adaptitude’s Post

Brand designers are a unique breed. They masterfully blend design with the art and science of understanding their customers. The design element in any brand’s journey is, at its core, about communicating consistently with customers across continents, cultures, and consciousness. These “C’s” are the pillars that brand designers must target. ‘There’s a beautiful distinction between perception and perspective. Perception is your personal viewpoint on something, while perspective is the data-driven insight you gather to form an informed opinion. We collect data through perspective, but at the end of the day, sometimes we need to trust our gut to determine what’s best for the brand and its customers.’ Yesterday, we had an intense, no-holds-barred discussion within the leadership team. It wasn’t necessarily a brand design issue but rather a core customer experience challenge—which, in turn, influences brand experience.After putting our perceptions out there and engaging in heated debate, I concluded that we needed a perspective from an expert to look at the data and reduce risk, while elevating the customer experience. Ironically, the answer stared at me this morning through an article on Pepsi’s brand designer, Gianmaura Vella. The takeaway? Fight perception with perspective—it makes life easier, and the brand stronger. Now, all I hear in my head is: “Ya, hi! Right choice, baby!”

The Future Of Brand Guidelines promises big changes. An indispensable part of building brands and bringing them to life, brand guidelines have gone through tectonic shifts in the past few years. While we review where we are now, we also cast our eyes to the future. How will brand guidelines change? What parts of the old systems will we keep and what tweaks and overhauls will designers and technology bring in? And how will this impact the relationship between studios and clients? Together with Brandpad, we decode what’s to come → https://lnkd.in/eZn73qmq

 Understanding Brand Color Psychology: How Colors Shape Consumer Perception In branding, every detail counts – especially color. Color has a powerful psychological impact, influencing how we feel, think, and respond to brands. Understanding color psychology can help businesses make strategic choices that align with their values and attract their target audience. Let’s break down popular brand colors and what they convey. Color Meanings in Branding: Red: Bold, passionate, and attention-grabbing. Red is known to stimulate appetite (hello, food brands!) and create a sense of urgency. Ideal for brands in the food, retail, or entertainment industries. Blue: Trustworthy and reliable. Blue is popular in industries like tech, finance, and healthcare. It conveys calmness and security, making people feel safe and stable. Green: Growth, health, and nature. Green is perfect for brands focused on wellness, environment, and sustainability. It’s often seen in organic or eco-friendly brands. Yellow: Optimistic, cheerful, and energetic. Yellow evokes happiness and warmth. It’s ideal for brands wanting to project positivity, like children's products or creative services. Purple: Luxury, wisdom, and creativity. Often associated with premium or high-end products, purple adds a touch of sophistication. Black: Sophisticated, powerful, and classic. Black is often used in luxury branding and makes a bold, modern statement. Choosing the Right Color for Your Brand? When selecting brand colors, consider your target audience and what emotions you want to evoke. Use one dominant color and complementary hues for accents to build a cohesive and memorable brand identity. Pick the colors that truly resonate with your brand’s values and connect with your audience on an emotional level.

an important lesson!

REBRANDING: 3 ANGLES THAT DISTORT THE VIEW. The JAG's rebranding sparked strong emotions and fascinating debates— a litmus test for what “rebranding” really means and how people evaluate it. Here are three perspectives/approaches that I personally find problematic: 1. THE AESTHETIC FACTION, arguing that mixing upper and lowercase letters is a crime against typography. Personally, I don't think so. But let’s be clear: aesthetics are tools of strategy. Judging a logo redesign without understanding the brand’s strategy misses the point—rebranding is about changing the brand, not just visuals. 2. THE HERITAGE WARRIORS – a real quote that blew me away: “Rebranding is simple: celebrate heritage while embracing the future.” I can’t agree. Rebranding is rarely simple—and it doesn’t always honor the past. Sometimes, it’s a bold leap forward, like France Telecom transforming into Orange, Facebook becoming Meta, or Twitter becoming X. Rebranding is always about the future. Its purpose is to reshape the brand to stay relevant and competitive, even if it means leaving parts of the heritage behind. 3. THE SACRED ASSET GUARDIANS — those who treat distinctive brand assets as untouchable relics, believing they should never be changed. They always bring up the same three cautionary tales: Tropicana, Gap, and Burberry as a scare tactic. But here’s the reality: distinctive assets are crucial for recognition and continuity—they’re memory anchors. However, fetishizing their immutability can backfire, as brands resisting change risk losing relevance to bold challengers. Do you have your own triggers? Beliefs that get under your skin?

A brand is essentially the identity of a product, service, or company. It encompasses various elements that help distinguish it from competitors and create a unique perception in the minds of consumers. Here are some key aspects of a brand: Identity: This includes the name, logo, design, and other visual elements that make a brand recognizable. Perception: How consumers view and feel about the brand. This can be influenced by marketing, customer experiences, and word-of-mouth. Promise: The commitment a brand makes to its customers, often reflected in its slogan or mission statement. Values: The principles and beliefs that a brand stands for, which can resonate with consumers on a deeper level. Experience: The overall interaction a consumer has with the brand, from purchasing to customer service.

