Gain an advantage: Provoke desire

There are times when recognisability and trust are required as a given. A more ambitious company will need their identity to work a lot harder for them and this is where much larger amounts of money can be spent, and marketing a brand becomes even more strategic.

At a basic level, if a piece of packaging or a product catches your eye, it’s likely that your brain will reassure you that the product is good enough to warrant the time, expertise and cost that must have gone into making it look so wonderful. Instantly it is more valuable to you.

There’s no point having a brilliant product if it doesn’t actually appeal to people.

So when a company is looking up and aiming high, their identity and brand are huge, protectable assets and can make or break their success.

There’s no point having a brilliant product if it doesn’t actually appeal to people. If you can harness brand values and use visual means to engage with people, those people won’t just recognise or trust your brand, they’ll desire it and actively pursue it ahead of alternatives.

The more people who desire your brand, the more those people will commit to it and recommend it, and the more ambassadors or evangelists you’ll find you have. Popularity can snowball – Apple, anyone? BMW?

…their identity and brand are huge, protectable assets…

Again I want to stress that I’m not saying design will be the only factor in provoking desire or that design is universal and objective (as such it can’t possibly guarantee 100% positive engagement) but it’s vastly important nonetheless.

So is design holding you back or is it an opportunity that could unlock huge popularity or status? Is there a way you could review, test or audit your company’s identity? A professional you would trust to give you an honest appraisal?

Look around at your market. What are your competitors doing? Look back to yourself. Is your brand doing what you want it to do? If so, great! Well done and keep it up. If not? Be prepared to delve deeper and commit to improving as a priority.