Have you thought about what a key visual image or symbol can do for your brand? Consider:
A three-year old in a backseat sees an image of golden arches up ahead. She has an immediate vision of a happy meal with a toy inside, and starts begging to go to McDonalds.
An immigrant coming into New York harbor by boat sees the Statue of Liberty. Tears come to her eyes.
A ten-year old shopping for school clothes with Mom insists on getting the sweatshirt with the “swoosh” on it because, “It’s cool.”
What do all of these stories have in common? The power of a key visual to communicate instantaneously and effectively, even without words.
I don’t know if a picture is really worth a thousand words. But it’s true that people remember key visual images and symbols better than they remember words. A key visual can capture attention instantly, and communicate a lot of information quickly.
The three-year old saw the golden arches—with no words—and immediately thought of a happy meal, french fries, a toy, and perhaps a McDonalds playground.
The immigrant who saw the Statue of Liberty symbold thought of all the things the USA represented, including freedom, opportunity, etc.
A key visual image or symbold can even help a company get more impact out of its limited marketing budget. At my seminars, whenever I ask people what company they think of when I say, “Pin drop,” they almost always say, “Sprint.” This is pretty amazing considering the fact that Sprint’s advertising with the pin drop happened many years ago, and that their budget at the time was a fraction of what the larger telecommunications companies were spending. The effective use of just the right key visual helped Sprint to stick their name in consumers’ minds more effectively.
So, whether you’re developing or reinventing your logo, or designing your website, or creating some ads, you should give a lot of thought to the visual images and symbols you include.
First, ask yourself, What do we want our key visual to say? What do we want people to think or feel whenever they see it? What impression do we want make? Look for a visual image that supports and reinforces that impression.
The Sprint pin drop instantly reinforced the idea of getting a clear connection on the phone.
The Statue of Liberty communicates the idea and the promise of liberty inherent in its name.
The Nike swoosh suggests action, and reinforces the “just do it” message.
The shiny McDonalds arches suggest a gateway to fun.
The umbrella for Traveler’s Insurance reinforces the idea of protection.
And the “hands” of Allstate Insurance reinforce the line they’ve been using for decades, that “you’re in good hands.”
Think about what your brand stands for, what your company stands for. Write down some descriptive words that would describe how you want people to think and feel about your product or service. Then start thinking about the kind of visual images that might support those kinds of thoughts or feelings.
When Kate, a teenager, wanted an image that would support her claim that she was a “world class babysitter” she put a red rocking horse in all of her ads, a wonderful, warm childhood image. Perfect.
When a plumber in California wanted to communicate that he was loyal, reliable and friendly, he created a logo with a dog for his mascot.
So try this yourself. See if you can come up with a key visual that you use in your logo or on your trucks or in your ads or on your website—a symbol that will help people remember you and remember what you stand for.
And then, if you combine your key visual image with a memorable slogan or tag line or catch-phrase, you’ve got a powerful one-two punch to keep your brand on people’s minds.
That’s what Allstate did when they combined the image of the hands holding a house with the line, “You’re in good hands.” No way to miss that idea!
And when Kate the babysitter combined her red rocking horse with the phrase: Kate Loves Kids: World Class Babysitting, she had a real winner. And she built a babysitting empire by simply putting this on posters and flyers all over town.
Hey, if a babysitter can do it, so can you!
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