Welcome back to the 3G’s & MHO Checklist Series.
This is Part 6 in our series looking at logos and more specifically company logos, brand logos and product logos, for use wherever a logo will add value, including but not limited to your Facebook logo, Instagram logo, Twitter logo, LinkedIn logo, website logo, anywhere the business logo can be used to represent your business, ensure recognition, illicit positive association, and help drive sought after action.
Picking up from part 5 (which you can access at https://www.3gs.co.za/checklist-logo-logo-design-diy-or-hire-a-professional-agency-part-5/) and all other articles related to this series that you can access on our blog, a core function of your logo is to represent your organisation in places/spaces.
So now we are looking where and how the logo is applied, along with any other pertinent information to drive a specific activity – call us, don’t step here to avoid the hole, follow us on Facebook etc.
Rolling Out The Collateral.
For the purposes of this article we are going to focus on the more general items that are, or have the potential to be, common to the broadest variety of businesses, organizations, products and/or services and their messaging at the time. This is at a macro level on not a detailed deep-dive on any single facet.
- Email signature/footer
- Probably the single most used piece of collateral. Think every time an email is sent by anybody in your organization, it is an opportunity to market your brand, your organization, products and services in a consistent manner organization / business wide, whilst interacting via email with the intended recipient(s).
- What an opportunity to build brand recognition, as well cross-sell and up-sell your offering. So long as the focus of the message is the subject matter of the email, and the branding is not overpowering the message, then this branding on the periphery of the message is seldom (if ever) rejected by those receiving it, and as emails get passed around, so it increases your reach without requiring you to be actively involved in marketing your business on each email forward, reply or print.
- The nature of the email signature / footer is much the same as the business card, though now it is electronic.
- This gives you more options, functionality, and ease of update and in so doing when someone receives a new email they will be exposed to your new information even prior to meeting up with them again (and usually it is unlikely that once someone has your business card that you will give them another – unless your company name, branding, and/or contact details have changed)
- It is a great way to link to social media initiatives and/or your website for further marketing
- Though, as strange as it might seem, it should still be effective in printed form – yes, there are times when emails get printed.
- Probably the single most used piece of collateral. Think every time an email is sent by anybody in your organization, it is an opportunity to market your brand, your organization, products and services in a consistent manner organization / business wide, whilst interacting via email with the intended recipient(s).
- Letterhead
- Barring specific circumstances , the letterhead will usually be electronic, and used for formal communications – example quotes and estimates, agreements, and other official business / organization communication. The header and footer is typically where the always-present branded messaging will be placed (and protected to retain its integrity) and the balance of the document is where the subject matter of the document will be presented
- Typically this encompasses the logo, official company / organisation information, and various governance dictated inclusions.
- This is again an opportunity to build brand, as well as provide links to websites and / or social media presences, however, this is very much secondary to the content that is the focus of the document.
- Barring specific circumstances , the letterhead will usually be electronic, and used for formal communications – example quotes and estimates, agreements, and other official business / organization communication. The header and footer is typically where the always-present branded messaging will be placed (and protected to retain its integrity) and the balance of the document is where the subject matter of the document will be presented
- Social media
- With social media being so integrated into people’s (and organizational) lives, there is great opportunity to build your business / organization / product / service awareness and engagement on the relevant platforms amongst the myriad of social media channels available. Specific posts will deal with specific messaging. Typically your logo should form part of the profile icon on each platform
- Usually your logo and other messaging forms part of the cover image / cover spread / banner (amongst the various other names for this aspect of a social media presence – varying from platform to platform)
- Website
- Another ubiquitous presence for your logo to help communicate your business / organisation / product / service, along with the balance of the design, structure and function of your website
- Promotional items and wear may form part of your marketing collateral through branded
- T-shirts
- Collared shirts
- Jackets
- Caps
- Pens
- Notepads
- Signage
The above is the more typical application cases for logos and associated branding, however, this is by no means exhaustive. It just serves the purpose of kick-starting how you think about your logo, and where and how you want to apply it, and what sort of constraints you may have to take into considerations in the various forms / applications your logo may have to take.
So, that being said, based on the variety of places your logo (and any other support elements) may appear, ranging from electronic, through paper, material, metal, vinyl, wood and plastic, it’s important to carefully think about how your logo is created, the variations of your logo, and then applied to ensure consistent, reliable, clear and effective branding.
So we pose our question again, what are your thoughts? Possibly considering some of these aspects of your logo applications?
Well, that was Part 6. Now that you have an initial idea around collateral, go forth and create the collateral you need for the circumstances you operate in. And possibly make your logo available in a secondary, or even tertiary, colour palette.
For the next article, it’s time look at how to ensure we preserve the integrity of your logo and its associated collateral through a CI document, and then possibly wrap up this particular series with some examples of work that we have done.
You are welcome to access the balance of our articles and other posts. Likewise you are welcome to reach out to us should you want to engage directly with us on this.
Successful asset creation!
And…….. Expect more from your communication
#3Gs #3GsDigital #branding #consulting #digital #design #development #maintenance #digicards #socialmedia #website #ecommerce #intranet #extranet #logo #MarketingHeadOutsource
