Visual Market Research at Work - Catching the Consumer's Eye
Welcome to Addison Whitney Capabilities Month! Throughout the month of March, we will be designating one week where we will be highlighting one of Addison Whitney’s capabilities – visual branding, verbal branding, market research and brand strategy - via brand salsa and our social media channels.
This week, we are focusing on Market Research, which encompasses the research and data analysis of various aspects of your branding portfolio. Make sure to join the conversation on social media using the hashtag #AWCapabilitiesMonth.
How often have you scanned the store shelves looking for a product, and a particular one caught your eye, making you stop, do a double-take or spend a few additional seconds focusing on that one product before moving on?
Well, those few seconds and that additional look were not a coincidence – they were largely caused in part because of the work of a market research team, much like the one at Addison Whitney. Among the many roles they fill within the organization, one of them includes research for logo and product design – which yields compelling insight to the visual aspects of a brand.
Whether it was the packaging design or the brand’s logo that caused you to stop, the fact is research has ensured that each visual aspect of a brand has been fine-tuned to the consumer’s taste and painstakingly tailored to achieve maximum appeal across the largest base of potential consumers.
“One of the goals of our research is to see the previously unseen,” said Ben Patton, Market Research Analyst at Addison Whitney. “We want to uncover something that nobody else has seen, or discover the underlying trend in the data that often times comes up as a surprise to all parties. Finding these allows us to crack into the mind of a consumer in such a way that we increase our top-of-mind opportunities.”
How does market research find out what makes the eyes of a consumer stop and remember a certain logo or package design?
Two areas of focus when performing research are color associations and image connotations, said Patton.
When conducting research for visual branding, questions are designed to help the researchers understand what comes to the forefront of a consumer’s mind when they view a potential product. Often, unanticipated associations can open doors down the road with respect to creative that lead to a more granular approach in secondary research, and other times doors can be closed due to the findings of a study.
The most successful brands hit the market only after extensive planning, research and data analysis to ensure that the brand is set up on the right path from the beginning. Research is the driver behind properly preparing a brand, especially its visual aspects. Those few seconds might not seem like much, but to a brand and to a company, they are the reward for proper preparation.
Addison Whitney is a global branding firm with a passion for building strong brands.
To learn more about Addison Whitney, visit our website at AddisonWhitney.com, or contact us here.
Want to get exposed to real projects and attain real-life knowledge and skills vital for success in market research? Click here for information about interning with the Addison Whitney market research team!
AW Capabilities Month: What is Market Research?
Welcome to Addison Whitney Capabilities Month! Throughout the month of March, we will be designating one week where we will be highlighting one of Addison Whitney’s capabilities – visual branding, verbal branding, market research and brand strategy - via brand salsa and our social media channels.
This week, we are focusing on Market Research, which encompasses the research and data analysis of various aspects of your branding portfolio.
But what is Market Research? What does it mean to you? Make sure to join the conversation on social media using the hashtag #AWCapabilitiesMonth.
At Addison Whitney, we’re nerdy about data!
Effective research and analysis drives and validates your brand vision and gives you confidence in your brand’s future power.
Our research pros guide you through the process that will build your brand’s value, and our global expertise delivers the insight you need to make strategic, data-driven decisions about your brands.
We provide customized survey design and sample selection, along with fielding and data analysis, and we work closely with you to tailor our process to your needs. The result is a research plan that addresses your specific challenges. Our process combines both qualitative and quantitative research elements to reveal the opinions of your target audience.
Here’s what our research team can do for you:
- Name and Tagline Validation
- Design Validation
- Brand Assessment
- Positioning and Messaging Validation
Click here for a sampling of our research case study stories, and here for our comprehensive research client list.
Addison Whitney is a global branding firm with a passion for building strong brands.
To learn more about Addison Whitney, visit our website at AddisonWhitney.com, or contact us here.
