Logo, payoff, and claim are the elements that, par excellence, define and communicate the personality of your brand, both online and offline. This is why they are essential to creating a successful brand.
Logo, Payoff, And Claim: Distinctive Elements And Differences
In short, advertising teaches us that the slogan, be it a result of a mission guarantee related to a triumphant logo, is the component that can decide the achievement or disappointment of a brand. In this article, we will recognize the realistic features that recognize an effective logo and the fixings that make up a triumphant result.
We will likewise clarify for you the contrast between adjustments and claims and how to involve them in various settings and snapshots of your on-the-web and disconnected promoting correspondence. At long last, we will see instances of renowned logos and adjustments, attempting to dissect exhaustively the qualities that make them fruitful.
The Logo: The Visual Communication Of Your Brand
Treccani gives the following definition of a logo: In advertising language, a shortened form of logo is the name of a company or product treated with characterizing graphic elements that do not impede its readability.
Wikipedia instead tells us: [A logo] consists of a symbol or a version or graphic representation of a name or acronym that involves the use of precise lettering.
What Really Is A Logo?
To fully understand its meaning, it may be helpful to explain its function: a logo is a symbol with which a company chooses to represent itself on the market. The task of the logo is to make the brand it represents immediately recognizable, but not only that. Through the stylization of the symbol, the logo must also be able to summarize the company’s vision, values, and mission in graphic form. The logo must catch the consumer’s attention, inspire trust, and be remembered.
The Five Characteristics Of A Winning Logo
What distinguishes a winning logo from a logo that doesn’t work? These five characteristics. To achieve its purpose, a logo must be:
- Simple
- Mmemorable
- Timeless
- Versatile
- Appropriate
In summary, a logo must have a stylized shape that is easy to understand and remember, not linked to fads but to the intrinsic characteristics of the brand, which must be able to contain and express coherently; furthermore, a valid logo must be available in any size and color without losing its communicative effectiveness.
Why Is It Essential To Have A Winning Logo?
If you want a professional product, DIY is a no-no. There is no point in trying to create your free logo online; to have a winning symbol, you must necessarily turn to a professional. The development of a logo is a complex job, a process that consists of several phases and that no software, primarily if handled by a non-expert, will ever be able to reproduce. Let’s see what a good graphic designer does before creating a logo:
- Brief the customer to understand his needs and objectives, as well as have an overview of the company’s vision and mission.
- Contextualization of the brand, its visual communication needs compared to its competitors, and the reference market
- Graphic research work on moods and trends inspired by the reference sector and the values that the brand wants to communicate to its customers
- Conceptualization and graphic proposal only reach this point: first, the salient concepts that you want to communicate are isolated, and only afterwards, you put your hand to the pen, even virtual, to jot down the first sketches.
- The creation of the graphic draft and presentation to the client is the final part of the process; if everything goes well, the logo is approved; otherwise, the client has his say, and we start again!
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Payoff: The Indispensable Ally Of The Logo
We said it at the beginning of this article: logo, payoff, and claim are a bit like the three musketeers of a brand’s advertising communication. Besides, what would happen to Nike’s “mustache” if it wasn’t accompanied by the “Just Do It” payoff? The payoff is generally made up of a few carefully chosen words; its objective is to summarize, in a short, effective sentence, the brand identity and personality of the company. The same rules that we have already listed for the logo apply to the payoff: it must catch the consumer’s attention, involve him emotionally, and be remembered.
Payoff: What It Is And Its Definition
The payoff is, therefore, defined as a textual element that accompanies the logo of a brand and summarizes, in verbal form, those salient characteristics that constitute the essence of a brand and that the stamp expresses in visual form. In short, the payoff is the company’s advertising slogan, that short phrase that we find written under the logo and the name of the brand.
Its peculiar characteristic, which, as we will see later, is what differentiates it from the claim, is its duration over time. Once chosen, the company’s payoff only changes in the case of an overall and exceptional restyling that involves the entire brand identity and must always be associated with the brand name and logo.
How Do You Create A Winning Payoff?
As with the logo, some recurring elements can be identified in the most famous advertising payoffs, and that can be considered indispensable factors for creating a successful profit. The seven characteristics that define a winning payoff are:
Simple
Use non-complex concepts to describe your brand and express the payoff in simple language and words.
Brief
Test your synthesis skills, cut out the extra, and create a payoff that is, at most, 5 or 6 words. A long-winded fix is not easy to remember and risks being boring.
Thrilling
And positive. Your payoff must convey the positive values of the brand in an emotionally engaging way for your customers. Arousing an authentic emotion provokes that empathetic reaction in the consumer that pushes him to trust your brand and prefer it to others.
Honest
Your company cannot afford to lie to its customers, and in choosing the payoff, you must be as sincere as possible. The best way to create a successful fix is always to tell the truth.
Musical
The payoff must be beautiful, not only to read but also to say aloud. If you are undecided between two fixes, always choose the one that sounds better. A pleasant sound promotes memory.
Memorable
If you give your payoff all the characteristics listed so far, it will be possible to remember! A simple, exciting fix, musical in pronunciation, short: in a word, memorable.
Unique
Copying from others would be a bit like lying—that is, absolutely forbidden! Identify the salient characteristics of your company that make it truly unique compared to your competitors, and try to summarize them in an effective phrase: only by focusing on yourself and not copying the work of others will you be sure of creating something unique.
Difference Between Payoff And Claim
The difference between a payoff and a claim is quite subtle and can confuse even the most experienced. Payoff, in fact, means “closing sentence.” It is the short sentence that accompanies the name and logo of the brand, closing, in some way, what is being communicated by the brand. The payoff is the phrase that defines the personality of the brand; as we have said, it is always the same and always present when the name is mentioned.
The claim, however, is technically the campaign slogan: if the payoff is fixed, the claim can change based on the advertising campaign, which can promote, for example, a specific product or a product line. To return to the most famous example, Nike launched a social movement on the occasion of the Rio Olympics to celebrate sport in all its forms, regardless of the brand’s payoff, which has always remained the same:
- Unlimited You (campaign claim and hashtag)
- Just do it (brand payoff).
Now, you have all the tools to effectively communicate the personality of your company with a logo and payoff, and you can create your first campaign with an effective claim.
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