Branding isn’t just a case of designing a nice logo – it’s that too, but a lot more besides. Designing a brand is a process, backed by behavioural science, which goes right to the heart of a business, why it exists and how it wants people to feel.
The best brands provoke an emotional response. Think about Amazon, Coca-Cola, Apple, Virgin, or Disney. Their branding is much more than the visual identity; there’s a strategy behind ensuring the design itself evokes the desired feelings about the organisation.
Branding is also the foundation for many other elements of a successful business, including advertising, promotions, and merchandise. Imagine how difficult these would be without a professional brand.
To design a brand, we first need to understand a business’s goals and objectives and how the brand needs to develop to meet those.
Rather than being an isolated, prescribed process, branding is a collaborative journey that includes the thoughts and perceptions of people inside and outside the business.
It involves a variety of research including desk-based analysis, surveys, interviews with key stakeholders, online testing, and focus groups.
We’ll find out how a business is perceived and challenge those perceptions. Working closely with clients, we’ll develop and test new concepts to ensure they are evoking the desired responses.
A brand is much more likely to succeed if it’s created in partnership with the people who are invested in it, including team members, customers, and potential customers.
As well as branding for new businesses, we also work with many clients whose branding no longer reflects what they do.
For example, the Institution of Fire Engineers is more than 100 years old and steeped in history. But despite this rich heritage, it had reached a point where the existing branding no longer reflected the diversity of its members and the significant changes taking place in the sector.
Cygnia Logistics had a logo but no brand. It was emerging from a challenging operational period and therefore needed an inspiring new vision for the future.
Once we’ve created an eye-catching or thought-provoking brand identity, we help businesses bring it to life consistently across all their platforms, including digital, print, uniforms, merchandise, signage, and interior design.
We’ll provide easy-to-follow branding guidelines to ensure the new designs and messages are used cohesively as part of a successful roll-out that starts embodying the identity of a business in no time at all.
Summary
Developing a brand in a way that communicates what a business stands for in the eyes of its customers is vital to success. Various studies have shown that people are more likely to buy from a company they feel connected to, and this is achieved through consistent communication of brand identity.
Branding gives personality, builds trust, oozes professionalism and attracts loyal advocates.
With 20 years of experience in developing brands, we help businesses and organisations stand out from the crowd with eye-catching, enviable branding that’s backed by evidence.
Give us a call or fill out the form below to find out more.