Branding Agency Insights: WHY effective packaging matters

The fight for consumer attention has grown stronger, and brands are using packaging as a main way to communicate with customers. A well designed package does more than carry your product; it speaks volumes about your brand’s values and promise. This is where a branding agency steps in, mixing creativity with strategy to turn simple packaging into a compelling brand ambassador.

From the first glance to the opening of the product, every step is an opportunity to reinforce your brand identity. Using a branding agency ensures that every aspect of your packaging—from material selection to the design—is crafted to tell your brand’s unique story, therefore making it attractive to people passing by your product.

Moreover, a branding agency can focus on the tactile experience—the texture and feel of the packaging—which can greatly influence a consumer’s perception and decision to buy. In addition, a branding agency often conducts market research to understand consumer preferences, allowing the design to resonate more effectively with your target audience. This alignment of design, material, and consumer insights ensures that the packaging feels aligned with the consumer’s expectations and your brand’s core values.

Let’s dive in:

First Impressions Matter

First impressions are powerful; often, the packaging is the first interaction consumers have with your product. A branding agency can assist you in developing packaging that stands out on the shelf and aligns with your brand image. Think about the last time you bought something just because it looked tempting. That’s the power of first impressions; your product can make that impactful debut with the right approach.

Differentiation is Key

How does your product stand out in a sea of competitors? Adequate packaging can differentiate your brand from others. A branding agency can guide you through selecting innovative designs that capture attention and make your product easily distinctive. This isn’t just about looking different; it’s about making sure you are remembered. Moreover, they focus on incorporating unique material choices and textures that enhance the tactile experience, appealing directly to consumers’ senses. Additionally, branding agencies leverage colour psychology and symbols to resonate with targeted audiences, ensuring your product stands out.

Communication Through Design Using a Branding Agency

Your packaging communicates. What does yours say about your brand? Every element, from colour to typography, can convey messages about your product’s quality and your brand’s ethos. A branding agency excels in creating subtle cues that resonate with consumers, encouraging them to choose your product over others. Additionally, the choice of materials and finishes can further signify luxury or eco-friendliness, aligning with consumer values and expectations. Moreover, effective packaging design can also function as a key differentiator in markets, setting your product apart at the point of purchase.

Enhancing User Experience

Good packaging goes beyond aesthetics; it’s also about functionality. It should be easy to open, use, and sometimes reuse. A branding agency prioritises user experience, making sure the packaging looks good and feels good in the consumer’s hands. This consideration can greatly influence repeat purchases and customer loyalty.

How a Branding Agency Builds an Emotional Connection Through Packaging

Packaging can evoke emotions. Whether it’s memories or excitement, a branding agency can use packaging to forge a strong emotional connection with your audience. Thus, this connection often translates into a loyal customer base and can turn first time buyers into regular customers.

Let’s Wrap Up!

Every shelf is crowded, and every consumer choice is informed; adequate packaging is no longer a luxury—it’s a necessity. By hiring a branding agency, you leverage their design expertise to create packaging that protects your product and projects your brand’s voice.

Remember, your packaging is your silent ambassador; it’s always in dialogue with your customers, making a case for your brand even when you’re not there to do it yourself. So, make it count. Embracing this level of attention to detail in packaging design elevates the consumer experience and solidifies your market position, turning every unboxing into a reaffirmation of your brand’s excellence.

Furthermore, well-thought-out packaging can serve as a powerful tool for telling your brand’s story. Through colours, textures, shapes, and even innovative opening mechanisms, your product can evoke emotions and create experiences. A branding agency can help you harness these elements to convey your brand’s story, mission, and values at every point. Effective packaging design can also integrate technology, such as QR codes or augmented reality features, which enhance interactivity and engagement, providing more value to the consumer and differentiating your brand in a competitive marketplace. This strategic approach to packaging can transform a simple product into an iconic brand ambassador.

Check out some of our packaging projects:

REWYND SNACKS: Re-Branding A Desi, Healthy Snacking Company

HOMEMADE LOVE: Co-founding an E-Commerce Brand Selling Ancestral Recipes And Memories

HOOVU: Re-branding a Startup with a Fresh Idea, Rooted in Tradition

Common FAQs about packaging:

In what ways can packaging enhance user experience?

