branding research report 2016 - keep it usable
TRANSCRIPT
Are brands losing their identity online?
A research investigation by Keep It Usable
Effective visual brand identity is achieved by the consistent use of particular visual elements to create distinction, such as specific fonts, colours, and graphic elements.
Wikipedia
Have you noticed how similar websites look these days?
Particularly fashion sites. Cover up the logo and can you really tell one from the other? How effective and identifiable is their brand once you cover up the logo? Is their identity weak online?
We put 11 fashion brands to the test to see if their target consumers could correctly identify their websites with the logos removed (provided separately).
Introduction
Hypothesis: Fashion e-commerce sites look very similar and their brand isn’t clearly identifiable without their logo Aim: Understand if a sample of 11 fashion sites are identifiable without their logos
Task: Match the brand with the correct website
Participants: Females 15-38 years old
Research overview
11 Brands
20 Desktop Home pages
20 Mobile Home pages
4 variations, 80 responses
20 Desktop Home pages
20 Mobile Home pages
The Task: Match the website with the correct brand
*Logos were removed from each screenshot and provided separately
?
The Task: Match the website with the correct brand
Research findings
On average each person correctly matched just 3 of the 11 websites with their logos…
…and they found it really difficult!
“I should recognise it, I shop on this website, but I don’t have a clue…
They all look the same.”
“I don’t know why I don’t recognise Topshop, I’m
confused.”
“I’m confused. I recognise them,but I can’t rememberwhat the brand is!”
“They all look the same!”
“I thought I’d recognise them, but I can’t!”
“I have no idea..it could be any of them…”
“Most of the logos have the same squared letters.”
“They should be different, because they
sell different things, different styles.”“It’s hard, I didn’t think it
would be this hard! I don’t think I can do it.”
“They should be different, because they sell different things, different styles.”
“I thought I’d recognise them but I can’t!”
“I have no idea… it could be any of them…”
“They all look the same!”
“It’s hard, I didn’t think it would be this hard! I don’t think I can do it.”
“Most of the logos have the same squared letters.”
VeryAsosZara
River IslandBoohoo
TopshopPretty Little Thing
Forever 21Missguided
Miss SelfridgeGlamorous 8
1314
1520
2123
3445
4850
Total Correct Matches [%]
Participants correctly matched the Very logo with the website 50% of the time
Results overview - Very scored the highest
In general brands were more recognisable on desktop than
on mobile
Desktop29%
correctly matched
Mobile23%
correctlymatched
Most brands performed better on desktop (vs mobile)
Very Asos Zara River Island Pretty Little Thing Topshop Boohoo Miss Selfridge Forever 21 Missguided Glamorous
10
1820
10
20
138
33
4543
40
51010
15
2530
3335
4853
60
Tot. Correct Matches [%] Desktop Tot. Correct matches [%] Mobile
Most brands performed better on desktop vs mobile
Brands that scored the least correct matches
were more recognisable on mobile (vs desktop)
Glamorous was the least known brand to consumers and their lack of brand familiarity may have contributed to their position in this research.
Research Summary
• Surprisingly, very few brands have websites that are recognisable at first sight.
• Brands that scored the most correct matches tend to have a stronger brand identity on desktop rather than on mobile.
• Even when the brands presented in this research had a strong identity in the high street, their online websites were confused with other brands. This implies that brands are still stronger at what they know best, the high street, and they aren’t as strong at adapting their identity for the online consumer.
What did we discover?
• Participants struggled to correctly match the logo with the correct screenshot, even if they were familiar with the website.
• They self-reported finding the task surprisingly difficult. They expected it to be easy - they expected brands to have strong online identities like they do on the high street.
• A different and unique layout was associated with higher quality. If a brand looks the same as everyone else, they are perceived as selling lower quality items.
• Imagery was a differentiator. Websites were easier to recognise when their images had a distinct and consistent style.
• Participants felt that most of the brands had very similar pictures and models, whereas they expected them to be different to reflect their different styles.
What did we discover?
Our findings indicate that female fashion brands have much potential to strengthen their online brand identity and to differentiate themselves from competitors.
Would you like to know more about this research or our generation z shopping research?