Want to get exposed to real projects and attain real-life knowledge and skills vital for success in market research? Click here for information about interning with the Addison Whitney market research team!
AW Capabilities Month Brand Strategy Week in Review
Welcome to Addison Whitney Capabilities Month!
Throughout the month of March, we will be designating one week where we will be highlighting one of Addison Whitney’s capabilities – visual branding, verbal branding, market research and brand strategy – via brand salsa and our social media channels.Make sure to join the conversation on social media using the hashtag #AWCapabilitiesMonth.
This week, we focused on Brand Strategy, which encompasses the strategic and planning aspects of your branding portfolio. In this special edition of the AW Rewind, we will take a look back at the brand strategy-focused brand salsa posts from this week!
What is Brand Strategy?
At Addison Whitney, we feel brand strategy is important because success is a strong marriage of business and brand strategies.
Successful brands are built on a foundation of meaningful brand strategy. And, that strategy provides the framework for what your brands mean and how they should be organized.
Oftentimes, making decisions about the future of a brand can be politically charged and challenging for an internal team to confront on its own. It’s difficult for a company to be objective about themselves – tenure and passion have a tendency to cloud constructive decision-making. That’s where we come in. Read more...
AW Capabilities Month Case Study Wednesday: Sonoco
As one of the leading global branding firms, Addison Whitney is behind some of the world’s strongest and most iconic brands. We’re proud of the work we do for all of our clients and love sharing our stories, especially our brand strategy experience. That’s why this week’s “Case Study Wednesday”, where we highlight one of our amazing clients and the work we have done with them, will focus on our brand strategy work!
Following its Tegrant acquisition, Sonoco sought to create a new brand architecture that would integrate Tegrant’s three businesses into Sonoco’s primarily master branded strategy in a way that would effectively communicate the brands and product offerings while minimizing any loss to brand equity and sales. In addition, it was important that the new structure help tell the Sonoco protective packaging story to existing and potential customers. Read More...
The Two Pillars of Efficient Brand Strategy
Managing a brand efficiently has both time and monetary implications. Both are valuable, but often limited resources that are essential to developing and maintaining successful brands.
This is especially important for organizations working to establish meaning and purpose for multiple brands in their portfolio. However, this is not always the case, and when brands don’t have a well-defined meaning or purpose, organizations run the risk of missing an opportunity to capitalize on the value of their resources. But there also must be an efficient use of time and resources from the parent company in order to ensure success across their portfolio.
There are two main pillars that address these components, and that strongly impact the ability to commit time and financial support to brand strategies – Prioritization and Organization. Read More...
Don’t forget, you can stay up-to-date with everything from Addison Whitney by joining the conversation with us on our social media channels – Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and Google+.
Want to get exposed to real projects and attain real-life knowledge and skills vital for success in brand strategy? Click here for information about interning with the Addison Whitney brand strategy team!
The Two Pillars of Efficient Brand Strategy
Welcome to Addison Whitney Capabilities Month! Throughout the month of March, we will be designating one week where we will be highlighting one of Addison Whitney’s capabilities – visual branding, verbal branding, market research and brand strategy - via brand salsa and our social media channels.
This week, we are focusing on Brand Strategy, which encompasses the strategic and planning aspects of your branding portfolio. Make sure to join the conversation on social media using the hashtag #AWCapabilitiesMonth.
Managing a brand efficiently has both time and monetary implications. Both are valuable, but often limited resources that are essential to developing and maintaining successful brands.
This is especially important for organizations working to establish meaning and purpose for multiple brands in their portfolio. However, this is not always the case, and when brands don’t have a well-defined meaning or purpose, organizations run the risk of missing an opportunity to capitalize on the value of their resources. But there also must be an efficient use of time and resources from the parent company in order to ensure success across their portfolio.
There are two main pillars that address these components, and that strongly impact the ability to commit time and financial support to brand strategies - Prioritization and Organization.
