Brand Mix

"JUST GOT TO LONDON!!! YOU KNOW I HAD TO PUT MY CAPS LOCK ON! I DON'T TYPE IN CAPS CAUSE I'M MAD I TYPE IN CAPS CAUSE I'M LAZY!!!" Kanye West tweet

Kanye's Kanye so if he wants to type in ALL CAPS no-one is going to stop him. But collective opinion is very much against it. It's the written equivalent of shouting and tells us that the author is trying to demand too much of our attention. So disliked is the all cap style that, as this Slate article points out, many online publications ban comments that are typed in all caps. An anti all caps group launched a "Caps Off" campaign to pressure hardware manufacturers to get rid of the Caps Lock key, trying to make it harder for all cap writers to operate.

In the world of brand architecture, the equivalent of ALL CAPS is ALL BRANDED FEATURES. Primarily an affliction of technology companies, branded features are often found in the nurturing environment of  trade show product brochures. At their worst, these brochures become a blizzard of TMs as companies brand and then try and protect every single one of the features that's built into their products.

It's an affliction often fueled by the worthy intention of giving credit to all the different project teams that have put in countless hours to build and complete these individual features. But the net result is TOO MUCH NOISE. If the volume is "11" for everything, the important things, the things that are really better, different and valuable to customers get drowned out by a wall of noise.

It may be difficult to implement but a system that limits the use of branded features pays great dividends. Such a system requires both of a process (all new names to be created/vetted by a nominated group) and a set of rules and guidelines (nothing will be branded unless it delivers competitive advantage and is supported by a marketing budget). If you don't want to be a Kanye, it's a worthwhile investment.