Are you sick and tired of seeing the same old company logo staring back at you day after day? Are you bored with the monotonous repetition of seeing it printed everywhere, on letterhead, online, on business cards, on shirts? Is it always constant and ever present?
Well my friends your boredom with your logo is NOT a good reason to update it. That’s right. In fact, consistency, repetitiveness, and omnipresence are actually good things for a brand to have. So, just because you’re sick of looking at it doesn’t mean your customers and the market in general are over-exposed to it.
But (and there’s always a but), there are some perfectly good reasons a logo update may be in order for your company. Here are some we’ve found to be especially on target.
1. You’re Visually Outdated. Like your favorite pair of bell bottom jeans from your childhood, a logo can and often does, get out of style and stale. Burnt orange and brown may have been really popular colors when you first had the logo designed, but today, those colors could be more reminiscent of your grandmothers shag carpet and living room décor than the cutting edge company that you are. That’s even despite the fact that some retro colors have actually made a comeback.
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Tags: activeedge, ActiveEdgeTeam, Brand Guideline, Brand standards, branding, diane vautier, dvautier, logo, Marketing, reasons to update your logo, strategic marketing
Brand, Brand Guideline, Brand standards, Marketing, Uncategorized | Diane Vautier | 
July 21, 2010 4:36 pm | 
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Building a company’s brand identity means many different things to many different people, but one point that everyone agrees on is that a brand, once defined, must be consistently reinforced.
A brand guideline, or brand standards guide, is the definitive resource that outlines how your brand will be repeatedly represented throughout all communications. It guarantees the quality, consistency, and clarity of your brand whether materials are created in-house or through outsourced design vendors.
A brand guideline is known by a number of different names:
• Communication guide
• Brand standards guide
• Corporate identity guidelines
• Brand standards manual
• Brand style guide
• Brand identity manual
• Style guide
The list goes on. But no matter what you choose to call it, a brand guideline is the set of design rules that tie together the look and feel of all your marketing materials. It is the reference document that contains the rules for visually presenting the position of the company in the market. Use of the guideline creates awareness of the brand and visually differentiates your company from competitors.
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Tags: activeedge, Brand Guideline, Brand standards, branding, diane vautier, dvautier, Marketing
Brand, Brand Guideline, Brand standards, Marketing | Diane Vautier | January 28, 2010 9:59 am | Comments (0)
Is your company signaling a big red flag to customers or are you proudly flying a strong brand banner?
Some companies never get to the point where they’re able to define who they really are. That’s a red flag. Lack of clarity about their own identity and what they represent almost always translates into jumbled messages and incoherent impressions to their customers.
Unfortunately, inconsistency and chaos does not breed trust, stability, and customer loyalty. In fact, it quite often has the reverse effect. Customers prefer stability, clarity and transparency. Luckily that’s where Brand Standards come in. It much more beneficial to proudly fly a brand banner than to be a red flag.
A brand guideline, or brand standard as some folks call it, is a big deal. It’s the design, fabric and stitching of your company. It is the definitive resource that outlines how your brand will be repeatedly represented throughout all communications. It is the reference document that contains the rules for visually presenting the position of the company in the market. Use of the guideline creates awareness of the brand and differentiates your company from competitors. Read more »
