Have you noticed how brand identities are much more fluid than they used to be?

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While logos and straplines have always evolved, changes used to be measured over decades – a change in font here, a subtle reshaping of the logo there. In a mature marketplace, in which branding has now played out for decades, there is a need for a more dynamic approach to maintain a feeling of brands being ‘alive’. Old principles of rigid brand rules now feel staid and formulaic.

As a result, brand identities are no longer set in stone. Logos are represented in different ways across different media, and logo devices are even separated from their associated logotype. Such things would have been unthinkable to traditional brand managers, so how have they come about and are fluid brand identities a good idea?

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Five reasons why today’s brands are fluid

1. There are many different media in which logos and straplines can find themselves nowadays. Brand designs need to work in a range of digital environments and made-for-print versions don’t always translate across very easily. Modern responsive websites resize and juggle elements based on the size of the browser window available, meaning some logos that feature detailed artwork become illegible at smaller scales. Hence the need for variable logos, all of which are immediately identifiable.

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This applies right down to the miniscule favicons (the small identity marker at the top left of webpages, which also appears in bookmark lists) that still clearly depict the brand.

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A redesigned logo may also be needed on social media sites, where layout parameters are dictated by the platform. If the space offered doesn’t map the shape of your logo you could shrink your logo to fit, but then the size of your logo relative to others on the same platform is diminished. Consequently, it makes sense to create a logo version optimised for the space provided.

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2. When it comes to brand messaging in the fast-paced markets of today, the use of straplines or taglines also needs to adopt a dynamic approach. Overuse of one main strapline can make a brand seem stale and unimaginative. While there is still value in having a primary strapline, having a suite of supplementary taglines or headlines can help to communicate other facets of your brand offering. In many cases, different environments will benefit from different straplines. For example, while Tesco’s overall strapline remains ‘Every little helps’, it takes advantage of the space on the side of its home delivery vans to use those wonderfully pithy slogans – ‘Freshly clicked’, ‘You shop, we drop’, etc – that promote the benefits of shopping with them online. They also raise another smile with plays on standard vehicle signs – e.g. ‘No baguettes are left in this vehicle overnight’ and ‘Baby carrots on board’.

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3. Consumers have more choice today than ever before; in fact, so much choice that it can become confusing. Modifications to branding can help consumers find what they’re looking for and reinforce difference subdivisions of an overall brand. For example, where the BBC once had a handful of radio channels and a single TV station for audiences to navigate, it now has a huge range of different TV and radio channels. To help users along, it has a different logo for each. TV channel logos are rectangular, while those for radio stations are circular. From that starting point, selection is further aided by having distinctive colours, fonts and imagery.

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4. A willingness to play around with logos and straplines can be an expression of brand confidence. The ‘Swoosh’ has become so identifiable that Nike are willing to use it without using the name ‘Nike’ at all; they even allow buyers to customise their shoes, with the ‘Swoosh’ being the only element that must be kept.

Likewise, we see the familiar ‘Smile’ now being used without the word ‘Amazon’ (‘AmazonSmile’ is also the brand name for Amazon’s charitable program), and of course, the iconic Apple logo – no words required.  

Nike, Apple and Amazon are all sufficiently well-established to have confidence in consumers recognising their logo devices, even when separated from their logotype. The same is true too of Google, but they were playing with their logo long before they became the multi-billion-pound business that is Alphabet. Right from the early days, the Google logo has been adapted through its ‘Doodles’, which commemorate specific anniversaries. Perhaps it was this early confidence in its brand (possibly along with its unrivalled search algorithms!) that helped it outstrip other search engines?

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5. Google’s Doodles – and Tesco’s van slogans – also illustrate how brand identities can be varied to create interest among customers. Rather than being viewed as sacrosanct items that never change, brand elements can be manipulated to serve new and different purposes that draw in new customers and deepen relationships with existing ones.

While some brand fluidity is born of necessity, most of it comes about for more positive reasons. Being able to vary the way a brand presents itself helps to refresh it. Obviously, the basic brand identity still forms the core, and there should be clear parameters within which a brand identity still operates. But so long you keep sight of why and how your brand ID is fluid, variation can be a useful extra tool in your marketing armoury.