Personality goes a long way...

In this week's Journal post Adam Wyatt, Director of Flipside Studio, discusses branding.

There are no exact rules to branding. Guidelines shouldn’t be seen as a straight jacket, they should act  as a general overview to managing those larger branding projects.

This branding overview will also offer a guide, and a few pointers when working with a designer.

Idea, research and preparation is key
Once you have your product and service, you need to choose a desgner or agency to brand and promote it. We believe idea preparation and research are key to any project. We can also help you when it comes to the design process and development.

Quality counts
We believe that the raw materials of any project – the components that make up the brand – have to be consistent in their quality and aesthetic importance. We’ll ensure the whole experience of the brand – the clarity and the continuity – has the same look and feel.

Create, position, promote
Once you’ve established your company, you need to give it a name and visual personality that embraces the essence of the product or service. It’s the core of the brand that creates its emotional energy. Maybe it needs to be masculine or feminine, or perhaps it’s a lifestyle brand?

In a competitive marketplace you need to stand out from the crowd. Your personality and character should be simple and easily recognisable, whether it’s the design of the product or the audience that you will appeal to.

Good design is a very powerful tool used to differentiate you product or service, upholding values and creating style. Creating and sustaining a trust, along with delivering promises and creating the all important desire is what branding is all about. It isn’t just a set of graphics – the whole organisation has to believe in what the brand stands for.

The key is to remember that the customer comes first – understand your customer. How your company and employees understand your brand is equally important, especially in service industries. This is also essential when it comes to promotion and, of course, the whole reason for creating your service or product: the selling.

Factors that make up the brand structure/personality

Every brand is made up of this structure in varying amounts:

Product -  what you are selling

Environment - where do you sell it

Communication - how does it tell people

Behaviour - how it behaves, how every single person operates in the company

You may already be using one or all of these elements. They should all be considered when creating, promoting and sustaining a brand.

Comments

[Dick Harris]

Terrific and really valuable info, Alex, and so great to hear that things are going great for you!

[Alex Astell]

Thanks Dick I appreciate that you've had a look at our website and like it!