Templafy blog

The swoosh, the bitten apple, the bluebird; these world famous logos are iconic, recognizable and meaningful in the eyes of billions. However, it took more than design teams to establish these symbols in consumer culture.

From McDonald’s golden arches and Nike’s swoosh to Twitter’s now famous bluebird, these iconic images demonstrate the power a famous logo has to cut through culture and create an emotional, memorable connection between a brand and an audience.

Sometimes it can be difficult to practice what you preach. We all know that the core competency of professional services firms is to provide businesses with expert advice to improve operational and commercial efficiencies and legal compliance. But professional services firms can also struggle internally to maintain these high standards. And in an industry where reputation is everything, protecting your brand is paramount.

Poor brand culture at it’s worst not only affects morale, staff turnover and profits – it can lead to a full-blown PR nightmare. As brands such as Thinx, Nasty Gal, Uber and Amazon have recently found out, a disgruntled employee tweet or blog post has the potential to undermine your external brand identity and tarnish expensive marketing campaigns.

A rebrand is a critical phase for any business that is merging, growing, changing direction or simply looking to refresh and stay relevant. In other words, sooner or later, every business will find themselves rebranding and updating their visual brand identity.

Huge marketing budgets are routinely dedicated to building a brand which resonates with customers, but the most cutting-edge companies also invest in building a brand culture which excites and inspires their employees.

One of the biggest communication problems I encounter when working with companies undergoing a visual identity update is between company brand managers and the designers they hire to help rebrand their assets. If one side doesn’t hear the other at this important time, the entire operation may be in jeopardy. Designers, understandably, are often focused on external outcomes. It’s up to brand managers to ensure that the updates work internally as well.