Maureen Scanlon of Murre Creative is responsible for the Linda Edwards Marketing logo, which is one part of our brand identity system. Maureen and I have partnered together on various projects for more than fifteen years—long enough that we talk in shorthand and know what the other is going to say before we say it. When I started my business, she was my first phone call. I knew she would listen to what I wanted to convey, process my words and combine them with her wealth of design experience, and create a strong logo I would be proud of. She nailed it!
You can’t miss the striking blue, orange, and white icon next to the blue Linda Edwards Marketing text that combines to make the logo. You might call it a gear. I call it a flywheel.
In 2001, Jim Collins published Good to Great, highlighting the findings from a five-year research project that looked at the characteristics of successful companies—the ones that leap from good to great. He and his team learned many lessons, but most importantly, that success cannot be attributed to any one thing and there is no quick fix. They found that those that committed to a process and kept their team on track for the long haul achieved the benefit of “the flywheel effect.”
Collins says the key to business success is not a single innovation or one plan. It is the act of turning the flywheel, slowly gaining momentum and eventually reaching a breakthrough. Put another way, if you’ve ever ridden a spin bike, you know it takes a good amount of effort to get it going, but once in motion, you benefit from the momentum that you’ve built up from your initial hard work.
Good to Great is a best seller and worth a full read, but I share this summary to illustrate why we selected the flywheel symbol as a key component of the Linda Edwards Marketing logo. Successful brand building is not any one tactic and it is not a short-term fix. Investing in a consistent, integrated plan will build momentum over time and is the most effective marketing you can do.
Placing a few ads, sending a flurry of press releases, and holding an open house are all tactical elements that can be effective, but they may be a waste of resources if they’re not part of a coordinated overall strategy that has been designed to work together to build momentum over time. If you build your brand, you will increase awareness, build credibility, and achieve growth for all of your offerings in the most cost-effective way possible.
The image used on the Linda Edwards Marketing home page illustrates the uniqueness of human beings. Your various audiences are living and breathing and each receives information differently. You need a strategy that is as unique as your audiences.
Put forth the work now to develop a brand strategy and a comprehensive marketing communications plan to get the flywheel moving. Do you have some ideas, but need some help? Reach out to me today and we can develop a plan that will achieve long-term success.