Effective packaging is easy to open, and functional. A branding agency places emphasis on these aspects to ensure that it looks good and enhances its overall experience, potentially increasing customer satisfaction and loyalty.

Why is it important to understand a brand’s audience before designing packaging?

Understanding the target audience allows a branding agency to tailor the packaging design to meet specific preferences and expectations, thus ensuring the design resonates well and effectively communicates with the intended consumers.

What is the future of packaging design in branding?

The future of packaging design lies in smarter, more personalized experiences, using technology like smart labels. A branding agency stays ahead of these trends to create innovative solutions. Additionally, they explore interactive features such as augmented reality, which can turn ordinary packages into engaging experiences that attract consumers. Furthermore, this progressive approach helps brands build stronger connections with their audience, tailoring content to individual preferences and enhancing overall consumer satisfaction.

How does packaging help in new product launches?

For new products, impactful packaging can create buzz and drive initial trials. A branding agency plays a critical role in designing packaging that captures the essence of the new product and encourages consumer curiosity and engagement.

Can a branding agency help with rebranding through packaging?

Absolutely. When a company undergoes rebranding, updating the packaging is crucial to communicate the change. A branding agency can redesign packaging to reflect the new brand identity and help the product resonate with the updated brand message.

Can packaging be used to target specific audiences?

Yes, a branding agency designs packaging with specific target audiences in mind, using visuals, colours, and materials that appeal to particular age groups, interests, or cultural backgrounds, therefore maximizing its appeal to those segments.

What role does texture play in packaging design?

Texture can significantly affect your target audience’s perception of a product. A branding agency may choose a specific texture to suggest luxury or innovation, influencing the consumer’s tactile experience and purchase decision.

How does packaging communicate a brand’s message?

Every aspect of packaging, from colour schemes to the materials used, tells a part of the brand’s story. A branding agency crafts these elements to convey quality, sustainability, or luxury, aligning the product’s physical presentation with the brand’s overall message.

April 15, 2024April 15, 2024

Branding Agency 101: What is branding and how it helps YOU

Establishing a strong brand presence is essential for success in today’s highly competitive business world. But what exactly is branding, and how can partnering with a Branding Agency elevate your company’s position in the market? Branding extends beyond just a memorable logo or a catchy tagline; it encapsulates your company’s identity, values, and the promise you make to your customers. Creating a unique and consistent voice that resonates with your target audience sets you apart from the competition.

A branding agency specializes in crafting this unique identity by employing strategic insights and creative solutions to effectively communicate your core values. In today’s world, where consumers are presented with numerous options, having a strong brand can help you make a lasting impression. Moreover, this partnership can significantly increase your visibility and develop a loyal customer base that believes in your vision and principles. Ultimately, your brand is your most valuable asset, and it can help you stand out from the competition.

Let’s dive deep into the world of branding and explore the invaluable role a Branding Agency can play in shaping your company’s identity and driving growth.

Understanding Branding

At its core, branding is more than just a logo or a catchy slogan. It encompasses the entire essence of your company—the values, personality, and promise you convey to your customers. Branding differentiates you from competitors, establishes trust with your audience, and leaves a lasting impression. It’s an ongoing effort to align what your brand promises and what it delivers, ensuring consistency across all points of contact with consumers. This not only enhances your reputation but also encourages customer advocacy, which is crucial in organic business growth.

The Essence of Branding

Branding is the process of creating a unique identity that customers can connect with and trust. This identity is crafted from the company’s mission, values, personality, and emotional appeal. It acts as the core foundation in your marketing communication, enabling you to weave a narrative that resonates with your target audience. Therefore, branding isn’t merely about standing out; it’s fundamentally about being remembered. It requires thorough research into who your customers are, what they need, and how your business can uniquely satisfy those needs. This deep exploration helps ensure that your branding efforts are meaningful and impactful.

Building Brand Equity

Effective branding builds brand equity, which is your brand’s value in customers’ minds. Substantial brand equity translates into customer loyalty, higher perceived value, and increased market share. This equity is built through consistent positive experiences and emotional connections with the brand, facilitated by effective marketing strategies. Additionally, high brand equity attracts more customers and provides a competitive edge, allowing for premium pricing and better negotiating power with stakeholders. It’s an intangible asset that, when managed well, significantly contributes to the overall value of your company.

What Does a Branding Agency Do?

