Libraries need branding? Only if they care about connecting with patrons, expanding awareness in their communities, and… surviving.
We recently worked with Liz Doucett, the woman who wrote the book on library branding (Creating Your Library Brand,) and I came away with a new understanding of this critical community center and a sense of urgency about how libraries can no longer take their continued existence for granted. Here are my top three reasons why your public library needs to pay attention to its brand:
- Communication. Libraries are all about making information available to people. The way those people receive information – including how they perceive brands – is changing all the time. Why wouldn’t you change to connect with them?
- Connection. If you want people to understand you and to love you, you’ve got to connect with them. Great brands give people a gut feeling, and using them consistently creates emotional bonds.
- Survival. It’s sad to even consider this, but libraries are under tremendous financial pressure, and there are community leaders who wonder, what with the internet and all, if we even need libraries any more. A focused, thought-out brand just might make the difference.
Liz came to us having already done the hard work with her board. Our job was create a visual manifestation of their focused, brand vision.
The result is a brand/sub brand system that echoes historic, architectural elements and positions Curtis as a modern, vibrant information and community center.
Tune in later to find out how blowing up the logo led to an ingenious system for all of the library’s sub brands – Kids, Teens, Friends, etc.
