How to create a dynamic brand identity

What is a dynamic brand?

Throughout history, most brands have been intentionally static — rigid brand guidelines developed with the goal of strict adherence, leaving little or no room for more flexible expressions of the brand. Often this included a singular mark, or perhaps two variations of a brand's logo intended for use against light or dark backgrounds. The fixed nature of the brand identity, consistently applied, was one of the most significant brand-building tools companies had at their disposal as they sought to create instantly recognizable brands.

But that's all changing now.

To meet the demands of today's world, a brand's identity needs to be flexible enough to adapt for print-based media, digital channels, the physical world (like buildings and billboards), and a global economy. Your brand must be flexible enough to be just as relevant to a consumer riding the subway and looking at an advertisement on their iPhone in Shanghai as one walking the streets and experiencing your brand through a billboard in Times Square. This requires that brand managers learn to create dynamic brand identities: those that can freshen up, personalize, or contextualize their brand without losing sight of its core brand identity.

A dynamic brand is defined as a brand with more energy that can show change, movement and flexibility. Dynamic brands are often called living brands, because they physically change or move, reflecting the very definition of dynamism.

"A dynamic identity is essentially opening up one or more of the components [of a brand] to a dynamic influence," says designer Paul Davis.

While the concept of a dynamic identity may seem straightforward, there are countless ways to bring a dynamic brand to life. Companies are doing everything from temporarily adopting new colors — like the NFL did — to using new technologies to show different advertisements to audiences based on the current weather in their geographic location.

Assemble your "kit of parts"

In order to start making your brand dynamic, you first need to understand its core identity. You need to understand your brand's values, points of differentiation, and personality. Only once those elements have been identified should you begin assembling your brand's "kit of parts." This is the first step in designing a dynamic brand identity and should contain the following elements:

1. A logo and/or mark
2. A typographic system
3. A color palette
4. Guidelines for using icons, photography or illustration
5. A methodology of approach

"Liquid identity is the term I use to describe the "kit of parts" that we make to design something," says Paula Scher, Partner at Pentagram. "If you take the notion of how identity was thought of in the Swiss international style there might be a mark or logo, type, and maybe some other trademark issues that were all put together very neatly in a corner. You can't really do that today because information exists in every form of media, so you need to have something that's really more fluid than that.

If you design an identity where the system is very rigid, it becomes boring very quickly and it means that it's likely to be overthrown because people need change. If you want something to last a long time, you need to have the ability for flexibility.

Common methods of creating a dynamic brand

While there are many ways to express a liquid identity, we can learn a lot by studying companies that have successfully created dynamic brands. Here are a few of the more common strategies for anchoring your brand in something consistent and recognizable, while maintaining the flexibility to adapt your brand to varying circumstances, events, and audiences.

Containers (dynamic elements within a fixed container)

Many brands looking to create a more flexible identify choose to use their logo or mark within some set of boundaries. While the logo or mark is always present and recognizable, designers are then given the freedom to experiment and create something new within the boundaries of the container.

One of the best examples of this approach is Warner Brothers, who since 1923 has been adapting the expression of their logo shown at the beginning of movies to reflect the character of the movie itself.

Wallpapers (fixed logo or mark, flexible backgrounds)

Using flexible wallpapers or background imagery behind a consistently applied logo or mark is one of the most common ways to create a dynamic brand.

Generative content (adaptable to current events)

Adaptations for seasonality, holidays, or other current events — as we saw with the NFL's actions for Breast Cancer Awareness Month — are another way for a brand to be dynamic.

Product customization

Another popular means of creating a dynamic brand identity is allowing customers to customize some aspect of a product or service. Doing so increases feelings of uniqueness and individuality for the consumer, while also fostering the positive associations of brand belonging.

Personalization

Personalization occurs when a dynamic brand uses information about a consumer to deliver a more relevant brand experience. This form of 1-to-1 marketing is typically more effective than traditional advertising, as brands can engage with consumers based on factors like their unique interests, preferences, past behaviors, and geographic location.

Technology to support dynamic brand identities

With an increasing number of brands looking to create more flexible brand identities, there's been a subsequent rise in technologies that can help deliver this broader array of brand experiences. Here are two of the most promising.

Artificial intelligence (AI)

In Gartner's 2018 Marketing Technology Survey, marketing leaders rated AI as their first choice of emerging technologies that will have the greatest positive impact on marketing over the next five years.

Digital Asset Management solutions

Digital Asset Management (DAM) solutions like Brandfolder are quickly becoming a key tool for brand managers looking to ensure that their dynamic brand identities are being applied with consistency.

Key takeaways

1. Dynamic brands allow brand managers to consistently reinvent themselves and present fresh and contextually relevant versions of the brand without losing their most identifiable characteristics.
2. Brand managers must decide which components of their brand will be dynamic and which components will always remain static. There are a number of common approaches to choose from, but the consistent application of one approach is key.
3. Don't try to personalize what your brand stands for or why someone should buy it — these attributes of your brand should remain constant.
4. Emerging technologies like artificial intelligence can help deliver more dynamic and personalized brand experiences, but will likely require additional creative capacity and technical skills to leverage successfully.