Think About It

When brand expression becomes tangible. 

A quick quiz: Which of these are part of a corporate brand identity?

A. The BMW logo
B. A Coca-Cola bottle
C. A Waffle House booth

For the answer, read on.

Let’s start with choice A, the BMW logo. Clearly, the logo is a central element in BMW’s brand identity. As other well-managed brands have done, BMW has turned a simple mark into a true symbol, one that stands not just for the company and its qualities and values, but for how you feel when you get behind the wheel.

So, how about a Coke bottle? Yes, that too is tied in with brand identity. The hourglass-shaped packaging has become synonymous with Coca-Cola. Whether glass or plastic, that distinctive bottle evokes powerful emotions for Coke drinkers. And evoking emotion is the whole point of brand identity.

But can a booth really be part of Waffle House’s brand identity? You bet your hash browns. It’s a consistent part of the come-as-you-are, no frills brand, which is expressed from wall to wall in any given Waffle House, from the laminated menu, to the jukebox, to the waitress hollering your order to the grill cook. It’s a whole environment that comes to mind as soon as we spot that big, yellow sign with its block letters. And it’s exactly what we get, whether the Waffle House we’ve chosen is in the heart of a big city or on the outskirts of a town so small it shares a single highway exit with three other hamlets.

The annals of branding are filled with examples of how the physical, tangible expressions of a brand become inseparable from the brand itself.

Consider Pizza Hut. The shape of its traditional dine-in restaurants is instantly recognizable. In fact, the Pizza Hut building is so iconic that the updated company logo incorporates an artistic version of the old-style hut – even though the franchise today is almost entirely based in delivery and take-out. (For an amusing look at just how permanently the Pizza Hut silhouette is etched on our collective brains, check out www.notfoolinganybody.com. Dress it up however you please, but a Pizza Hut once is a Pizza Hut forever.)

To create a great brand, one that creates an indelible mark on the customer’s psyche, a logo and color palette are not enough. To really touch the audience, it’s important to think of the ways that we literally touch them.

Granted, not every company is Coca-Cola, Waffle House or Pizza Hut. But every company has a physical interaction with the customer, whether it’s product packaging, a storefront or office, or simply the particular paper stock we use for collateral materials.