Introduction
“Brands are the most valuable intangible asset for companies” claims Bayu Sutikno of the University of Gadjah Mada in Indonesia (2011, p.319). The world is filled with brands and everyone is trying to portray a message. It is the job of the consumer to decide what brand they prefer and what brand they do not care for. Likewise it is the job of the marketer to persuade the behavior of the 7 billion consumers in the world everyday. Out of that persuasion, marketers create a following of such brands, which results in brand loyalty in the end resulting in profitability for the producers and satisfaction for the consumer.
The Design
The design of the brand is the first aspect a consumer will recognize. Consumers are trained to look for details in brands and the products produced and consciously, and more often unconsciously, make inferences about a brand and/or product presented (Karjalainen and Snelders, 2010, p. 7). There are two main ideas behind the design of a brand, the values it portrays and the physical layout that is presented. The values portion is most important because it creates connection with the consumer but physical looks can attract new consumers before they can infer said values of a brand.
Values can be noticeable as simply as in the brand logo or more difficult what a brand stands for on an emotional level. One example of values represented in the brand slogan is that of Caterpillar, the heavy equipment manufacturer and their newly developed clothing and apparel line. Karjalainen and Snelders, authors of “Designing Visual Recognition for the Brand,” explain Caterpillar’s slogan, “Industry leading comfort and performance” (2010, p. 6). From their boots to t-shirts to trucks and loaders, they focus on creating comfort for the consumer. For example, in the boots, they add soft insoles and added insulation and then to the equipment, they created soft interiors with noise and