A Branding Agency is your strategic partner in crafting and nurturing your brand identity. They bring expertise in branding strategies, design, and market insights, ensuring that every element of your brand’s presentation is optimized to communicate your values and appeal to your target demographic. Moreover, with a deep understanding of market trends and consumer behaviors, these agencies can help pinpoint what makes your business unique. This detailed focus on distinguishing your brand plays a critical role in ensuring it stands out in a competitive market.

They provide a holistic approach to branding, from initial logo design and messaging to ongoing brand management and digital marketing strategies. Thus, by aligning your business goals with creative and strategic branding efforts, a Branding Agency can elevate your presence in the market and drive meaningful engagement with your audience.

Here’s how a Branding Agency can help your company:

1. Defining Your Brand Identity with a Branding Agenvy

The first step in effective branding is defining your brand identity. A branding agency collaborates with you to understand your company’s values, mission, and target audience. They will analyze market trends, conduct research, and identify unique selling points to create a brand identity that stands out. Initially, this process involves deep dives into your business landscape, competitor analysis, and customer behavior to ensure that the brand identity resonates with the intended audience and differentiates from competitors. Additionally, the agency might use workshops, surveys, and interviews to gather insights that help in crafting a comprehensive and appealing brand story. This development of your brand’s identity is crucial for aligning your strategic goals with customer expectations and market opportunities.

1.1 Crafting a Compelling Narrative

A Branding Agency helps articulate your brand story—the narrative that communicates who you are, what you stand for, and why you matter to your customers. This narrative forms the foundation of your brand’s messaging and communication strategy.

2. Creating Visual Assets

Visual elements are crucial in the branding process. They assist in crafting logos, color schemes, and typography that not only reflect your brand’s personality but also resonate with your target audience. These visual assets effectively serve as the face of your brand, making a lasting impression on your customers. Importantly, through careful design and consistent use, these elements can enhance recognition and foster a strong brand identity.

2.1 Designing Brand Collateral

From business cards and letterheads to packaging and digital assets, a Branding Agency ensures consistency in design across all brand collateral. This cohesive visual identity not only reinforces brand recognition but also creates a memorable brand experience. By maintaining a uniform appearance in all forms of communication, a Branding Agency helps build trust and credibility with customers. This consistency extends to everything from the color palette and font choices to the style of imagery used, ensuring that every touchpoint with customers reflects the brand’s core values and message. Therefore this comprehensive approach to branding enables businesses to present a unified and professional image in every interaction, enhancing customer loyalty and engagement.

3. Developing Brand Messaging

Consistent and compelling messaging is critical to effective branding. A Branding Agency specializes in developing brand messaging that not only communicates your value proposition clearly but also resonates deeply with your audience’s emotions. Moreover, they ensure that this messaging reinforces your brand’s identity across all communication channels. By doing so, they help create a unified and memorable brand experience that effectively engages your target market.

3.1 Crafting Persuasive Copy

Whether it’s website content, ad campaigns, or social media posts, a Branding Agency crafts persuasive copy that engages your audience, drives conversions, and strengthens your brand identity.

4. Building Brand Awareness with a Branding Agency

A Branding Agency uses a variety of strategies to enhance brand awareness and increase visibility in the market. Additionally, they ensure that your brand’s message reaches the right audience. This is achieved through effective digital marketing, active social media engagement, and targeted PR efforts. Consequently, these methods help in improving brand recognition and recall, making your brand more memorable to consumers.

4.1 Leveraging Digital Channels

A Branding Agency effectively leverages digital channels to significantly amplify your brand’s reach and engage more deeply with your target audience. Importantly, this includes implementing robust SEO strategies, creating compelling content marketing, orchestrating targeted email campaigns, and managing dynamic social media presence. These efforts are seamlessly integrated to ensure that every aspect of your digital marketing works together to build a strong, cohesive brand identity.

5. Enhancing Customer Experience

Branding goes beyond external perception; it also shapes the customer experience. A Branding Agency helps align your brand identity with the customer journey, ensuring every interaction—from website navigation to product packaging—reflects your brand’s values and creates positive customer experiences.

