Updating Your Business Identity Can Increase the Bottom Line

By Jackson Boelts, Principal, Boelts Design; Professor, University of Arizona

Yuban Coffee

General Foods came to us in 1966 asking our help in the redesign of the Yuban Instant Coffee glass jar and label graphics. Their existing label colors were golds, warm reds and dark browns and featured a middle-eastern guy in a long robe carrying a lamp. The Client described this package as, “Dark, foreign, unfriendly and un-American.” They wanted the new package shape to be taller and thinner and the colors to be red, white and blue. We went out and bought all the other brands of instant coffee jars on the store shelves, and realized they were all tall and thin with red, white and blue labels (except for Sanka which was orange, white and blue.)

My job was to redesign the label and Andy Noyes, the industrial designer, would design the shape. I remember we sat around talking about what we thought of when we thought about drinking coffee. We agreed that we thought of sunrise, a warm kitchen, a snuggly robe. All the colors that came to mind were golds, browns, warm reds (eeegads!) Then Andy (who was short and chubby) said he thought tall thin shapes were austere and unfriendly and short, round shapes were friendly and comforting. So we ended up designing the first wide-mouth short jar that could get your spoon into easily which won many design awards. The label image was of a woman drinking a cup of coffee in warm golds, reds and browns. Needless to say,General Foods was upset. Because they had no faith in our package, they invested no money in a media blitz announcing their new look. Instead, they manufactured a conservative number of packages and put them out in limited release. Their sales went up 20% immediately.

This story of the redesigned Yuban package demonstrates how a well thought-out, updated image can increase profits. Although such a major decision should be made thoughtfully, it must be done at times to capture greater market share.

A strong, consistent identity campaign will keep a business, organization, product or service at the forefront of a customer’s awareness. And while it is important to have a strong identity during normal economic times, it is essential to have one when the economy has taken a downturn. A consciously handled, updated identity elevates your business in highly competitive markets.

Identity is characterized by the tangible visual aspects of your business collateral, or the “look” of your visual communications. A strong, identifiable logo or logotype is at the core of this identity. When the logo is applied to the collateral—the letterhead, business cards, brochures, advertising, signage, exhibition booths, and web sites—this look influences a customer's perception of the business or organization. Is this look strong or weak, clean and formal or personable and informal? The look should parallel the business’ marketing goals. Questions like these should be answered before an identity is created, but graphic identities can also be updated to reflect a change in marketing direction.

Over time, an identity becomes a brand. This brand is an intangible, yet extremely valuable, business asset. Ries and Ries, in their book 22 Immutable Laws of Branding call a brand “The idea of your company or product that is in the mind of a customer that you own.” A brand is a feeling, an attitude about a particular product or service. It exists in the mind of the consumer who perceives it.

The Coca-Cola company has successfully managed their brand identity over a long period of time. Coca-Cola has managed their identity so consistently that even in Arabic the fastidious white on red lettering still means Coca-Cola. This type treatment is supported by the familiar silhouette of their famous curvy bottle, even though the old glass bottles no longer serve as the dominant form of packaging, its shape is still an unmistakable brand differentiating it from the competition.

An identity can be updated without changing a logo or logotype. Accompanying design elements can be deleted from the identity or design elements can be added to bring the identity system up to date; Pepsi-Cola is now Pepsi and Federal Express is now FedEx. Over a period of of years and many issues, National Geographic’s cover lost its ornate, flowering border leaving only the branded bright yellow rectangle. This was a slow and calculated process which, while not offending the loyal National Geographic reader, brought this historical periodical into the technological age. Coors beer updates the familiar waterfall on its labeling every so often. Though mostly imperceptible to the consumer, this graphic treatment gives the container a fresh look, subliminally reinforcing its image as a fresh beer.

Consumers and businesses want products and services that are contemporary and up-to-date. As your business changes, these changes must be analyzed and reflected in the visual identity. In poor financial times people tend to take fewer chances and gravitate to business and products that they know and are familiar with, yet they still demand that these same tried and true brands appear fresh.

Like a business or product, an identity must adapt or die. A thoughtfully planned, updated identity can improve a business, product or service and give it a fresh look while keeping the essence of the existing image intact. Taking this important step will keep the trusted old customer as well as attracting new ones.