How Important is Branding and Design?
Can brilliant branding and design take a middling product that’s going completely unnoticed in its category and turn it into the clear leader while increasing sales exponentially?
It’s not only possible, but it’s happened before. A perfect example: Absolut Vodka. 
Most people don’t know that Absolut was nothing special when it was first introduced in the US market – it wasn’t even considered a super-premium vodka. In fact in the first year only 10,000 cases were sold.
As far as consumers were concerned, quality vodkas were Russian vodkas. What was a Swedish vodka to do?
The answer was branding and design. Instead of trying to copy the Russian vodkas, Absolut hired professionals to create a unique look and feel. It was fun, it was smart, it stood out and it set Absolut apart. The result: three years later, Absolut had overtaken the leading Russian vodka in sales.
Now not every company has the ad budget Absolut does, but the same principals still apply. In fact, brilliant branding and design is even more important for small companies, because your target audience should be enticed by your product the very first time they see it. And if they aren’t, you may not get a second chance.
Rule number one: consistency
Nike could put its swoosh on almost anything and consumers would recognize it – smaller companies don’t have that luxury. The key is consistency. As a small brand, your target audience is only going to see your product, marketing materials or ads infrequently, so the more consistent your message and look, the more chance you have of making connections in their mind.
Consistency also increases consumer trust. It makes your company and product seem more professional, more premium and more trustworthy. We have all been trained by the big brands to expect flawless, consistent design, and the more your company can deliver it the better you’ll do.
How do I begin?
Contact & Associates – we’ll show you how we took a beverage brand with weak, inconsistent marketing material and reinvented them with a fresh, modern, consistent design that honors their heritage.
Josh Feldman
Art Director
& Associates
Sources:
http://www.wharton.universia.net/index.cfm?fa=viewArticle&id=491&language=english
http://www.absolutad.com/absolut_about/history/story
Tags: advertising, branding, design, marketing tips