5.1 Designing User-Centric Experiences

A branding agency prioritizes creating seamless and user-centric experiences across all touchpoints, including websites, apps, and physical spaces. By focusing on this integrated approach, they ensure that every interaction is smooth and intuitive. Consequently, this customer-centric strategy significantly enhances satisfaction, loyalty, and advocacy. Moreover, by maintaining consistency in brand messaging and visual identity, the agency helps businesses establish a strong, memorable presence in their respective markets. This holistic approach not only meets but often exceeds customer expectations, fostering a strong connection between the brand and its audience.

6. Differentiating Your Brand

In a crowded marketplace, differentiation is crucial. Firstly, a Branding Agency helps identify your unique selling points and strategically positions your brand to stand out from competitors. Additionally, they craft compelling brand stories and narratives that resonate deeply with customers, which not only attracts attention but also builds lasting brand loyalty. Furthermore, these agencies ensure that every aspect of your branding—from logo design to marketing materials—communicates your core values and appeals to your target audience, making your brand memorable and distinct.

6.1 Conducting Competitive Analysis

Understanding your competitors’ branding strategies and market positioning is essential. Additionally, a Branding Agency conducts competitive analysis to identify gaps, opportunities, and areas for differentiation, ensuring your brand stands out in the market.

7. Monitoring and Adaptation

Branding is an ongoing process that indeed requires consistent monitoring, evaluation, and adaptation. To effectively manage this, a branding agency diligently tracks brand performance, systematically gathers feedback, and thoughtfully makes necessary adjustments. This careful oversight ensures that your brand remains relevant, competitive, and perfectly aligned with evolving market trends. By doing so, they help maintain the vitality and effectiveness of your brand strategy over time.

7.1 Analyzing Data and Insights

A Branding Agency continuously refines and optimises your brand strategy using data analytics and insights. Hence, this data-driven approach enables informed decision-making and strategic adjustments to maximise brand impact.

Let’s Wrap it Up!

Branding is the essence of your company’s identity, values, and promise to customers. Consequently, partnering with a reputable Branding Agency can transform your brand from good to great by defining your identity, creating compelling visuals and messaging, building brand awareness, enhancing customer experience, and differentiating your brand.

So, if you want to elevate your company’s brand presence, consider collaborating with a Branding Agency. Their expertise, creativity, and strategic approach can unlock new opportunities, drive growth, and position your brand for long-term success in today’s dynamic business landscape.

Check out some of our branding projects:

Sensing: Branding A Fashion Label That Takes Care Of You Skin And It’s Sensitivities

Defy: Branding A New Age Cryptocurrency Exchange And Club

Homemade Love: Co-Founding And Branding An E-Commerce Brand Selling Ancestral Recipes And Memories

Game Theory: Our Branding Agency reimagines sports for Bangalore’s Coolest Sports Centres

25 Under 25: Branding a Youth-Centric Event for Creatives

Believers Eastern Church: How We Starndardised The Face Of A World Wide Organisation

Common FAQ’s about Branding with a Branding Agency:

What’s the difference between branding and marketing?

Branding and marketing, while interconnected, serve different purposes. Branding is the process of establishing your brand’s identity, values, and how you want to be perceived. Marketing, on the other hand, focuses on promoting and selling your products or services. Branding sets the stage for marketing efforts by defining what stands behind the brand.

What are the benefits of local vs. global branding a company?

Local branding hones in on cultural nuances, enhancing community connection. Meanwhile, global branding aims for broad recognition, unifying diverse audiences. Both strategies require nuanced balance, ensuring brand integrity across markets. Thus, adapting messages for local tastes can boost global brand loyalty.

What is the impact of packaging on branding?

Packaging is often customers’ first physical interaction with a product, making it a critical component of the brand experience. Therefore, well-designed packaging can enhance product appeal and reinforce brand values.

How do you develop a branding strategy for a startup?

Start with clear, strategic goals based on thorough market research and an understanding of the target audience’s needs and preferences. Thus, a well-defined strategy helps startups establish a solid market presence from the outset.

What are brand guidelines, and why are they important?

Brand guidelines ensure consistency in how your brand is presented and perceived across various media and platforms. Consequently, they help maintain a unified image and voice, which are critical for building a strong, recognizable brand.

How do Branding Agencies handle branding across different cultures?

They conduct cultural research to adapt branding strategies that resonate well across different demographic and cultural segments; thus, this approach ensures that the brand is appropriately positioned and received in diverse markets.

How does a Branding Agency measure brand success?

