By Peter O’ Brien
INTRODUCTION
Brands are everywhere and dominate our everyday lives. But where does a worldwide brand originate from? When does that brand become so known that it can be represented by a single logo or Acronym!
BIRTH OF A BRAND
The birth of a brand is when a company or product take the step and launch into the worldwide market. Nike originated from running and individuals who loved running. The swoosh logo was accompanied by the brand name “Nike” and a powerful slogan “Just Do It”. Then the world was introduced to Michael Jordan and the Air Jordan logo was launched. Together with many other sub brands Nike slowly developed into the most known sports brand in the world.
Adidas built their name on European team sports and decked out successful teams in the famous 3 stripes. The Trefoil logo became fashionable and donned many footwear categories of sneakers, apparel and football boots. Then in the 1990s Adidas introduced the Performance 3 strip logo to give the brand a boost in its worldwide presence!
KFC was launched as Kentucky Fried Chicken by the famous Colonel Sanders! As his empire started to grow Restaurants around the world were branded with the famous Kentucky Fried Chicken name. Slogans such as ” Finger Licking Good” originated from the Kentucky Fried Chicken brand.
THE SIMPLER THE BETTER
As Nike, Adidas and KFC continued to grow their brands continued their upward trend in brand recognition. They all became so well known that Marketing Departments within these companies began to simplify the brand offering. Although this move can be risky the move was seen to be very profitable. Nike began to present the Swoosh on its own. Adidas have dropped the name Adidas and just presents the 3-stripe performance logo in the majority of cases. Kentucky Fried Chicken are currently running an advertising campaign in Australia where The brand KFC is being used in conjunction with FLG which is an acronym for Finger Licking Good!
IN CONCLUSION.
The birth of a brand is an exciting time when a company or product is launched onto the market! The true evolution of that brand is when it grows so successfully that all the slogans and sub brands fall by the wayside, and you are left with a logo or slogan that is so well known by the consumer that it stands alone!
Have a great day in Marketing
Cheers
Pete