Each and every year firms spend millions on brand identity only to spend twice as much in courtrooms up and down the land fighting brand theft, and imitation! Sad news indeed for the company’s that have to pay it, but for us consumers it does lead to some rather funny discovery’s when we are out shopping. So I have decided to bring you just ten of what I think are the very best examples of knockoff brand identities…
BONUS CONTENT: Top 10 Tips for Building Brand Identity
10 – “Have a break have a….Kic-Ker?!?”
TIP: The impact that is your brand’s visual component is massive! Beauty might well be only skin deep, but they also say that the clothes make the man! So make sure it looks as good as possible in both products, packaging and advertising and make it consistent across the board.
9 – “Only Future Coke will do when you’re thirstiest! …not now, but in the future!”
TIP: They say a change is as good as a rest, but when it comes to product and indeed company re-branding little is very much more, little changes over the course of a few years will have a much lesser impact than a sudden product change. Sadly the truth is that people don’t like changes, but little changes might well go unnoticed.
8 – “Let’s Build! ..using bricks, plastic ones, but not the official kind.”
TIP: When it comes to brand identity always try and do something every now and again that is a surprise! Maybe a crazy, unrelated giveaway or a unique competition idea.
7 – “I’m a Perky, You’re a Perky, Wouldn’t you like to be a Perky too” …no thanks.
TIP: A main point of branding is to trigger an emotional reaction from the consumers, but don’t listen to the people who hate it or dislike that rebranding, unless they are in the majority it is not an issue what the few think, only the many.
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6 – “I Can’t Believe It’s Not….Been taken to court already!”
TIP: Don’t be scared of change, some of the greatest and indeed biggest brands update their visual identities quite often, in fact, some firms to this religiously each and every year!
5 – “I never knew you had dandruff!”…That’s because you use fake brand names!
TIP: If you claim to be a friendly “local” firm then be local! Support and engage with local events and charity drives, this will help you plant local seeds into consumers minds and that also means they will trust you more.
4 – More than meets the eye indeed!
TIP: Multiple colours to not necessarily mean good design. Some of the world’s biggest brand images and logos have no colour at all or just a single colour! Getting the company message across is much better than making it pretty!
3 – “Oh!, Oh! Oreo! …Someone is ripping off your brand!”
TIP: Do you like your company’s brand identity? Then stick with it! Some banks and older firms have not changed their branding in hundreds of years! In fact some firms would rather go under than change it!
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2 – Next week we take a look at the new Sqny Peestation!
TIP: Have you ever seen those design concepts that phone company’s, car manufacturers seem to accidentally let slip? Well, that is no accident at all, in fact, it is a great way of judging how people might react to the real and indeed finished brand design.
1 – “I’m lovin’ it” …and I bet their patent lawyers are as well!
TIP: A company logo does not make the company whole! A logo is just one tiny part of a brand identity, all identity aspects of the brand are what sells the product or services, not the logo alone.