Why the future is flexible
Two events explain this sudden change. One of them is the increasing number of touchpoints (both online and offline).
There exist tons of promotional tools or points where consumers and companies encounter, each of them with a set of requirements to be followed. Being flexible enough to communicate across at least a few of these platforms is key to a brand’s success.
Brands thus do not have a choice in the current landscape. Their identities have to be fluid. They should flow seamlessly across environments, devices and platforms and they should be suitable for both print and digital mediums.
The second event explaining the shift towards flexible branding is the changing consumer behaviour.
Today consumers get easily bored. They are used to change and fast-paced environments. The ability of a brand to adapt to the needs of its target audience will determine its success or failure.
The need to be flexible will become even more important in the future as the world is constantly changing. New platforms will be established on a regular basis, and new consumer trends will emerge every year.
New term: flexible branding
A new term has emerged in branding to describe this shift in thinking – FLEXIBLE BRANDING.
The term flexible branding concretely refers to those identities with adaptable elements. Alterations are usually made to the typeface, colour, pattern or scale as elements should be in line with the brand’s visual identity.
An element that usually is responsive is the logo.
There are numerous approaches to making a logo responsive. The most common ones are:
- Removing the words/lettering when the logo is composed of a word/words and a mark
- Removing the imagery (if available)
- Stacking the words on top of each other
- Simplifying the logo is too complex (i.e. from 3D to 2D)
- Merging part of the logo
This is, though, just one of the brand elements that could be responsive.
What is next
If you are about to brand your company, make sure it is flexible as static brands will end up disappearing anytime sooner.
