Best in Brand & Innovation for July
Every month we bring you the best articles we’ve found in brand and innovation.
This month’s issue offers pitfalls to avoid for your brand and image, how gratitude and brain stimulation can affect creativity, Nobel winners in innovation, and tips for the perfect logo.
With help from Tracking Wonder’s research assistant Gianna Kaloyeros, I’ve gathered and curated some of what we deem the most relevant studies, stories, and news that will help you and your team excel at having the most impact and influence – all via storytelling, brand, and innovation.
Three Branding Flubs That Could Cost You Your Image – Business 2 Community
How is it possible to change your brand to stay relevant and avoid negative perception? Liz Papagni of Business 2 Community dives into the three big mistakes that companies make in an effort to stay top of mind. The first, inconsistent messaging, occurs when different platforms send different branding messages. This can be remedied with a company-wide style guide. The second, being out of touch with the times, must be addressed by finding messaging that stands the test of time, but feels fresh to consumers. Lastly, trading relevance for visibility can compromise a brand that may have good intentions, but jumps on a trend much too quickly to evaluate how it will affect the brand.
Liz Papagni @mrktgworx
How Gratitude Affects Creativity – Forbes
Evolutionarily speaking, negative bias comes from our drive to protect ourselves. Parts of the brain responsible for creative thinking, like the hippocampus region, shut down when we are exposed to negative emotions. Those negative feelings leftover from evolutionary development, writes Jennifer Moss for Forbes, still linger in our lives. Combating those negative feelings to promote creativity include reducing boredom, increasing workplace challenges, and being part of a community.
Jennifer Moss @jenleighmoss
Personal Branding, A Worthwhile Investment – Influencive
Six important qualifiers of a strong personal brand are illustrated here by Pavan Belagatti of Influencive to help everyone from the intern to the CEO hash out a brand. Several reasons to build a personal brand include industry recognition, competitive advantage, reputation, and confidence. And as far as building the story of a personal brand, let your passions guide you to professional mentors and supporters, influential people, a sense of consistency and, of course, a professional website.
Pavan Belagatti @pavan_belagatti
Electrical Brain Stimulation and Creative Thinking – Science Daily
Researchers at Queen Mary University in London have discovered that suppression of a portion of the brain (the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex) responsible for reasoning and rational thinking results in more creative and outside-the-box thinking. Ultimately, scientists found that a certain type of electrical stimulation, transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS), helped study participants break free from learned mental assumptions. Though participants also decreased in their success when faced with tasks that required them to keep track of many mental operations, these scientists maintain that it points to a bright future for improving mental functions with noninvasive methods.
The Perfect Logo, Simplified – Alister & Paine
The most essential elements of a logo design and message, compiled for Alister & Pine by Ross Kimbarovsky, give a comprehensive breakdown of why memorable brands are 13% more likely to get consumers’ attention and 7% more likely to want to learn more about the brand. First off, a strong logo is balanced, simple, memorable, and flexible. An understanding of color psychology and typography will ensure a logo trends toward timelessness as well. Lastly, a logo must represent a memorable idea or experience to fully and effectively represent a brand.
Ross Kimbarovsky @rosskimbarovsky
Sound Design Could Take Branding in A New Direction – Forbes
In this interview between Forbes writer Will Burns and Joel Beckerman, author of Sonic Boom, the two discuss the permeating nature of sound in everyday interactions, moods, and memories and how that plays a role in branding. Ultimately, everyone wants relationships with brands they support, and when the message of a company’s anthem (jingle) is on brand, that relationship is more cohesive. Using sound and music effectively is just one more way to tell the story of a brand.
Will Burns @willoburns
Nobel-Winning Innovators: Young vs. Old – The Irish Times
Given the successes of some of the world’s most gifted scientists and creatives, the varying ages among these individuals causes us to wonder if age plays a role in innovation. Dick Ahlstrom of The Irish Times investigates this theme by looking at the ages at which innovators like Albert Einstein, Charles Darwin, James Watson, Francis Crick and John Nash. A 2011 Ohio State University study shows that it’s becoming rare to see breakthrough work coming from scientists under 30; the average age now for Nobel winners is 48. However, plasticity and growth are still capable by aging minds.
Dick Ahlstrom @dickahlstrom