Success metrics might include brand recognition, customer loyalty rates, and overall sales increases linked to new branding efforts; consequently, agencies use both qualitative and quantitative data to assess the impact of branding strategies on business outcomes.

How does rebranding differ from refreshing a brand?

Significantly, rebranding involves a fundamental overhaul of brand elements, while refreshing might only update certain aspects to modernize the brand. Rebranding is typically undertaken to significantly shift brand perception following major changes.

What is the role of SEO in branding?

SEO helps ensure your brand is visible in search engine results, increasing online presence and attracting more traffic to your brand’s digital assets. Additionally, It is a crucial tool for building brand awareness in the digital age.

How can a Branding Agency help with market expansion?

Significantly, they provide market analysis, cultural adaptation strategies, and branding adjustments to facilitate successful market entry. This support is essential for navigating new markets and achieving successful expansion.

What are common branding mistakes?

Some mistakes include inconsistent messaging, neglecting customer feedback, and failing to adapt to market changes. Therefore, these errors can dilute a brand’s impact and alienate potential customers.

February 13, 2024March 25, 2024

Rebranding A Company: What Does a Branding Agency Do?

Estimated reading time: 7 minutes

In today’s rapidly evolving business landscape, it’s essential to keep your brand fresh and current to stay competitive. Initially, this involves updating your brand identity, encompassing both visual elements and core messaging, to reflect contemporary values and market positioning. Then, recognizing the opportune moment for rebranding and executing it effectively requires careful planning and expertise, attributes often possessed by experienced branding agencies.

Let’s explore more in more detail:

Signs to Rebrand a company

Picture credits to : The Bold Creative

Your Brand Feels Outdated

When your brand’s visual and conceptual aspects seem stuck in the past, it indicates that rebranding is needed. An outdated brand can disconnect you from your target audience. Partnering with a branding agency for a fresh, contemporary rebrand can rejuvenate your market presence.

Your Company Has Undergone Significant Changes

Changes such as acquisitions or strategic pivots often necessitate rebranding. A branding agency can help ensure your updated brand reflects your evolved business model, mission, and values, connecting you more effectively with your target audience.

You’re Blending in With Competitors

To make an impact, you need to stand out! If your brand blends in with competitors, initiating a rebranding effort becomes essential. First, strategize with a knowledgeable branding agency to differentiate your brand. This approach helps highlight your unique offerings and, as a result, attracts more customers.

Targeting New Markets

Rebranding may be required when entering new markets. You need to tailor your brand to resonate with these new audiences, considering cultural nuances and preferences to make your brand more appealing and relevant.

Planning Your Rebrand

Picture credits to : Colorwhistle

Define Clear Objectives for your rebranding strategy

Defining what you aim to achieve with your rebranding is crucial. Clear objectives will guide you, whether refreshing your image or signaling a strategic shift. It will help you articulate these goals and devise a plan.

Involving the Founders in the rebranding process

Involving your founders in the rebranding process is crucial because they possess deep insights into the company’s history, vision, and values. Their involvement ensures that the new brand direction aligns with the company’s ethos and goals.

Choose the Right Branding Agency

Selecting the right branding agency is pivotal. Initially, the ideal agency brings creativity, industry insight, and a strategic approach to your rebranding project. Next, look for an agency with a track record of successful rebranding initiatives. Furthermore, prioritize a process that emphasizes collaboration and understanding your unique business needs.

Rebranding a company – how to execute?

Picture Credit to : The Bold Creative

Develop a Comprehensive New Brand Identity

It involves more than just updating logos or colour schemes; it’s about reflecting your company’s evolution. The right branding agency can help create a new brand identity that resonates with the target audience and is consistent across all communication channels.

Implement Strategic Brand Communication

Communicating your changes effectively is crucial; therefore, a branding agency can assist in planning a strategic rollout. This involves explaining the reasons behind the change and ensuring a consistent and clear message across all channels.

Let’s wrap up!

Staying competitive and relevant is key. Initially, it involves a comprehensive plan that includes setting goals and fostering teamwork. Subsequently, choosing the right branding agency is crucial. Ultimately, a successful rebrand refreshes your brand’s identity to align with current trends and unlock new opportunities.

Effective rebranding requires thorough market research, competitive analysis, and active customer engagement to ensure the new brand resonates with potential and existing customers. It’s also crucial to align your team around the new direction, turning them into authentic ambassadors of your refreshed identity.

