Uppercase versus lowercase letters for branding

The letter case is a subtle change to a brand name, i.e. whether a brand name appears in all lowercase or uppercase letters. Research published in the Journal of Retailing suggests whether a designer chooses uppercase or lowercase letters significantly impacts a customer’s response to a brand. However, the impact that branding has depends upon the designer’s choice of type case and whether it evokes a male or female ‘look and feel’.

Why should I care?

The implications for designers can be summarised as follows;

1. The research reminds designers of the importance of typographic selection and letter case (lowercase or uppercase) on a customer’s perceptions.
2.  The importance of a brand’s gender identity. A designer should be aware that a brand’s gender effects are contextual. The customer’s biological sex, upper- or lowercase selection of type, and the product’s target gender all contribute to evoking the notion of “brand personality.”
3. Simple changes in the use of uppercase or lowercase letters and a consistent match with the gender intention of the product will improve the positive perceptions of a product.

Examples of lowercase vs uppercase brands include;

• adidas versus NIKE
• head & shoulders versus PANTENE,
• always versus TAMPAX
• progene versus BIOXGENIC
• facebook versus VK,
• accenture versus IBM
• bp versus EXXON
• bloomingdales versus NORDSTROM
• citi versus HSBC
• acer versus DELL
• lyft versus UBER.

Takeaways for Designers

1. Lowercase brands are rated as more feminine.

2. Uppercase brands are rated as more masculine.

3. The gender of the branding case needs to match the intended gender of the product. It enables customers to understand the brand’s intention, which boosts positive attitudes about a product and potentially increases sales.

4. Brand case rather than letter shape (straight vs. round) drives a customer’s attitude to a product.

Practical Issues

Designers have long used various elements to convey whether a product suits females or males. The Traditional portrayals of femininity and masculinity, such as using for girls and blue for boys, are becoming blurred as gender fluidity becomes the norm rather than the exception. Innovative brands want to connect with consumers who no longer pursue gender in binary terms. The current ideas offer a way to represent gender in a more subtle and sophisticated way.

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Source

Wen, N., & Lurie, N. H. (2018). The case for compatibility: Product attitudes and purchase intentions for upper versus lowercase brand names. Journal of Retailing, 94(4), 393-407. doi:http://dx.doi.org.ezproxy.une.edu.au/10.1016/j.jretai.2018.10.002

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