Brand Building 101: Communicating Without Words

Building a brand is one of the more complex and intricate pieces of the marketing mix.

Building a brand sets out to...

• Elicit an emotional response every time a consumer sees it
• Be memorable
• Prove it's superiority over your competitors

and most importantly ...

Building a brand boils down to one thing: Recognition 

Which leads me to the question:

Is your brand able to communicate without using words?

To illustrate my point, I've highlighted three brands who are able to communicate without saying a single word.

1. Nike

Nike's trademark swoosh logo is the perfect example of a symbol that speaks on Nike's behalf without saying a single word.

Taking the criteria that I laid out above, here are my reactions to seeing this brand symbol.

• Elicit an emotional reaction every time a consumer sees it

• Reminds me of Friday night under the lights -- my high school football games -- where the only pair of cleats I ever wore were Nike's

• Be memorable

  • In a long line of memorable promotions, Nike worked with the University of Oregon to project their logo on the side of Camelback Mountain in Arizona, a stunt that generated a tidal wave of free media promoting the stunt

• Prove it's superiority over your competitors

  • The people have spoken: Nike is the leading provider of athletic shoes and apparel

2. Apple

The Apple logo, a symbol nearing extinction prior to Steve Jobs returning to captain the Apple ship, is recognized the whole world over as consumers gobble up iPods, iPhones, iPads, MacBooks, Mac Minis ... well, you get the point.

Again, let's take the criteria that I laid out above to examine Apple's brand.

• Elicit an emotional reaction every time a consumer sees it

• Trendy and aesthetically beautiful products that are extremely user friendly to operate

• Be memorable

  • The Think Different advertising campaign of the late 90's remains one of the most popular (and arguably successful) advertising campaigns of the 20th century

• Prove it's superiority over your competitors

  • Again, the people have spoken: Apple's iPad 3 release saw 3 MILLION UNITS SOLDin the first three days they hit the shelves

3. Brian Wilson

Yes, mister 'fear the beard' himself!

Since winning the World Championship in 2010, Wilson has rocketed up the celebrity charts. Using his 300-esque beard and hot-tempered pitching style, Wilson has become a household name.

• Elicit an emotional reaction every time a consumer sees it

• Slightly terrified that Brian will pull a Leonitus and separate one (or more) of my limbs from my body

• Be memorable

  • Please refer to this Taco Bell commercial that Brian starred in

• Prove it's superiority over your competitors

  • Wilson is believed to be one of the best closers in all of baseball right now

What steps are your team taking toward building a memorable brand?