Monitoring the impact through key performance indicators is essential for assessing success and making necessary adjustments. This holistic approach elevates your brand’s market position and strengthens its connection with audiences.

Check out some of our rebranding projects:

The Breasties: Re-branding a Diverse Community of Those Affected by Breast and GYN Cancers

Rewynd Snacks: Re-Branding A Desi, Healthy Snacking Company

Hoovu: Re-branding a Startup with a Fresh Idea Rooted in Tradition

MyGate: Re-branding a Smart Solution for Apartment Complexes

Commtel Networks: Re-branding a Technology Company into a Global Powerhouse

Common FAQ’s on rebranding a company:

How do I choose the right branding agency in India for my rebrand?

Choosing the right branding agency is crucial. Firstly, seek agencies with solid track records in your industry. Secondly, ensure they understand your vision and articulate their strategy clearly. Additionally, review client testimonials for reliability. Ultimately, the ideal agency feels like a partner.

What are the risks of rebranding a company?

The rebranding comes with a few risks, like the chance that your current customers might not recognize or like the new brand. There’s also a risk that the rebrand might not hit the mark you were aiming for, or in some cases, people might react negatively to the changes. That’s why it’s really important to plan carefully and maybe work with a branding agency in India. They can help understand what your customers want and make sure your rebrand tells your story in the best way possible.

Can we rebrand without changing our name?

Yes, you can rebrand without changing your company’s name. Rebranding isn’t just about changing your name; it’s also about updating your brand’s look, feel, and message to better connect with today’s customers. The key is to make your brand more relevant and appealing to your target audience while keeping the name that your customers already know and trust.

What does creating a new brand identity involve?

Creating a new brand identity extends beyond mere updates to logos or colors; importantly, it involves redefining your company’s essence and market position. Furthermore, a branding agency ensures this identity resonates across all platforms, offering a cohesive and impactful brand experience.

How do I ensure my rebrand is successful?

Firstly, establish clear rebranding goals. Then, develop a strong identity and ensure effective communication. Importantly, monitor feedback and metrics for adjustments. Ultimately, success hinges on strategic creativity and continuous engagement.

How much does rebranding a company cost in India?

Many small businesses typically allocate between INR 10 lakhs and INR 20 lakhs for their branding initiatives. Research indicates that the average B2B company dedicates about 5 percent of its revenue to marketing activities. Consequently, an average rebranding effort could represent 10 to 20 percent of your overall marketing budget.

Why is it important to communicate your rebrand effectively?

Effectively communicating your rebrand is essential, as it ensures that everyone grasps your brand’s evolution and its underlying reasons. Moreover, this approach helps customers view your brand’s new direction positively. A concise, engaging message about your rebrand fosters excitement and secures loyalty.

What does a branding agency do in rebranding a company?

A branding agency plays a crucial role in transforming your brand’s identity. They work closely with you to understand your company’s values, goals, and the message you want to convey. From there, they develop a new brand strategy that includes visual elements like logos and colour schemes, as well as messaging that reflects your brand’s updated image. They ensure everything is cohesive and resonates with your target audience.

Why is involving founders in the rebranding process important?

Involving founders in the rebranding process is crucial because they hold the original vision and values of the company. They bring invaluable insights into what the company stands for and its journey, ensuring the rebranding aligns with the company’s core identity. This helps in maintaining authenticity and continuity in the company’s narrative, making the rebranding more meaningful and resonant with both existing and new audiences.

What happens after rebranding a company?

After you’ve completed your rebranding, there’s still work to be done. Firstly, update all marketing materials, including your website, business cards, and social media, to reflect your new brand. Then, inform customers about the rebrand, emphasizing its reasons and benefits to them for clarity. Lastly, monitor the rebrand’s impact on customer reach and sales.

August 13, 2019February 12, 2024

The definitive guide to building a brand

By tbc

“A brand is a name, term, design, symbol or any other feature that identifies one seller’s good or service as distinct from those of other sellers.”

– ancient human wisdom as found on wikipedia.com

There are a lot of fancy ways to define branding, but we’re here to make it easy to understand. As branding consultants in Bangalore and Singapore, trust us when we tell you that putting your mark on something is known as branding. It’s as simple as that.

What started, 4000 years ago, as an a simple exercise of farmers branding their cows, is now grown to a large industry that has the ability to change perceptions of companies.

