The Emotional Value of a Logo

By Donald Paul Gonsalves   •   April 13

Can you imagine taking along an iPhone without the Apple logo? Or wearing a pair of Nike sneakers without it’s ‘swoosh’? Or going to the McDonald’s with a missing M logo? And I can just go on and on with these rather silly questions. Every minute of every day you are exposed to brands. Whether you realize or not the tissue you use for cold, the water you drink, the car you drive or the notebooks your kids carry to school. In other words, people like to tell others who there are by using brands that they feel goes parallel with their personality. Other use brands to hide their true personalities. In other words people use brands to impart a perception of their personalities.

Logos are an artistic version of the brand, symbolizing its presence.

Rampant Passant Lion of King Solomon

Characterized Plan View of Solomon’s Throne 
Logos have, since long been a part of the human desire. Kings and rulers had their symbols designed, which were then branded on their palace gates, chariots, flags, and even animals & slaves. In recent times though, I have seen someone putting up a Ferrari logo sticker on their cheap second-handed car. Maybe driving a Ferrari is his desire but he is satisfying his craving by pasting the logo on his car. Others have stuck an Apple logo to hide the Dell logo on their laptop. Or someone has tattooed the Apple logo on their arm or a Mercedes logo on their keychain. All these examples show that there is a link between a logo, or rather the symbol and the desire to flaunt it.

Anyone who studies brands is familiar with Jennifer Aaker’s work – The Dimensions of Brand Personality. In this ’97 classic, Aaker suggests that brands take on human traits and characteristics. Using the psych literature as her launchpad, Aaker argued brand personality can be broken into 5 distinct dimensions: Sincerity (down-to-earth, honest, wholesome, cheerful); Excitement (daring, spirited, imaginative, up-to-date); Competence (reliable, intelligent, successful); Sophistication (upper class, charming); and Ruggedness (outdoorsy, tough).

Taking the case of Ferrari, it’s a brand owned by the company Fiat. The cars are known for its styling, power and speed. Ferrari has always associated with the F1 car racing event. I project that Ferrari would score higher on competence and sophistication dimensions.

The Apple brand personality is about lifestyle; imagination; liberty regained; innovation; passion; hopes, dreams and aspirations; and power-to-the-people through technology. The Apple brand personality is also about simplicity and the removal of complexity from people’s lives; people-driven product design; and about being a really humanistic company with a heartfelt connection with its customers. Here I project that Apple would score higher on excitement and sophistication dimensions.

Not going into more example, I feel it’s the Sophistication dimension that make people want to show of the logo although they don’t own or can’t afford that brand.
For the rest, people buy big brands to flaunt the symbol which is a statement of it’s personality.

Donald Gonsalves
Brand Expert

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/6999213

By |2018-09-01T18:20:46+00:00August 5th, 2018|Branding, Creative, Latest Articles, Trademark|

About the Author:

Jasper Dayton is the creative force behind BrandWorx Productions. A uniquely talented brand builder, Dayton specializes in logo design and corporate identity packages. Since 1999, this Madison native has assisted ad agencies, television stations, and marketing departments with graphics and animation. She particularly enjoys helping new companies get their first public image formed, that critical image that can make or break a new venture. She works with companies as diverse as the University of Wisconsin to one-person start-ups. Dayton believes that no matter what size a company is, consistent application of a corporate identity is absolutely critical for success. “Anything less than consistency spells confusion,” says Dayton. “All else being equal, a company with a strong, well-applied graphic identity will beat less well-identified competitors every time.” Her creative skills and inspiration are why BrandWorx Productions builds brands that work harder than you do.