We all know the saying that‘ a picture is worth a thousand words’. This saying is very meaningful in brand building. It means that pictures, visuals, images and even colors are powerful in brand building. To be effective in building brand, you need clarity in designing the visual symbols that you’ ll showcase to your customers. Brand symbols serve an important role in distinguishing the brand from others and in supporting the communication of brand identity.

Brands are identified not just by their names but also by visual symbols. These could be in the form of a logo, icon, colors or other physical symbols consistently applied in packaging, promotion, communication, locations or sales material both online or offline. Think of the Safaricom green and what it has come to mean to customers over time. Today Safaricom is emphasizing simplicity, and I believe that the color green is significant in being able to augment that message. Imagine if their brand color was pink like the early Kencell brand color for those who remember the history of mobile telephony in Kenya. Not all colors can carry the message of simplicity. The company has build great value and meaning around this green color symbol. The initial benefit comes from common awareness of this color among Kenyans, as well as its visibility in our environment through the vegetation all around us. This is the natural color of the farm and represents abundance. Visuals play an important role in enhancing brand recognition and image. Distinctive visual images add great value in increasing brand memorability, by making it easy for customers to remember a brand.

A logo is a significant visual brand element that plays an important role in the consolidation of brand image. Many times, the logo is all you need to see. Think of the logos of Facebook, Twitter, Apple and Coca-Cola. Consider the logos of popular Kenyan brands like KCB, Equity, MPesa, Tusker, and Kenya Airways. These logos speak for themselves, and in most cases you don’ t need to see the brand name at all. In imagery research, we frequently use these logos as mind triggers because of their very high recognition ratings.

One memorable advertisement for me was a Mercedes Benz print advert, which run in the dailies and magazines several years ago. It was a full-page advert that showed the Mercedes Benz emblem at the center of the page, below it was a statement of two words,’ Enough Said’. I can still see the advertisement in my mind today. Further down on the page, the advertiser outlined in somewhat small print all the things you could say about Mercedes Benz including quality, engineering, style, elegance and the like. It then concluded that further talk was unnecessary because‘ it’ s your car that will be doing the talking’. The aspect of putting the visual symbol to stand for itself in an almost empty page was very impactful. Another example of such usage is the iconic VW Beetle advert that visually played on its smallness by putting a small picture of the car on one side of a full page with the words,‘ Think Small’ at the bottom of the page. Over the years, VW has used the visual smallness of the Beetle to communicate different messages, including environmental consciousness.

Brand symbols speak to customers, sometimes loudly. Other times they speak volumes, even without words. From the saying that‘ a picture is worth a thousand words’ we can interpret that a brand symbol is worth more than words. A logo is a pictorial image of a brand. A logo stands for the credentials of a brand and serves as a stamp of authority of the brand promises. Over time it comes to represent the promises made to the customer. The promises consistently delivered by the brand over time.

A good logo enhances brand value in four important ways: First, by aiding recognition- this makes it easier for customers to recognize the brand as distinct from others in its category. They can easily spot it in supermarket shelves, in billboards or online. Secondly, by enhancing recall- that’ s improving memorability. This makes it easier for the brand to stick in customers mind, and to be easy to remember. Third, by enabling distinctiveness- that’ s the ability to stand out as different from all other brands in its category, and have a unique identity. This is crucial in supporting the brand in building its own unique story. Fourth, by enabling the expression of emotional benefits of a brand, that’ s the benefit that comes from customer associations and the emotional connections that customers have with the brand over time. This helps generate positive energy when someone is looking at the brand.

With consistency of use a logo brings value overtime. This is done through associations and the work that is done by the brand owner to add meaning to the logo. This usually comes through the service that the brand delivers to the customer; the problem that the brand solves for the customer; the relationship it builds with the customer; and ultimately through customer experience over time.

Brand visuals symbols are important because they tend to attain intrinsic meaning in the minds of customers. They build associations that stick in the consumers’ minds overtime. They serve a key role in supporting brand loyalty. A brand represents the company’ s promise to customers that it’ ll consistently meet specific standards, in terms of features, benefits and services. It’ ll be extremely hard to build brand loyalty without a clear and distinct brand identity. Visual symbols play an important role in delivering this distinctiveness and ensuring an emphatic brand identity.

Dr. Catherine Ngahu is a researcher, trainer and entrepreneur. She is the founder and Chairman of SBO Research, a company with a service footprint in 23 countries in Africa. She can be reached at: CNgahu @ sboresearch. co. ke; Search for‘ Catherine Ngahu’ to follow her on You Tube.

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Visual Symbols Enhance Brand Value Over Time