The WHOLE picture

What would be the simplest possible brand model?

We’ve had pyramids, onions, wheels, diamonds, jigsaws, T’s, keys, keystones, solar systems and beyond.

They all have the same problem. Too many boxes.

The question is what has to be there and what doesn’t, particularly these days with marketing thinking as it is.

So in that random way you do when trying to solve a problem, I’m looking at the Closer to Brands logo.

The O in Closer is bolder than the other letters. The idea was to be like a magnifying glass.

But it’s just an O. I’m not sure anyone looks at it and thinks about looking through it.

Funny, though. It does make me think of a circle inside a circle.

One on the surface, one beneath it.

Like people’s needs. Explicit and implicit.

And maybe like a brand too.

Identity and personality.

Availability and positioning.

Coming to mind and occupying a corner of it.

Assets and associations.

Distinctiveness and differentiation.

Be noticed, be remembered.

Maybe that’s all a brand model needs.

Two concentric circles.

How you stand out on the outside.

What you stand for on the inside.

Both equally important.

And interdependent.

Because it’s only when you get the whole picture, you can fully understand what’s going on.