5 Brands That Have Aged Miraculously Well
To become a great force in the market, and remain that way for years to come, a brand must always offer a strong, clear promise and they have to continuously stick to it. Cluttered and unorganized brand messages have been the bane for many aspiring Bangladeshi brands. Starting from the name, logo, and motto — every single aspect of the communication has to stay true to that very promise. Let us have a look at how some international brands have successfully imprinted their names in the heart of their consumers, generations after generations.
Nivea
From its inception, Nivea has been a product of brilliant research and great business tactics, with a pinch of simplistic creativity. As you may see below, the 1959 logo basically was very similar to what we see today, with the blue-white combination reigning from 1925.
For its marketing, Nivea relied on consistency and simplicity. The word ‘nivea’ originally means ‘snow white’, and hence the brand was named such for its pure white color. In the 1920s, the defining buzz words were “youth” and “leisure”. Nivea understood where the market was heading and adapted its brand profile perfectly. The fancy art design of the Nivea tin was changed to create a simple, and yet distinctive look. If you look at the most recent redesigns of all their products, which is actually a really simple cosmetic change, you will understand what they are constantly trying to prove with their umbrella branding. The mother brand, Nivea, is the center of the ecosystem of users. Each user is united by a common stated need: skin care. All the products have complementary design, instead of being repetitive, and thus a powerful brand universe has been set up. They even avoid keeping an overarching tagline so that consumers do not get confused. Till this day, the parent company, Beiersdorf, proudly calls Nivea as the mother of all skin care brands.
Ford
As most of us already know, Ford is one of the oldest car brands in the world. Founded roughly 115 years ago by Henry Ford, Ford has great products, design, components and features, but its brand identity is much bigger than these combined. From 1927, they essentially had a very similar logo — the iconic blue oval — and they have merely embraced a few cosmetic changes over the years. Note how fancy curves have gradually been replaced by uniformity to keep the brand name in focus.
What about the communication taglines and slogans that they have used in the course of the last century? Needless to say, they have always been at the top of their game. “Have You Driven a Ford Lately?” was the slogan that paved their early years, while “Ford: The Universal Car” was how their tagline journey began in 1914. These have been followed up by “There’s a Ford in your future!”, “Ford’s Out Front”, and even driving puns have also not been missed out; “Everything We Do Is Driven By You” was a particularly good one!
Their most recent slogan, “Go Further” has become the global brand promise. Unlike “One Ford” which is their company’s business plan, this Go Further tagline is aimed at both its consumers and employees. Ford’s mission, throughout the history, has been to not only attract the global market with catchy lines, but also to send a message of its unbeatable service and customer care.
Twinings
Let the image above tell you half the story. This logo was designed in 1787!
There’s a saying that goes: “Don’t try to fix what’s not broken.” That is what exactly Twinings did. (Or did not do.) There was, simply put, never a requirement to change it. The Twinings logo is classy and has a timeless serif font. Even though it is not exactly dynamic, it fits the tea industry, and communicates the historical connection with perfection. For a tea lover, nothing can be more alluring than what this logo contains.
Twinings currently rolls with the slogan, ‘Gets you back to you’. Once again, this shows a very honest approach of the brand. It does not promise magical powers or boast therapeutic abilities — it merely tells us that a nice cup of Twinings is all you need to be yourself after a rough day.
Cadbury Dairy Milk
Love chocolates? You’ll love this sweet brand story too.
During the 20th century, Cadbury’s goal was to be a recognizable and trusted brand. By 1920s, the mauve pack was gone, and Cadbury launched its iconic purple wrapper with golden script to stay conspicuous and unique. What about the curly Cadbury font that somehow always appears in our mind? This was William Cadbury’s signature which first appeared on their transportation vehicles in 1921, but only in 1952 did it start getting used widely.
The brand borrowed the philanthropic approach of the founders, and wished to show the same with their communication. They promoted kindness and sharing of joy in their messages throughout the ages, with a down-to-earth positioning.
From 1928 to 2010, they have also used their iconic ‘glass and a half’ image of milk — to promote the amount of dairy content they used in the chocolate bars. While the image is gone, the company strongly insists that the phrase will still be used in marketing campaigns.
Nike
As you see the name above, you only think about one thing: “Just do it” — right? When it comes to consistently telling a brand story, only a few brands have come close to the track record that Nike possesses.
When Phil Knight and Bill Bowerman first founded this company, it was called Blue Ribbon Sports. Their mission was simple — to inspire every athlete in the world. But it was in 1972 that Nike was truly born, borrowing the name from the namesake Greek goddess of victory. The brand sees sports as a universal language, since it transcends all kinds of social or cultural barriers. And that is exactly how it began its storytelling.
Nike knows that the biggest battle we fight is with our inner self — the part of us which wants to lazily lie down on the bed instead of training for a better future. It encourages us, with the swoosh and its famous tagline, to go ahead and have the guts to fulfill our dreams. We know we might not feel like it or we may find it difficult to keep going sometimes. That is where Nike comes in. Their plain and simple universal message of motivation is always relatable to us, and hence our loyalty for this particular sports brand remains sky-high.
Just do it.
