The brand that smiles back
Welcome to the blog post about whether Amazon has good branding, or not. Some of us might say, "Yes, Amazon has good branding," but I'm stuck in the middle. Amazon is a giant company. The best comparison that comes to mind would be Walmart. Both businesses have just about everything you need, but just how accessible the brand is are their only limitations. I think you could go to almost anyone in America and ask where they do their online shopping. and my gut feeling says that about 80% are going to say Amazon. But is it good branding that makes them so popular or is it just years of customers loving their services?
Amazon was started in 1994 and since then has expanded to be considered 1 of the top 4 technology companies next to Google, Microsoft, and Apple. Amazon's brand has changed quite a bit over its lifespan, considering they went through about 6 differently styled logos. I, as a graphic designer, am grateful for because it takes time and effort to create an effective logo. Seeing a company make progress is inspiring because you can always improve. Playing devils advocate, one might say that their need to change the logo could imply that Amazon's branding was not top notch. Perhaps in the past, Amazon's branding wasn't good branding, but that doesn't mean that their branding is bad currently.
In my opinion, good branding is all about consistency across any platform you may be using, from digital advertisement to printable materials. Wherever Amazon might have their branding, it won't mean much if the audience doesn't feel a connection with the branding, but Amazon already brings out excitement from their customers. There are even memes of people waiting for their Amazon packages to arrive impatiently, a comical face-pressed-to-window kind of anticipation. This is where I believe service and branding are mixed. People that have used Amazon in the past love the quick and easy process of shipping a product personally to their house and with a painless return process just makes the deal that much sweeter. Can services be a part of good branding? I don't see why not, as it can easily lead to customers motivating others into purchasing or using Amazon's services. Amazon's services and easy to navigate website brings more products out into the light than a random online shop, where customers might question their authenticity. With Amazon's help, any doubt in credibility for where these products are being sold to me feels about 60% lower. Amazon's branding brings a feeling of security which, in the end, keeps loyal customers coming back for more.
One of Amazon's Super Bowl commercials in 2019 was a very memorable advertisement that applied their branding at the very end with the logo used as a smile. I feel like this was effective branding because they want people to laugh and smile, and that commercial hit the jackpot. It evoked feelings of playful enthusiasm toward their brand, which is what they want people to feel when they are shopping on Amazon. The logo used was part of their branding for their smart speaker, Alexa, but there are other Amazon logos in the video's background and on their products that help show branding throughout the whole video. In conclusion, Amazon started out as every other company does with average branding, but with time and experience, Amazon's branding has gotten much better.
