The beauty of inspiration is it can come from anything at any time. Music, people and places inspire some people, while others prefer to sit and meditate in a quiet space. Regardless how we unlock inspiration, we all have something that inspires us. The question in marketing however, is how to turn the inspiration in our heads into a working and engaging design?
At The K.I.S.S Marketing Agency we’re all about inspirational design, with an office by the beach and team of genuine super stars, how could we not be?
You’ll notice on our design page our inspired designs are all underpinned by our foundation principle: ‘Keep it simple, stupid.’
Three of our favourite brand inspired stories.
The NBA logo
Alan Siegel, founder of Siegel+Gale was given the job to design a logo for the NBA which at the time was in a battle with their rival, the American Basketball Association. Seeking inspiration, Siegel searched through the photo archives of Sport magazine. A particular photo of the All-Star Jerry West got his attention: It was dynamic and captured the essence of the game. 45 years after its creation, the NBA logo generates $3 billion a year in licensing.
The Mercedes Benz logo
Way back in 1900 a man by the name of Wilhelm Maybach took over Mercedes Benz and partnered up with Emil Jellinek. Jellinek’s daughter Mercedes – a Spanish girls name meaning ‘grace’ was the inspiration behind the name. A few years after that, Daimler’s sons were inspired by an old postcard sent by their father to their mother with a 3 pointed star marking the location of his house in Germany with the explanation that one day the star would shine over his factory and bring prosperity.
The ‘JUST DO IT’ campaign by NIKE
Nike’s agency W+K needed to inspire people to buy the NIKE product, a big problem in America though, was the high percentage of obesity, procrastination and to top it off an economic recession. The NIKE brand needed to change its way of thinking as they were only speaking to a small amount of competitive male athletes.
They needed to advertise that feeling of joy, a runners high, that inner glow that you get from a sports experience. They needed to inspire everyday people to want to experience what competitive athletes already knew, that this inner joy feeling was real.
Prior to Just Do It, Nike was a struggling niche national brand. After the launch of Just Do It, Nike brand sales were rejuvenated, increasing 1,000% over the next ten years. And Nike stepped into its role as one of the world’s most iconic and recognised brands.
Are you in need of inspiring design?
Let’s talk
See you next week
Darnelle
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