A logo is easier to evaluate once the brand offer has been articulated. In its absence, the visual elements of any brand, such as its shapes, colors, and typefaces, appear as plausible options, thus complicating the process rather than clarifying it. A sleek symbol can feel completely incorrect without being able to define a brand’s function, its target audience, and the reason the latter would have an interest in the former. To begin to formulate a brand offer, write it down in conversational language before launching into a logo program or scouring the internet for visual inspirations.
Note that the brand offer is distinct from a slogan. Though a slogan can be brief, witty, or affective, the brand offer must be straightforward. At minimum, it should be able to address the following questions: what does the brand do, and for whom? A brand offer can be expressed by one simple sentence, whether it be for a class project, an idea for a product or service, or an individual’s personal brand. If this sentence initially seems mundane, that is fine. An explicit statement offers you a base from which you can move later.
Here is an activity for you: draft three versions of the offer for your brand. The first can be straightforward; what, or what kind of, product is the brand selling or offering? The second can add in the intended audience. And the third can incorporate the customer scenario: the problem the customer is attempting to overcome, a decision they must make, a knowledge set they wish to gain, something they wish to prevent, or a goal they seek to meet. With a little examination, you will be able to determine if your brand offering has become more succinct or merely more wordy. The best candidate is the one a stranger could comprehend without clarification.
Often, early concepts for brands end up cluttered because of the premature arrival of the brand’s design direction. The user chooses a vibrant color palette, an easygoing typeface choice, or an image board with appealing references that then must be fitted after the fact into a brand offer. This can ultimately lead to an appealing-looking yet empty brand identity. A preferable sequence is: (1) articulate the offer, (2) define the intended audience, and then (3) source images for design ideas that are consistent with the design decision.
Defining a brand offer can further help you understand what to exclude. The messaging for a brand can need to be more tranquil, straightforward, or functional, if it caters to impatient or novice clients. It could be more whimsical, depending on the tone of its copywriting and the type of its imagery, if it caters to a creative interest group. If the brand’s promise is in a form of a more measured guide, a brand with loud copy and chaotic typography will likely undermine its messaging. A brand offer can be a means of filtering these decisions.
Following completion of the brand offer, you can perform some quick tests on it, such as the following: can you vocalize the brand offer fluently? Is it focused on a genuine target market or does it address all people? Is there a concrete value proposition described beyond a use of a word that has become genericized over time (e.g. quality, innovation)? Will it provide some context for a headline of a homepage, a headline of a social profile, or a short description of a product? If the answer is negative on any of those fronts, it is probably wise to hold off on your logo and allow your brand identity to come into focus.
If a brand identity design has improved as a result of the brand offer’s creation, the best indicator would not be that the offer is perfectly expressed. You have been able to judge your brand design choices, like the appropriateness of a selected typeface or the effectiveness of a selected color scheme, if they match with the brand offer you’ve made. A brief that provides some direction as opposed to personal aesthetic has been able to be developed. With a well-defined brand offer, a logo can no longer be asked to serve as the brand’s sole representation.