The power of a strong corporate brand is even visible in company with multiple brands as demonstrated by CNET, which incorporates its well-known name into less popular sub brands under its network -- News.com, Search.com, Download.com, Shopper.com, CNET Radio -- to boost their credibility. You can instantly get 'feel' of CNET when logging on to any of these sites as they essentially share same colors, layout, and navigation. News junkies are ensured of credibility of content presented by News.com, which bears CNET logo of trustworthy brand of network of technology-related sites.

Ironically, strongest point of a company brand is also its weakest link. Relying on a single brand can do widespread damage across sub brands in catastrophic episodes, even when only one product involved. In wake of Ford-Firestone tire debacle in 2000 for a while both companies were down in toilet with eggs on their face, despite exclusivity of mishap - Firestone Wilderness AT tires on Ford Explorer.

On other side of spectrum, individual brands can stay virtually unscathed when their corporate parents stumble upon mishaps. The downward spiral that illustrates AOLTimeWarner's image since completion of AOL-TimeWarner merger in early 2001 does little harm to its brands; general public sees Fortune and Warner Music as separate entities with their own image and characters, without drawing any reference to fact that AOLTimeWarner has become an example of a failed mega merger.

Association to established brand

It is more practical and easier to launch an individual brand when not operating under shadow of corporate brand - particularly in wake of a disastrous event that hurts image of company. The new brand can be safely introduced to and accepted by market without fear for consumers' associating it with corporate brand under crisis.

This advantage has been enjoyed repeatedly by consumer-goods companies such as P&G and Unilever. P&G exploits potential of emerging markets in South America and Southeast Asia by creating regional brands, without noticeable connection to image of P&G and its other brands in United States and other countries. Furthermore, except for those in business and economy sector, probably nobody has no idea what P&G is or what it does, or what company makes their laundry detergent.

Conforming to unofficial but widely existent phenomenon that no school of thought can be valid at all times, two branding strategies I am proposing here are subject to a set of constraints -- current condition of market, nature of business, and consumer, economy, and social environments. The persistent success of Sony in sustaining mind share as a household name in advanced and long-lasting electronics, may justify option of going with company brand. Yet for more than fifty years Nestle and P&G, and now AOLTimeWarner, have proven that settling down in background and instead diverting spotlight to a set of well-managed individual brands, can be a lifesaver during times of crisis.

A good logo works in simplest form. With advent of Web, it is common to see logos which contain gradients, 3D effects, animation, and other visual effects. But if logo can not also be reduced to a simple one color flat version for use on faxes, your checks and photocopied documents, it is functionally useless. As tempting as it might be to create a whiz-bang logo, a designer must always consider all ways your companies identity will be disseminated. Once this is successfully accomplished, you can always jazz up your logo later for web!

As mentioned before, size is a critical issue when having a logo designed. A good rule of thumb is that if logo works well in a business card size, it will scale up nicely to other sizes. Always make sure your logo looks pleasing on paper and in a wide range of sizes before committing to it.

Web and print are two entirely different mediums. If you are having a logo designed for first time, it is essential that you be aware that your logo must be designed for print FIRST and web second. Without getting into intricacies of print and web resolutions, suffice it to say they are very different. What might look great on your computer screen will likely print out at size of a postage stamp and be entirely muddled. If logo is designed to look great online, depending on graphics format, it might not scale easily up to a printable version, so it is best to create it in a way that can be downscaled.

When choosing a color for your logo, you might want to consider using those in universal 216 color palette supported by all web browsers. This will ensure that colors of your corporate identity can be used online without a hitch.

On flip side, web will allow you to take your simple 1-2 color logo and do great things with it - and it won't cost you thousands of extra dollars to add colors to it, make it 3D or animate it, like it would in print medium. Once your logo is created for lowest common denominator, same form can be enhanced in a myriad of ways to look more exciting for your web site. Just be sure you don't get carried away with possibilities until you have a logo which will present a strong image for your company on a simple business card!