On my travels, I always find interesting trademarks. The pictures below show some popular US brands as used abroad. I knew instantly what these brands were, even when I could not read the writing. A strong and powerful brand can reach across cultures and languages. Images, colors, and logos play an important role in creating such brands, since they can be both more powerful than words and less disrupted across these borders. The “Golden Arches” of McDonald’s are the same in every country. The bright colors of the Tide circular logo are the same in any language.
How would your brand appear to someone from another culture or country? Do the symbols in the logo tell the customer something about the brand even without words? Does your marketing reinforce the colors and symbols of your brand? Is your brand’s appearance unique? Are you using distinctive shapes, color schemes, or sounds as a part of your trademark package?
McDonald’s, Coca-Cola, Levi’s, and Tide excel at this. But any brand – even a small business – can follow their lead.