Prioritization:
The key word associated with prioritizing a brand portfolio is “opportunity.” Prioritizing can be made up of a number of actions, including identifying and evaluating the opportunity, then looking at whether a brand is poised to capitalize on the opportunity.
The importance of prioritizing and working through these actions can contribute to taking advantage of these opportunities and providing target audiences with what they need.
Prioritization takes an integrated approach, a holistic strategy, and dedicated investment to build a brand. If you choose to spread resources equally across all the brands in the portfolio, often times your company won’t hit critical mass for any of your brands.
Organization:
Organization of brands can also be seen as a “definition” of the portfolio. In order to successfully organize, there needs to be a definition of around the brand strategy, such as defining who the brand’s audience is and defining the brand’s positioning.
Taking a look at the brand portfolio as a whole, and define where it stands and what the strongest brand position is that maximizes their impact. If there are multiple strong brands, the main goal will be to organize where they fit within the portfolio.
The order in which these pillars can be acted upon depends on the organization, its business vision and long-term goals. One of the valuable characteristics of the pillars is their ability to be tailored and to fit within the organization’s needs.
For instance, if a brand has a portfolio with unknown brand strength, where there isn’t a clear-cut “hero” brand, it may be most efficient for them to begin with Prioritization. Performing a brand assessment will help find the opportunities within the portfolio and identify which brand is the strongest. Then, the company can prioritize the rest of its portfolio and use this information to assess where to be allocate resources for the brands going down the list.
On the other hand, if an organization has gone through a recent merger or acquisition and finds itself with brand overlap, where multiple brands fit within similar industries or lines of business, Organization might be a strategic first step. Organizing the portfolio will allow for more efficient recognition ofthe brand that will represent the company moving forward, and will also make more clear the identification of next steps for the other members of the portfolio.
The outcome for all of these actions, as it is with the majority of strong brand strategy, is to find the best use of time and resources for the sake of strong business results. When managing a number of brands, having a well-defined and focused strategic awareness and acting within the strategy allow for the organization to achieve the goal of an efficient brand portfolio.
Addison Whitney is a global branding firm with a passion for building strong brands.
To learn more about Addison Whitney, visit our website at AddisonWhitney.com, or contact us here.
Want to get exposed to real projects and attain real-life knowledge and skills vital for success in brand strategy? Click here for information about interning with the Addison Whitney brand strategy team!
AW Capabilities Month Case Study Wednesday: Sonoco
Welcome to Addison Whitney Capabilities Month! Throughout the month of March, we will be designating one week where we will be highlighting one of Addison Whitney’s capabilities – visual branding, verbal branding, market research and brand strategy - via brand salsa and our social media channels.
This week, we are focusing on Brand Strategy, which encompasses the balance of business planning with creative thinking to create clear road maps to where you want your brand to be in the future!
As one of the leading global branding firms, Addison Whitney is behind some of the world’s strongest and most iconic brands. We’re proud of the work we do for all of our clients and love sharing our stories, especially our brand strategy experience. That’s why this week's “Case Study Wednesday”, where we highlight one of our amazing clients and the work we have done with them, will focus on our brand strategy work!
Our case study this week highlights Addison Whitney's work with Sonoco: 
When Sonoco acquired Tegrant Corporation, it created a leading multi-material protective packaging business unit within one of the largest diversified global packaging companies in the world. While Sonoco had a small protective packaging presence, it was not as well known as Tegrant and its three primary business units – Protexic, ThermoSafe and Alloyd – all leading brands in their individual spaces.
Following the Tegrant acquisition, Sonoco sought to create a new brand architecture that would integrate Tegrant's three businesses into Sonoco's primarily master branded strategy in a way that would effectively communicate the brands and product offerings while minimizing any loss to brand equity and sales. In addition, it was important that the new structure help tell the Sonoco protective packaging story to existing and potential customers.
Addison Whitney conducted a number of internal interviews with leaders of both organizations as well as brand owners, and multiple workshops in order to gain a comprehensive understanding of overall business and marketing strategies as they relate to the current and potential brand architecture strategies.
