Bass triangleIn John De Bello’s classic movie “Attack of the Killer Tomatoes” from 1978 a voice on the radio is advertising beer: “Schmidt – Because you’re never too drunk to ask for more!”

In a sense this joke captures the essence of why companies care about brands.

When you have a strong brand, your customers can

  • Discover you
  • Recommend you to others
  • Ask for more

In fact, as we mentioned in an earlier post, the first ever registered trademark in Britain was for a beer brand: The Bass Ale Red Triangle. Registering the Red Triangle provided the brand with legal protection. Bass knew that if customers would see the Bass Red Triangle on any pub sign or bottle of beer, that triangle was in effect the company’s promise of a certain experience for the customer.

These days it’s not just signs on pubs and labels on beer bottles. And it’s not just the logo. To apply a brand today a company needs a way to consistently apply any part of their identity wherever their audience is. This could be a logo on a coffee mug, a template for a PowerPoint presentation or animations for digital banners. Or even a radio commercial in a remake of a classic B-movie.