The importance a visual mnemonic (not logo) for your brand.

I recently came across an article by Gordon Pincott where he talks about brand ‘keys’, that basically ‘unlock’ sections of your  brain, and knowledge, experience and emotion associated with your brand tumble out. He goes on to state the importance of brand ‘keys’ and how it’s essential for a brand to build and maintain these ‘mnemonics’ that help trigger associations in the brain.

In a lot of cases, the brand name is simple, unique and descriptive to serve as the mnemonic by itself. ‘Facebook’ for instance. In other cases, a visual key helps. Visual mnemonics are known to register a lot more powerfully than their textual counterpart. Read on to find out how.

The human brain registers experiences in two ways. The cognitive experience, which is secondary, is where the brain needs to function in order to register. Reading the letters ‘IBM’ for example. The sensory experience, is primary, and registers directly without the brain having to really ‘work’. Our five primary senses enable rapid impressions of colors and shapes, sound, tastes, textures and smells on our brain- something that doesn’t really need ‘processing’ power.

Naturally, sensory experiences register much faster than cognitive ones. Besides, the way the human brain works, it tends to register a summation or overall of individual bits and pieces, rather than remember them separately. Mr. Pincott says it’s like recognizing a face. You don’t remember the eyes or the nose or the mouth individually, but you remember the face.

The caveat here (and I might be at the risk of sounding too obvious when I say this) is that your visual mnemonic should ideally connect with your brand. It is very easy to create a logo. It is far more difficult to create a static visual piece that conveys your brand values and reflects who you are. But if you do manage to create one, use it. Use it with discretion, on important, powerful pieces of communication, and let your consumer make the connection thereafter. It’ll register rapidly and powerfully, your consumers will connect with your values and it’ll create magic for your brand.