Based on the research, we recommended Sonoco change the name of its protective packaging division to Sonoco Protective Solutions to better communicate the division's broad offerings. We also recommended the Alloyd and ThermoSafe brands be maintained in the short term in order to introduce the Sonoco name alongside the existing brands to key audiences; in the long-term, the brands would be transitioned to Sonoco product brand names.
Leveraging the Sonoco brand as soon as possible was important as it signaled strength, stability, and more global capabilities to the target audience. Additionally, it helps internal audiences more quickly adopt the new brand identity.
Addison Whitney is a global branding firm with a passion for building strong brands.
To learn more about Addison Whitney, visit our website at AddisonWhitney.com, or contact us here.
Want to get exposed to real projects and attain real-life knowledge and skills vital for success in brand strategy? Click here for information about interning with the Addison Whitney brand strategy team!
AW Capabilities Month: What is Brand Strategy?
Welcome to Addison Whitney Capabilities Month! Throughout the month of March, we will be designating one week where we will be highlighting one of Addison Whitney’s capabilities – visual branding, verbal branding, market research and brand strategy - via brand salsa and our social media channels.
This week, we are focusing on Brand Strategy, which encompasses the strategic and planning aspects of your branding portfolio.
But what is Brand Strategy? What does it mean to you? Make sure to join the conversation on social media using the hashtag #AWCapabilitiesMonth.
At Addison Whitney, we feel brand strategy is important because success is a strong marriage of business and brand strategies.
Successful brands are built on a foundation of meaningful brand strategy. And, that strategy provides the framework for what your brands mean and how they should be organized.
Oftentimes, making decisions about the future of a brand can be politically charged and challenging for an internal team to confront on its own. It’s difficult for a company to be objective about themselves – tenure and passion have a tendency to cloud constructive decision-making.
That’s where we come in. In our collaborative strategy process, we balance business planning with creative thinking to create a clear roadmap for where you want your brand to be in the future. But it doesn’t end there – we also design effective brand strategy tools to help you stay on the path to success.
Here’s what our brand strategy team can do for you:
- Brand Assessment
- Brand Positioning
- Brand Messaging
- Brand Architecture
- Portfolio Nomenclature
- Rebranding
Click here for a sampling of our brand strategy case study stories, and here for our comprehensive brand strategy client list.
Addison Whitney is a global branding firm with a passion for building strong brands.
To learn more about Addison Whitney, visit our website at AddisonWhitney.com, or contact us here.
Want to get exposed to real projects and attain real-life knowledge and skills vital for success in brand strategy? Click here for information about interning with the Addison Whitney brand strategy team!
AW Capabilities Month Verbal Branding Week in Review
Welcome to Addison Whitney Capabilities Month!
Throughout the month of March, we will be designating one week where we will be highlighting one of Addison Whitney’s capabilities – visual branding, verbal branding, market research and brand strategy – via brand salsa and our social media channels.
This week, we focused on Verbal Branding, which encompasses the verbal aspects of your branding portfolio, such as name brand and tagline development. In this special edition of the AW Rewind, we will take a look back at the verbal branding-focused brand salsa posts from this week!
What is Verbal Branding?
At Addison Whitney, our philosophy when it comes to verbal branding is “Play on words? Don’t mind if we do!”
Branding is the construction of an identity, and a continual process, but at the foundation of every brand is its name. A strong brand name can convey a number of things like quality, reliability or clarity. But good names don’t happen overnight or by chance. It takes the perfect balance of creativity, purpose and strategic thinking to create strong brand names, which is something our verbal branding team has perfected over the years. Read more...
AW Capabilities Month Case Study Wednesday: Goodyear
As one of the leading global branding firms, Addison Whitney is behind some of the world’s strongest and most iconic brands. We’re proud of the work we do for all of our clients and love sharing our stories, especially our visual branding experience. That’s why this week’s “Case Study Wednesday”, where we highlight one of our amazing clients and the work we have done with them, will focus on our verbal branding work!
