Branding and identity design

First impressions count. That’s why branding and identity design are so important to business success. Your brand is your promise to your customers: it sets the standard for the experience they can expect when engaging with you. People will make immediate perceptions about your brand by the quality of those interactions. To create a good first impression, and to deliver on your promise, your branding must be clear enough to communicate what you stand for when you are ‘not in the room’.

Branding and identity design is more than a logo

Your brand speaks in ways you may not have even considered. Your brand is also reflected in:

• How you present your business
• The quality of your marketing platforms and materials
• How you write your marketing communications
• How your employees present themselves
• The way you engage with customers
• Where your business is located
• The price point of the products or services you offer

Branding permeates everything your business does and it is important these elements combine cohesively and consistently. Brands that are consistent build trust. Trust builds value in a brand. And value equals success. That is why it is important to build strong brand assets and to select a marketing partner who will be the wingman for you and your brand. A partner who will protect and grow your assets to ensure your branding is consistently reflected across all your marketing activities from your logo design to your promotional materials.

Why you need a brand identity

The main reason to invest in branding and identity design is to stand out from your competition: to be at the top of your customers’ minds and be their first port of call. You may need to develop a brand for a new business, project or service you are launching. You may be looking to promote a destination differently by creating a place brand. Brands can also be redeveloped if there are negative perceptions associated with a business. A rebrand may also be required if a brand has been in market for a long time and looks outdated. Sometimes a brand may need to be redeveloped due to factors beyond its control such as industry reform.

But before logos are designed, social media accounts are created and brochures are printed, you need to work out what your brand stands for and where to position it in your customers’ minds. We can help you do this. Our approach to brand development draws on more than fifteen years’ experience of helping businesses, and communities, grow.

Our branding and identity design approach

We typically begin each brand discovery phase with a workshop where we review your industry, your business and your marketing activities. We consider how your brand helps customers solve their problems. What your organisation does differently to others. What unique features your brand can capitalise on. We also explore what you stand for. The difference your brand hopes to make: your mission. What the ultimate goal is for your brand: your vision. We also explore the personality of your brand and the values that drive its actions, and behaviours, in ways that could appeal to your target audiences.

The information we obtain through the discovery process is used to inform your brand strategy; the roadmap you need to grow your business.

What we uncover during this discovery phase also informs the design of your brand identity that helps shapes the perception people have of your business. Your brand identity consists of a range of assets that include your logo, colour palette, font choice, tone of voice and imagery style. These assets have to complement each other and blend together as a concise and cohesive message about your brand.

Your brand speaks all the time. And the reality is that its strength is going to be determined by what other people think. And humans are a fickle bunch. But branding, done well, has the potential to create positive brand associations in the minds of your customers hat can help grow your business.

Explore our branding portfolio and see how we can work together to develop your branding and identity design in ways that authentically reflect your business.