How Design Shapes #BrandNarratives 📝 In today’s rapidly shifting business landscape, understanding the psychological and visual factors that influence brand perception and valuation is crucial for CMOs and Brand Managers. Read the full story at PRINT: bit.ly/3Vwo947

Today, companies are taking a highly strategic and creative approach to packaging, recognizing that it serves as a critical touchpoint in engaging consumers. Packaging has evolved beyond merely protecting or presenting a product; it is now a powerful tool for storytelling, brand differentiation, and emotional connection. By leveraging trends such as minimalist design, nostalgic aesthetics, and playful or functional packaging elements, brands aim to resonate deeply with consumers on multiple levels. In particular, companies are focusing on eliciting emotions of nostalgia, trust, and excitement. Whether it’s through the use of heritage patterns that evoke cultural authenticity, toy-like designs that bring a sense of fun and childhood joy, or sustainable practices that align with consumers’ values, brands are crafting packaging that not only attracts attention but also builds a lasting emotional bond. The goal is to create packaging that is not just visually appealing but also meaningful, making consumers feel more connected to the product and, by extension, to the brand itself. By doing so, companies hope to foster brand loyalty, drive repeat purchases, and ultimately, position their products as integral parts of consumers’ lives.

Jaguar is teaching us an important lesson, and it's not what you think it is. When a legacy brand like Jaguar unveils a radical rebrand, it’s easy to jump to conclusions, and everyone seems to have an opinion. As a brand strategist, my role isn’t to deliver verdicts, it’s to ask the right questions. So when someone ask for my opinion about a visual rebrand I'll start asking questions about the strategy behind it. Questions that uncover deeper truths and empower clients to articulate their vision. So instead of critiquing Jaguar’s rebrand, let’s turn it into an opportunity for reflection. These are questions I would like to ask them before I share any opinion. The Strategy: - How do you honor your heritage while adapting to the future? - What’s the core of the DNA of your brand that should never change? - Who are your future customers you are evolving for? - What singular idea holds your products, identity, and customer experience together? The Logo and Visual Identity: - How do you want your visual identity to make people feel? - Does it evoke the energy and emotion your brand promises? - If someone removed your name, would they still know it’s you? - What makes your design unmistakably yours? - Are you following a trend, or setting one? - Does your visual identity help you stand out in your category, or does it blend in? The Campaign and Marketing: - What story are you telling with your campaign? - How does it connect emotionally to your audience and their aspirations? - How are you making the customer the hero of your story? - Are you borrowing from culture, or contributing to it? - How are you creating a cultural moment that’s undeniably yours? The EV Pivot: - What do you own in this new electric future? - What’s the unique value your brand brings to the EV market that no one else can? - Beyond the technology, what does the experience of owning your product feel like? - How does it elevate your customers’ lives? - How does your pivot to sustainability and innovation align with your larger brand narrative? The Big Picture: - Is your rebrand evolutionary or revolutionary? - How far are you willing to go to signal change while remaining authentic? - How does your rebrand show aspiration? - How does it make people want to be part of your world? Finally: Are you playing to fit in—or to lead? What’s your ultimate ambition, and how does Jaguar as a brand express that? As a brand strategist, I believe the most powerful insights come not from imposing opinions but from asking the right questions. Questions that make us pause, think, and uncover the truth of who we are and who we want to become. So, what questions would you ask to help them shape their next chapter? #brandstrategy

Sometimes, it can be difficult to judge a book by its cover alone. At first glance, the cover may be beautiful and impressive, but does it truly fit the story the author wants to tell? Does it match the characters, setting, period, and plot? In similar situations, we need to at least read the book's content once to have a more comprehensive view, allowing for a more full and multi-dimensional judgment of the cover. Similarly, in the case of Jaguar's rebranding, what we see is only the logo and a short launch video hinting at upcoming changes. However, what we haven't seen is a brief. Changes in strategy? Context (company, competitors, market...)? Challenges that the brand is facing? What led to this change? Does the brand want to change its target customers or market? Are the needs that the brand serves changing? Does the brand want to become more socially responsible (switching from petrol engines to electric ones to reduce emissions, pollution, climate change)? There are many important questions we should ask before evaluating whether the rebranding is effective, whether it should be done, and whether it is right. Creative professionals tend to get caught up in giving opinions about changes in form or aesthetics (logo, font, colors, advertising, specific ideas, characters...), essentially focusing on the 'how' and sometimes forgetting the 'why' (forgive me, as this is a personal opinion and it may be entirely wrong in reality). What is the real reason behind each change? When it comes to making judgments, perhaps 'delaying' is a good thing, in my opinion. - I agree with Anneli's perspective and approach, as well as her important questions.