Everyone dreams of being the new Apple or Nike, but household name brands rarely happen overnight. It sometimes feels that mega brands do spring up out of nowhere. But when you look beneath the surface, the big winners generally come off the back of a lengthy and systematic investment of time and money. Some outliers do catch the big wave—leveraging a crisis or capturing the mood of a particular time.
Successful brands accurately represent the values of the organisation they represent and meet the values and requirements of the audiences they are intended to engage with. They do this because they’re coherent and relevant, and they work hard. Achieving this takes creativity, analysis, and ingenuity. But more of all, deep understanding.
It’s all about building and shaping perceptions. People respond to brands on two levels — emotional and rational. The rational piece is what you tell them and includes your brand’s features and benefits. The emotional part is how they feel about your brand and what they perceive it to offer. So now we’re in the realms of human psychology and perception — essentially, what is most important to your audiences.
The point being?
To build trust and shape people’s perception of what you do. A strong brand position means:
- More people know about your products and services
- Investors, banks and other suppliers, funders and partners take you more seriously
- People are keen to work or volunteer for you because they get your purpose
- You have a stronger position in the event of negative PR
There’s more competition for support than ever before, particularly as consumers have moved online through the pandemic. The bottom line is, that having a compelling and believable brand that stands out will help you get attention and build credibility. And, the more effort you put into building your brand, the more you will get out of it.
By Frances Manwaring, Moxie Design
Age Concern New Zealand partnered with the team at Moxie Design to refresh their brand. The new brand was launched at Parliament on 1 July 2022.
Leadership, mana and community are the qualities the new brand represents. The bold contemporary design uses individual Huia feathers to suggest the mana of our older adults and the leadership role Age Concern takes. The circle of three feathers portrays the concept of community, friendship, and respect—all things Age Concern value and uphold. Read all about our new brand here.
On Research 