Today, brands are built on it’s values, personality, and visual design elements like typography, logo design, colour theory, etc. These tools are used to help the brand build positive associations.

Let's look at some brands we LOOVE.

Apple : 'think different'

For Apple, that association is an assurance of premium quality, innovation and ease of use. But from an emotional side, when you see an Apple logo on a product, you think of innovators, creatives and people that are unapologetic about their goals and ambition.

That’s what Apple really sells. It’s an attitude, not just a computer or a phone.

Coca-cola : 'open happiness'

For Coke, that “thought” is friendship. Since the iconic 1971 “I want to buy the world a Coke” campaign, Coke’s brand has been associated with the feelings of happiness and warmth.

Now that you see the thought, you gain an understanding of why they use such an iconic shade of Red. That colour is the colour of warmth, friendship, happiness and, in Chinese culture, good luck. It’s a colour that, on a very primal level, enhances human metabolism, making you hungrier and thirstier. Arguably a great thing for a company that sells soda.

"So what sets my Brand apart?"

These are questions we solve for in brand discovery meetings.

A branding discovery or strategy session is a brainstorming session, where everyone the stakeholders of the brand, gather to focus and consolidate the brand’s values, business aspirations and vision for the future.

We need to understand who our target customers are, what are their worries and inconveniences, and how our brand can associate to them.

This is how we start building a brand strategy. The strategy stage sets the tone of your communication, and provides a rallying point for the team in terms of brand values and business direction.

How is your Brand placed in the market?

Apple positioned themselves as thought leaders in technology that also happened to be easy to use. They knew their market. Their market wasn’t limited to just people who know about technology, like IBM and Microsoft who positioned themselves for business-oriented use, but focused on people who didn’t really waste much time thinking about technology.

This allowed them to capture the public’s imagination in a way that no technology company was doing at the time. Apple became “hip” all of a sudden because they made people feel like they didn’t need engineering degrees to buy their products. So Apple Stores started popping up in retail spaces that were traditionally dedicated to, for a lack of a better term, “geeks”. And this positioning carried on into the world of smartphones.

As a counterpoint to Apple, OnePlus and Xiaomi have absolutely dominated the tech enthusiast market by positioning themselves as the “best-bang-for-your-buck” phones.

The idea here is to figure out what positioning is right for your brand. If strategy is about what cannons to buy for your warship, positioning is literally about where you want those cannons to point.

Building your Brand Personality

Great brands come with great personalities. That’s because brand personalities are what makes them more relatable to their audience and help build brand affinity.

In this stage we identify key characteristics and insights from our discovery session and define the way the brand should speak, it’s beliefs and characteristics.

Once you have your strategy and positioning figured out, it’s time to think about how your brand communicates. You’ve solved the “What am I saying?” “When am I saying it” and “Who am I saying it to?” questions. Your brand’s voice is “How am I saying it?”

How does your Brand represent itself?

If logos are the face of your brand, the visual language is like your clothes, and we always make sure our brands are well dressed. In this stage we finalise the typography, colour, logo design and other branding elements.

Your logo, colour palette and font choices are the gateway for someone to get to know you better. Think of it in terms of how you dress yourself for a social gathering. For an interview at a corporate, you groom yourself and make sure your hair looks perfect. You choose a blazer from your closet and a tie that matches it. On the flip-side, if you’re getting ready for a date, you might choose a more casual look that brings out a side of your personality that you would like your potential partners to see.

You are changing your visual identity depending on your audience. We already figured out who our audience is above, and we’ve figured what we’re trying to communicate and how. Take those answers and try to interpret them visually.

For your font, a sans serif might be an equivalent to building a more casual relationship with your audience. If your brand is built on a rich legacy, look at slab serifs. Just do a little exercise on your computer. Write your brand’s name and switch between fonts. See how each one makes you feel. That’s how your audiences might feel when they encounter your brand for the first time.

Similar process with logo design and colour theory. It’s all about building relationships. Your colour palette establishes a mood. Visit the websites of your favourite brands or your competitors and notice what colours they’re using and where. This’ll help you establish at least a baseline understanding of these concepts that you and your creative agency can further build upon.

Building a brand is a long term process that starts with Brand Strategy. If you want to learn more about Branding or looking to understand how it’s perceived, reach out and let’s talk brand!