowest common denominator thinking are slowly crumbling, thanks to the increasing fragmentation of media, culture, and interests. And these fragments — whether you call them tribes, micro-communities, or niches — have powerful potential for organizations, brands, and marketers.

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Heritage or Garbage? 10 Thoughts on Reclaiming Old Brands

Hexanine: Reclaiming Old Brands

Occasionally we’re asked to partner with organizations who are looking to revive an old brand, resuscitate a product, or reclaim dormant intellectual property. Sometimes it’s for a brand new venture, or it’s a company rummaging through its archives for untapped assets. These behaviors can make a lot of sense, because typically, someone else has already put money, time, and effort into making that brand a recognizable one. The math seems deceptively easy: on paper it looks simpler to breathe life into an older brand than starting with a blank canvas. Some firms have even built their business models around reviving these castoffs. But it’s not always that easy.

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Good, Great, or Hated: How to Rate Your Own Logo

Hexanine: Rating Your Logo

“Products are created in the factory. Brands are created in the mind.”  - Walter Landon, founder, Landor Associates

Every organization worth its salt has a logo or visual identity that helps distinguish, identify, or describe its brand to audiences. And if you’ve visited the Internet at any point lately, you can see that everyone has opinions on logos. But when people say “I don’t like it!” or “That’s terrible,” what do they actually mean? There is a deeper question beneath such reflexive comments, though. Honestly, how do you evaluate a logo? How do you know if your company has the next Nike swoosh on its hands, or something much less awesome?

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Fire Your Celebrity “Creative Director”

Hexanine: Fire Your Celebrity Creative Directors

The glowing age of celebrity endorsements is fading. Sure, large corporations still hand out millions to basketball players and pop stars to attach themselves to some level of current “cool,” but no savvy audience truly believes this is anything less than a financial transaction — a paid endorsement, dollars for smiles. Insert cash, and a celebrity will say whatever you like. But is this good or bad for your brand?

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Q&A With Alina Wheeler On “Designing Brand Identity” 4th Edition

Hexanine: Alina Wheeler and Designing Brand Identity 4

Alina Wheeler wrote the book on identity design. Literally. She is the author of Designing Brand Identity, which is just about to be released in its fourth edition. It’s an excellent resource and is arguably the textbook on the discipline of overarching identity design. Over the years, we’ve found Alina’s thoughts, insight, and process to be an invaluable roadmap in developing and shaping our own identity design process, leading to greater results for us, and our clients. The book is a great 50,000 foot view, allowing readers the ability to see the design journey from beginning to end, but also allowing them to zoom in on how each part of the process contributes to overall project success.

On the eve of the book launch, we wanted to chat with our friend and colleague about this latest version, and also pick her brain about the state of identity design today.

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Style Is Not A Solution

Style is not a solution - Hexanine

It should be obvious, but style is not a strategy. Instead, style is just one tool in the marketer’s arsenal, brandished to help deliver a specific result, whether it is emotional, visual, or otherwise.

Or maybe style is more like a spice or seasoning. It tastes good, adds unique and distinctive flavor, but can’t stand alone as a meal. We need the red meats of strategy and goal-oriented design to deliver the goods, without being tricked into the idea that style can solve a problem on its own. In our lightning-fast culture, the speed of trends is increasing, and marketers, designers, and artists are often at risk of getting “over trended.”

Ephemeral trends and visual styles are at the highest levels — they’re the waves crashing and moving quickly over the top of the water, while the still waters of good design and communication ripple underneath. Great design and branding is knowing when to ride the crests, and when it’s best to dive deep.

The Branding Sweet Spot

Hexanine: The Branding Sweet Spot
Trying to stake out intellectual and emotional territory for an organization’s brand is a challenging proposition — so many viewpoints, stakeholders, and ideas to juggle and consider. You have the business and marketing goals of the organization, the reality on the ground, and the thoughts and emotions of the brand’s audiences. Marty Neumeier said in “The Brand Gap” that a brand is “what they say it is,” — that what the world thinks about your brand is incredibly powerful and often definitive.

I think he’s right on, but there’s more to the story. Read on…