Guest Blogger Harvey Briggs: Wearing the brand

By Dean Schwartz: I’m excited to post our first guest blog from marketing extraordinaire Harvey Brigg.  I had the pleasure of meeting Harvey because of a recent article in Counselor Magazine where SOBO Concepts was featured.  Harvey’s comments were also included in the article and subsequently we met virtually.   Harvey is the Director of Disruption at OBX Thinking which is a group of independent marketing and innovation professionals whose sole mission is to raise the quality of product innovation and communications for any client on a project basis.  Harvey is an avid blogger and I wanted the opportunity to share some of his thoughts with my community.

The first blog I picked to feature as part of SOBO guest blog series is called “Wearing the Brand”.   It’s short, sweet and to the point.  I hope you enjoy it and we look forward to featuring other relevant, interesting guest bloggers that I know you will get value from.  And now, Here’s Harvey………

By Harvey Briggs: Logos are powerful. They are a symbol for everything your company stands for. They are a vessel for your company’s mission, vision, values and attributes.

Maybe that’s why creating a new logo is so damn hard.

The process is fraught with pitfalls and roadblocks as everyone from the summer intern to the chairman’s wife has an opinion on what it should look like.

While there’s no fool-proof method for creating a great logo, I can offer these three pieces of advice before you get started.

1. Know what your company stands for
2. Hire a great designer
3. Keep the approval team small

While you don’t want a thousand voices guiding the process, when it comes to selecting the winning design from two or three finalists, it’s important to have a logo your employees and partners are proud of.

How do you tease that out?

Rather than just asking them which they like, spend a few bucks and put the logos on a t-shirt or hat. Then tell them they have to pick one to wear over the weekend. This takes it from being a rational exercise to an emotional one. If they know their friends are going to see them wearing the logo, they’ll start to think about how it makes them feel.If they’re forced to wear it out in public, there’s a pretty good chance the one they pick will be the one that makes them feel the proudest. And, if your logo can do that, you have a good one.

For more great posts on marketing and new product development, please check out Harvey Briggs’ blog at http://harveybriggs.blogspot.com/

In addition to writing this screed, Harvey Briggs is the Director of Disruption at OBX Thinking. He can be reached via email at harvey@obxthinking.com. You can follow him on twitter @OBX_Harvey (He promises, no tweets about what he had for breakfast) and you can always look him up on Facebook and LinkedIn to connect there.