Branding Tips

A logo is not a brand, a name is not a brand, nor is a product design, a package design, a visual identity, an advertising jingle, or a shopping experience. These things are all merely the tangible aspects of a complex sign system whose goal is to put an...

Color, Part 1

In branding, there are several issues to consider concerning color. First, you need to master the physical aspects of color, which mostly have to do with graphic design: boldness, dynamic tension, legibility, and so on. Second, you need to consider how colors (and...

Color, Part 2

Culture Color interpretations depend strongly on culture. While it is traditional for brides to wear white in Western cultures, in Asia it is worn at funerals. To some eyes, white conveys elegance, to others it looks cheap; little green men are good luck in Ireland,...

Commitment, Part 1

Commitment defined Commitment follows trust and is defined as ‘an exchange partner believing that an ongoing relationship with another is so important as to warrant maximum efforts at maintaining it’ (Morgan and Hunt, 1994). Implicit in this definition is...

Commitment, Part 2

How can trust and commitment be encouraged and nurtured? Avoidance of opportunistic behavior At various stages of the relationship there may be opportunities for either party of short-term gain by engaging in behavior which will harm the other. For example, a supplier...

Ethics

Social responsibility is a contract with society, while ‘ethics relate to carefully thought out rules of moral values that guide individual and group decision making’ (Dibb et al, 2001). In marketing, ethics refer to the moral principles that guide...