This weeks blog is about how to work successfully to build a brand that will elevate and support your growing business.
I’ve been supporting brands for over 20 years working with global companies to create, evolve and grow their voices to communicate more effectively and would like to share some insight.
Branding should be based upon understanding your business, who it serves and why. This is vitally important for you and your designer, so a branding exercise should always start with a conversation to draw out the answers that will be the foundations of your new brand.
I’ve often found that whilst on the face of it, an insight session may look like it is for the designers understanding of the client, it’s just as beneficial (if not more so) for the client to have this opportunity to really delve into the big questions.
That’s not to say the designer will ever know as much as you about the company you have built – but good designers should know exactly what to ask to get to the source of what is needed to build a successful brand for you. They may be questions never asked before and answers not yet uncovered, so it’s a fabulous journey of discovery for everyone.
Companies and individual people can learn a lot about themselves, why they exist and what they are working so hard to achieve. All of this needs to go into a successful branding project – without this all you have is a visuals ‘stamp’ that has no correlation to the company it represents and has no effect whatsoever on growth or return on investment.
Be wary of anyone claiming to be brand expert who will just design you a logo, because what they are offering you is not a brand but simply a badge. Successful branding takes time, exploration and a creative mind that can take this information and craft your business persona from the essence of what makes you unique.
In order to bring out the essence of what your brand should be, you need to first go inside before trying to craft what is on the outside. In much the same way we can all put together a great outfit for a night out, what suits you won’t suit your friend – a logo won’t simply work for every company just because it’s clever and looks great. Branding isn’t simply about looking good but about an honest and true reflection of your companies beliefs and personality.
Your visual identity and your brand is not simply there to look nice but to represent YOU, specifically.
Nobody needs a new logo – it makes no difference, but a new brand can change everything, and it starts with insight and knowledge.