Our case study this week highlights Addison Whitney’s work with Goodyear. Addison Whitney has worked with Goodyear on a number of projects, including the brand development of three tire lines. Read More...
4 Traits of a Great Brand Name
What makes a “great” brand name? The impact it can have on an overall brand is inarguable. As is mentioned in the above quote from the Addison Whitney website, it can serve as the foundation of a brand, the cornerstone on which the rest of the brand is built.
At the same time, this power and importance in a name to a brand can have the opposite effect if the name doesn’t meet the high standards that every brand should set for themselves. This is why it is crucial for a brand’s success that they find the right brand name, which will probably possess one of these four traits... Read More...
Don’t forget, you can stay up-to-date with everything from Addison Whitney by joining the conversation with us on our social media channels – Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and Google+.
Want to get exposed to real projects and attain real-life knowledge and skills vital for success in verbal branding? Click here for information about interning with the Addison Whitney verbal branding team!
4 Traits of a Great Brand Name
Welcome to Addison Whitney Capabilities Month! Throughout the month of March, we will be designating one week where we will be highlighting one of Addison Whitney’s capabilities – visual branding, verbal branding, market research and brand strategy - via brand salsa and our social media channels.
This week, we are focusing on Verbal Branding, which encompasses the verbal aspects of your branding portfolio, such as brand name development.
“Branding is the construction of an identity, and a continual process, but at the foundation of every brand is its name. A strong brand name can convey a number of things like quality, reliability or clarity.”
But what makes a “great” brand name? The impact it can have on an overall brand is inarguable. As is mentioned in the above quote from the Addison Whitney website, it can serve as the foundation of a brand, the cornerstone on which the rest of the brand is built.
At the same time, this power and importance in a name to a brand can have the opposite effect if the name doesn't meet the high standards that every brand should set for themselves. This is why it is crucial for a brand’s success that they find the right brand name, which will probably possess one of these four traits:
- Distinctively Distinguishing:
Typically, if a name is more unique in its industry it can be easier to protect from a legal standpoint. Additionally, uniqueness is also an attention grabber. It encourages the target audience to learn more presents a mystery to the consumer that leads to interest in learning about the product. For example, the name Oreo does not overtly call out “chocolate, crème filled cookie” but does have a unique and loveable appeal that makes you want to learn more.
- Personality Packed:
Names should reflect the correct tone and personality of the brand and brand message. As one of the foremost ways to communicate your brand’s personality and characteristics, a name should give your audience a look into who your brand is, and what it represents. The best brands are extensions of a brand’s personality.
- Memorability Memorable:
Names with high recall and memorization help the brand thrive. Brand recognition and awareness can help drive success, and with a memorable name, your brand can easily be brought back to a consumer’s memory when needed. This can be achieved through alliteration (much like this list!), rhyming schemes, and even invoking unique and disruptive names can aid in memorization.
- Striking Simplicity:
The less complicated the better. Don’t try to pack every single brand message into one name. Many names that are unsuccessful forget that there are a number of additional branding aspects that go into an entire brand portfolio, and while the name should be able to stand alone, it shouldn't try and carry the entire weight of the brand. Pick the relevant and key aspects that start the story telling process - the name will always be supported by other marketing collateral when presented in the future.
Addison Whitney is a global branding firm with a passion for building strong brands.
To learn more about Addison Whitney, visit our website at AddisonWhitney.com, or contact us here.
Want to get exposed to real projects and attain real-life knowledge and skills vital for success in verbal branding? Click here for information about interning with the Addison Whitney verbal branding team!
AW Capabilities Month Case Study Wednesday: Goodyear
Welcome to Addison Whitney Capabilities Month! Throughout the month of March, we will be designating one week where we will be highlighting one of Addison Whitney’s capabilities – visual branding, verbal branding, market research and brand strategy - via brand salsa and our social media channels.
