When it comes to branding, a strong logo and recognisable brand is key to ensuring you're recognised! However it isn't the be all and end all. You could have the best design ever but without the attention to detail and the finishing touches, it can be rendered useless. Think about it: you may have a great brand but service which doesn’t live up to this. If you are getting bad reviews, the brand definitely isn't going to save you!
Obviously this is a basic example, but there are plenty of brands who've managed to cement their position in the marketplace using good finishing touches. Take Innocent, for example. It probably has the most quirky and interesting smoothie packaging about at the moment – with friendly messaging and interactive content, to name but a few - and it’s proving popular; Innocent has some of the highest UK sales in the smoothie market at the moment. Lush - although not my favourite products - has also carved out a niche for themselves with excellent packaging that's consistent, on brand and always has really personalised finishing touches.
That attention to detail is exactly what I love about this next example - Red Bubble t-shirts. I bought a novelty t-shirt at a good price and expected a package that reflects that. What I ended up with is an EXCELLENT quality, brilliantly branded t-shirt. My favourite touch had to be the label:
The label arrived attached to the t-shirt by a tiny little clothes peg - I'm sold already! Then I read the copy, which goes like this...
'Here it is; here's your wizard new t-shirt, made just for you by tall people in smart shoes and if you turn this tag over you'll find the name of the visual magician who designed it. Now we're pretty confident you'll just want to throw out the rest of your wardrobe when you see it, but if you have any troubles with the shirt in anyyway, you must contact us here... And don't forget, you can upload a photo of yourself in your new t-shirt to our buyer's booth. They give prizes dontcha know!'
Then you turn over the label and there is the unqiue url of the person that made your t-shirt, stuck on with a sticky label.
The best thing of all? They delivered what they promised. I was able to go onto the website to find out more and it was really simple to do! They were completely accountable and they didn't claim anything they couldn't live up to so I got a completely unique and transparent shopping experience - how refreshing!
You can find these little gems at www.redbubble.com Well done to them!
