2

Source: Book

Title: No Logo

Surname: Klein

Initial: N
Page: 23

Year: 2000

Publisher: Flamingo

ISBN 0 00 255919 6

Quote

"In this high stakes now context, the cutting edge ad agencies no longer sold companies individual campaigns but on their ability to act as “brand stewards”: identifying, articulating and protecting the corporate soul. 

By 1997, corporate advertising, defined as “ads that position a corporation, its values, its personality and character” were up 18 percent from the year before."

Analysis

This illustrates how the way graphic design changed in terms of handling clients. With branding becoming an iconic part of any successful product, agencies began creating work to establish brand identities that could stand the test of time. Graphic design/advertising became about maintaining a brand's core identity rather than creating one off campaigns.

Advertising became about defining a company's values and what they stood for, implying their product/service would also live up to these expectations. This shows the true power a brand can have over the consumer. Consumers prefer to buy into a brand they are familiar with, if a brand has a well established association with a specific value, for example quality, a consumer will be far more inclined to choose them. Graphic design plays an important part in this choice. By effectively creating and communicating the ideal lifestyle a consumer can relate to/wants to be part of, the product/service itself becomes the key to attaining this.