That’ll be St Patrick’s Day!
St Patrick’s Day is a great example of brilliant branding
I like to think of branding as your avatar. Because branding works 24/7 at all touch points with customers and clients – via stationery, business cards, brochures, PowerPoint presentations, website and social media, it’s important that branding – as your avatar – reflects your company – who you are, what you do, and what you stand for.
Colour
The first thing that hits you in the St Patricks Day branding is the colour – green. It totally identifies with Ireland. Green from the Irish flag, and its moniker or strapline – ‘The Emerald Isle’ conjuring up a romantic image of a lush green landscape. In Chicago, St Patrick’s Day is such a big event, that the river is turned green to celebrate. And if you go to the pub on St Patricks Day …your Guinness may be a shade of green too.
Logo
St Patrick’s Day has a memorable and meaningful logo with the shamrock (young clover) – which is also green. The shamrock is not just a symbol of a lush green wild landscape, but it has the added meaning of having been worn in Ireland to represent the cross.
Character
St Patrick’s Day has the added branding element of the Leprechaun, who used to be dressed in red, but is now on-brand green. Characters add an interest factor outside of core branding, meaning that you can market your products or services in a fresh way. They literally ‘add character’ – just look at ‘Compare the Market’, or one of my own designs, Abcam , or Axol Bioscientific.
The craic
St Patrick’s Day also has a great story. St Patrick, the patron saint of Ireland, converted the pagan Irish to Christianity in the 5th Century, using the shamrock as a metaphor to tell the story of the Holy Trinity – God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. (He is also credited with ridding Ireland of snakes.) This real event is complemented with the Leprechaun of Irish faerie-tale folklore creatures who, if captured may grant three wishes in exchange for their freedom, but on St Patrick’s Day mostly leave gold (chocolate) coins for children who make ‘traps’ of pretend rainbows or pots of gold to try and catch them. Green just so happens to be a Leprechaun’s favourite colour – and makes you invisible to him. So join 94 million people and wear green on St Patrick’s Day, or a cheeky Leprechaun may pinch you!
Erin go Bragh!
(from the Irish Éirinn go Brách … Ireland Forever!)
Colour, logo, character (if you have one) and your back story help your clients and customers connect with you. Do yours reflect who you are, what you do and what you stand for? Are your touch points branded with a consistent look and feel? If I can help, please get in touch!