This week, we are focusing on Verbal Branding, which encompasses the verbal aspects of your branding portfolio, such as brand name development, tagline creation, and much more!
As one of the leading global branding firms, Addison Whitney is behind some of the world’s strongest and most iconic brands. We’re proud of the work we do for all of our clients and love sharing our stories, especially our visual branding experience. That’s why this week's “Case Study Wednesday”, where we highlight one of our amazing clients and the work we have done with them, will focus on our verbal branding work!
Our case study this week highlights Addison Whitney's work with Goodyear:
Addison Whitney has worked with Goodyear on a number of projects, including the brand development of three tire lines.
Fierce
We were hired to develop and validate a brand name for Goodyear’s new performance tire line that would stand alone and not be directly associated with Goodyear in the eyes of the consumer.
We created the name Fierce, suggesting competitiveness, intensity and power. Name validation was a key component in the brand development process, ensuring that Fierce would be an appropriate name in a variety of language markets.
SilentArmor
Next, we developed a brand name for Goodyear’s new premium on-/off-road tire for its Wrangler truck and Fortera SUV lines.
The objective was to create a name that spoke to the product’s ability to deliver great traction and ruggedness while providing a smooth, quiet ride. To communicate the desired positioning we developed the name SilentArmor.
Assurance
For the third project, Goodyear wanted a brand name for its new family of passenger tires for mid-priced and luxury vehicles. The new name needed to fit with Goodyear’s leadership and innovation legacy while representing the company’s very best tire offering.
We created the name Assurance to communicate safety, reliability and protection. Research found that Assurance scored high marks for conveying the functional and emotional benefits that drivers look for in tires, and consumers equated the word assurance with dependability, confidence and trust.
Addison Whitney is a global branding firm with a passion for building strong brands.
To learn more about Addison Whitney, visit our website at AddisonWhitney.com, or contact us here.
Want to get exposed to real projects and attain real-life knowledge and skills vital for success in verbal branding? Click here for information about interning with the Addison Whitney verbal branding team!
AW Capabilities Month: What is Verbal Branding?
Welcome to Addison Whitney Capabilities Month! Throughout the month of March, we will be designating one week where we will be highlighting one of Addison Whitney’s capabilities – visual branding, verbal branding, market 
research and brand strategy - via brand salsa and our social media channels.
This week, we are focusing on Verbal Branding, which encompasses the verbal aspects of your branding portfolio.
But what is Verbal Branding? What does it mean to you? Make sure to join the conversation on social media using the hashtag #AWCapabilitiesMonth.
At Addison Whitney, our philosophy when it comes to verbal branding is "Play on words? Don’t mind if we do!"
Branding is the construction of an identity, and a continual process, but at the foundation of every brand is its name.
A strong brand name can convey a number of things like quality, reliability or clarity. But good names don’t happen overnight or by chance. It takes the perfect balance of creativity, purpose and strategic thinking to create strong brand names, which is something our verbal branding team has perfected over the years.
We partner with your team to merge innovative ideas with smart, strategic thinking to build enduring corporate identities, company taglines and product names. Our unique naming process guarantees that our creative solutions will enable you to achieve your business goals, differentiate you from your competitors and create connections with your target audiences.
Here’s what our verbal branding team can do for you:
- Global Brand Name Development
- Global Trademark Prescreening
- Tagline Creation
- Global Linguistic Evaluation
- Corporate Identity Development
Click here for a sampling of our verbal branding case study stories, and here for our comprehensive verbal client list.
Addison Whitney is a global branding firm with a passion for building strong brands.
To learn more about Addison Whitney, visit our website at AddisonWhitney.com, or contact us here.
Want to get exposed to real projects and attain real-life knowledge and skills vital for success in verbal branding? Click here for information about interning with the Addison Whitney verbal branding team!