The company originally offered 31 different flavors – one for every day of the month. Brilliant!
An interesting exercise is thinking of a brand and delving into its backstory. For example, Purina is a leading name in pet food, and we likely recognize the red and white checkerboard attached to the name. That pattern, introduced more than a century ago, is a nod to its founder, William Danforth, whose childhood memory was that of his family’s clothing made from the same bolt of checkerboard material. To him, it represented balance in life, transferring to balanced nutrition for animals. Knowing this makes me laugh at the image of an entire family dressed in red and white checkerboard, but I also think of high-quality pet food!
Also in Northern Arizona, we have the opportunity to notice other long-established brands used by ranching families. Babbitt Ranches has been donning its CO Bar brand since 1886. It’s a brand that grounds the company in family and relationships, a mark of stability harkening back to Cincinnati, Ohio (CO), where the original five Babbitt brothers came from before becoming cattlemen in Flagstaff.
Recently, I became aware of hidden symbols in popular brands that we seemingly see every day. Amazon, for instance, draws a curved line with an arrow from A to Z in its name. Thus, that’s what it delivers – everything from A to Z – something many of us can attest to since the pandemic! The line also looks like a smile, designed to convey the idea of happy customers.
Meanwhile, a close examination of the FedEx logo reveals a hidden arrow, cleverly disguised in the negative or white space between the letters E and X. This element is meant to subconsciously connote speed and accuracy.
Another fun surprise is tucked into the famous Baskin-Robbins logo. The company originally offered 31 different flavors – one for every day of the month. Brilliant! When you visit the ice cream parlors in the Quad Cities (and you know you will), look closely at the BR logo to spot the hidden “31.” Now that’s a sweet detail.
Our brand’s job is to represent us, even when we are not around – on our website, on the pens we give away at the conference and on our ads in Quad Cities Business News.
My Zonie Living brand is intended to speak of Arizona, which is what we do on the video podcast, designed with the vibrant, blending colors of an Arizona sunset.
What is your brand saying about you? Think about it, because you know we will! QCBN
By Bonnie Stevens, QCBN
Bonnie Stevens is the editor of QCBN. She is a career journalist and public relations consultant. She can be reached at bonnie.stevens@gmail.com.
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