People of a certain age can vividly recall brands like the Kellogs ‘K’, the CBS ‘eye’ design and British Rail’s twin arrows logo. The pre-internet era was a simpler time, with far less media channels which were far more clearly defined – making audiences much more predictable, and marketing more straightforward. Fast forward to the present day and we find ourselves in a completely different situation, begging the question: does branding still matter in this digital age?
Before the internet arrived, we all knew the marketing ‘rules’, wheather we realised it or not. Most advertising and branding came to us through the printed media we read, and the handful of television channels we had access to. Big budget campaigns really looked expensive, while small ones looked cheap, and brands didn’t have to fight their way through such an enormous ‘noise’ of messages to hit their target. On top of this, the country was less ethnically and culturally diverse, and gender roles were more clearly defined, making effective communication even more simple.
The digital revolution has seen a truly enormous rise in our exposure to media; endless television channels, smart phones, and of course, the rise of the internet. Consumers are far harder to target; they can no longer be addressed as blocks defined by fashion, age, social group, gender or anything else. Advertisers must also be wary of rapidly changing social conventions, political correctness and the crime of appearing to offend the sensibilities of those with strong religious beliefs. From an early age, consumers are far more sophisticated and have access to masses of information; they won’t be fooled so easily and won’t necessarily show brand loyalty either.
Mass communication for brands has also become a double edged sword; there are many factors outside its control. With a quick Google search consumers can access reviews written by other customers; products, services and aftercare can all be assessed easily, and a potential customer can reject a brand without having any interaction with it. A brand’s image can be damaged by ‘ordinary’ people; a frustrated customer’s angry YouTube rant could go viral, taking negative public perception with it.
So where are all the big brands ones now? They still exist of course, but today’s biggest brands are arguably the ones who were born into, and embraced the digital age – Amazon, Facebook, eBay rule the world, while some more established giants who didn’t keep up with changing times have suffered or dissapeared completely.
We still need to be able to identify products and services, so the need for branding and identity will never go away of course, but the circumstances they operate within will continue to evolve. Those who remain need to work harder than ever before to remain visible and effective in the digital media world – graphic designers need to be hyper-aware of the ever changing communications arena, and their branding design must reflect this. I would argue that the need for strong, creative branding is greater now than it has ever been, and it’s importance will only continue to grow.