Brand Identity 'FIT' for business - Virgin Active
An English language idiom, “A picture is worth a thousand
words” would sound like an appropriate idiom to use when discussing brand
identity. Although the idiom refers to a notion that a complex idea can be represented
by a single image for example a logo, one needs to look beyond the imagery or
visual representation of a brand to identify the complexities of what makes a successful brand.
I will be exploring the Virgin Active brand identity with a
focus on the visual and verbal language of its brand identity system.
Before we
unpack fitness of the Virgin active brand DNA, we first need to understand
where this brand comes from. Virgin active is a chain of health clubs belonging
to the Virgin Group founded by Richard Branson. The gym was launched in 1999
and has since developed popularity around the world. According to how they view
their brand, they have a reputation for doing things differently. For
revolutionising everything we touch.
Now that you know when the brand was established and to
which company it belongs to, you have a already developed a perception of why this
is such a great brand to dissect. On their website they state that they have a reputation
of doing things differently and revolutionising everything they touch. This is
a bold statement and one that sums up their brand mantra. Why you might ask?
Top 5 reasons why you would most likely identify with Virgin Active.
- ONE: Values that complement the business
Virgin active has brand values that not only aim to pursue business
objectives but aim to fulfil the client’s needs. These are:
- Insatiable Curiosity
- Smart Disruption
- Heartfelt Service
- Delightfully Surprising
- Straight Up
- Red Hot.
Read more about what these values mean – Click here
These values complement their
bold statement of being revolutionaries and of doing things differently.
- TWO: Suiting verbal language
·
Tone of voice of the brand Virgin Active
Virgin active has an energetic and yet a “tree
hugger” casual tone of voice. You can identify with it from their online representation
of their brand. They are not serious about fitness but they are serious about
life and wellness. This tone of voice is consistent across all their social mediaplatform, blogs, corporate sites and in their gym.
I would sum up their tone as being:
·
“screw it lets do it”
·
“while you are at it, have fun”
·
“live life”
To quote the founder of the Virgin group, Richard Branson:
- THREE: Energetic Visual language
·
Logo, colours and supporting imagery.
One may wonder why the Virgin Group logo
looks like a person’s handwriting. Well keep on wondering. According to their website,
it is said that the punk inspired Virgin logo has may stories attached to it. One
of which is of a young designer scribbled the now iconic signature on a paper
napkin. Through time the logo of Virgin Group has evolved, however not too far
from their original logo.
The Red Virgin Active or white logo on red
background communicates a bold, active and revolutionary brand persona. One can
associate the red colour to passion, love, health, life and excitement to name
a few. According to a blog post about: Meaning and Uses of Colors in LogoDesign, I agree with how they have associated the colour red to:
-
Attractive
-
Energetic
-
Powerful
These adjectives sum up the
colour representation of the visual elements that make up the Virgin Active
logo and visual representation that is well pronounced in their health clubs. Recently
to add to the effectiveness of the colour red, Virgin active launched an extension
of their brand called Virgin Active Red.
Now that story is for another
blog about diversifying a business. Lets focus on the last two elements that make
this brand a brand that is in top shape.
- FOUR: Brand purpose positioning and personality
These guys, don’t mean business they mean lifestyle.
(that is my mirroring of their tone of voice)
Virgin Active is on a mission to change the
negative perception associated to working out or being in a gym. The have
positioned themselves not as a health club but a lifestyle club. This is clear
in a statement mentioned on their site that says: “We believe that working out
doesn’t have to be all work and no play.”
- FIVE: Brand Story behind Virgin Active, should I say Virgin Group
The brand story of this health club is not
a story about getting up to go to gym to have a hard time working out. It is a
story about living your life in a healthy way in order for you to get more out
of life. As the logo and visual representation of this brand suggest, this
brand is “little less hippy and a little more punk”, exciting, energetic and
loving.
Having read the autobiography, I can attest that
Sir Richard Branson is a living Brand Story behind this amazing brand called
Virgin Active.
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