Stepping up the identity game

I have had my eye on visual material for the last few months. What I am seeing is grim, probably the product of Canva templates.

The general content (with a very few exceptions) is product and staffing announcements. The material does not lead to story brand development, much less jump-out-at-you ideas and insights. The hallmarks are textured, solid backgrounds, often with some texture or motif, no use of negative / white space and standard sans-serif fonts. The shot of a notional target person for the ad is obligatory.

The derivative software-driven approach may be cheap and superficially empowering, but the net effect is that the viewer does not stop, just scrolls onwards. There is no engagement. To see this in action, take a scroll through your social media feeds and pay attention to the places where you stop scrolling.

Penny wise, pound foolish. In the attention economy, that counts as a twofold loss: the cost of producing and exposing the message and the lost opportunity cost of a disinterested consumer.

Presenting a strong, clear identity, the signs that show the consumer who you are, is critical for obvious reasons. Presenting a visibly differentiated identity is yet more important.

The basic need of the audience is to understand what problem is being solved. That has to be extremely clear so it must not be hidden or obscured. In fact, if the message is presented clearly and in a compelling way, weak identity can be overcome. This facet can be presented as an idea. It might also be a statement of value creation. Without this, there is no engagement and the communication fails.

The secondary need is clear statement of identity. Identity is controlled by the brand manager in terms of the broader enterprise. There are two levels of this identity, the first being behavioural and the second being clearly signifying identity.

Behavioural identity is not immediately observable but exerts a huge influence on the approach and interest of the consumer. It consists of the behaviour of the entity towards the consumer, the personality and the exercise of values.

If the behavioural identity is at odds with the image, the consumer’s experience and interpretation of identity will lead to a breakdown of the brand and loss of its market. Although a brand may claim to be friendly, a hostile and unwelcoming receptionist can lead to degradation of the brand and consumer churn through switching.

Behavioural identity needs to contain a strong component of differentiation and position. Who is the product for, when and why? Who are its competitors and how does the differentiation establish a position in the market? If not for strong position and differentiation, the brand can be easily substituted.

Signifying identity is the set of visible symbol of the brand. Visually, the brand can be represented by its logo, colours, typography, product forms and design conventions, however it can also be sounds, tastes, scents and textures. All of this has to be highly characteristic, firstly to arrest the scroll and secondly to draw in a new audience.

I see very little of this in the current crop of Namibian identity. In fact, it is easier to switch attention to a foreign brand: the reward for the attention is stronger. That has immediate impact on industrialization and commerce.

The issue appears to be that the field of identity and its manipulation for commercial gain is not well understood locally. The actual field requires a specialist 4-year degree and / or years of experience. It is not something to be given to a junior or that should be left to Canva or that should be produced on a whim. It requires analysis and understanding.

If your messaging does not stop the scroll, if only for a second or two, you need to a) go back to the drawing board and b) make an investment in results.