How do you create signs for your brand? Focus on the five senses: sight, hearing, a combination of smell and taste, and touch Sam Hua and Nan Hua
1 Visuals first
When we talk about signs, we’re usually talking about visual signs. Most of the time, brand signs should focus on visuals. People usually remember brands from an impression of something they have seen. We can see further than we can hear; light travels faster than sound. Words need to be translated, but pictures are universal.
2 Sound isn’t necessarily sound
Tianqi toothpaste built its brand around a campaign in which people say ‘Tian-qi’ when having their picture taken. This is a classic example of an aural sign. Repeated pieces of music in commercials can also give a brand an aural identity. Think of Intel’s familiar jingle. It’s always better to have an aural sign than not, just like it’s better to have a logo than not. You should have an aural logo in addition to a visual one. Of course, Tianqi’s method of establishing an aural identity is quite different from Intel’s. Intel simply repeated a short, five-note jingle to the extent that it became a sign of its brand. This jingle does not have any intrinsic connection with what Intel does as a business. But Tianqi’s campaign to say ‘Tian-qi’ when snapping a photo is a completely unique sign that only it can use. The sign can even double as a slogan. And of course, by having people smile and show their teeth, it also conveys the brand’s identity, values and experience. In other words, this campaign is about creating an aural logo for the brand. Sound shouldn’t necessarily always play second fiddle to visuals because most companies don’t pay nearly as much attention as they should to the importance of aural logos. There is therefore a lot of potential in this space. Plus, your audience can only engage with visuals in one way: with their eyes. They can engage with sounds using both their ears and their mouth, helping you to spread your message.
Customers spreading a message among themselves is defined as ‘propagation’. Propagation isn’t going to be very effective if it’s done through the eyes. You need mouths and ears. Propagation doesn’t happen through visuals; it happens through sounds.
At Hua and Hua, we don’t want messages to be communicated, we want them to be propagated. We want the creative work to spread itself virally.
We want to put something out there and have the audience do the work for you.
This is also a good way to test out design proposals. When a designer comes to you and says they’ve finished a design, ask them to tell you about it.
If the designer can evoke the design in your mind accurately by using only words, you will know you have a good design that will be easy to spread.
If the designer says: ‘I can’t describe
it, you’ll have to come and see it,’ then you know this design will be difficult
to spread, that it will be a risky proposal, and you’ll need to think carefully about your decision.
Propagation is more effective than communication. When companies buy advertising, they calculate their costs using exposure rates. But propagation rates are at least 10 times more effective, in our opinion.
3 Smells and tastes as signs
In your work, you must always be guided by your ultimate goal. The signs your brand uses must lead to a better memory of your product’s value and provoke a reaction. If there’s no value and no reaction, then it’s just blind stimulation – a distraction. Using signs isn’t just about your advertising, it’s also about your products.
Hotels have been pioneers in olfactory [related to the sense of smell]marketing. Every Shangri-La Hotel around the world has the same smell. For some consumable products, you can develop olfactory signs too. The scent of a shampoo, bubble bath or toothpaste can now be embedded on scratch-and-sniff paper and used in product packaging. Olfactory and taste signs are used most frequently in products, because you can’t smell or taste media advertisements. But, with scratch-and-sniff technology, the scent of your product can be used in a magazine as well.
4 Touch as a sign
Some linguists believe that touch is the first language for every human being. Babies need to be held right after they’re born, and they understand what it means to be touched.
Many people like to touch products they see when they’re shopping. They might not make a habit of doing so in any other situation, but they need to touch a product before buying it. We talk a lot about online retail and physical retail nowadays, and being able to touch things is an important advantage for traditional brick-and-mortar stores.
Japanese Graphic Designer, Curator and Writer, Kenya Hara is a master of tactile marketing. Hara has been described variously as an ‘acupuncturist to cure visual excess’, ‘master of texture’, ‘leader in the tactile experience field’, ‘fugitive from colour’, ‘shaper of basic items’. High praise indeed for a designer.
Hara’s work includes designing the wayfinding system for Umeda Hospital in Hikari, Japan. All of the items in this system used a white cotton material to create a soft, clean, cosy, and friendly feel. The hospital was subsequently named a ‘baby-friendly hospital’ by the UN and the World Trade Organization.
All five senses can become systems of signs that help you build your brand. So, use them to emphasise the best sides of your offering. At the very least, ensure you don’t overlook the visuals and sounds.
Sam Hua and Nan Hua are the Founders of Hua and Hua Marketing. and the authors of Super Signs (LID Publishing, 2019).
