How to make your brand stand out from your competition

We were all born to be different, so why fit in?

A company, business, product, or service needs to be unique and offer something that no one else in their niche does.

Standing out is the new blending in. In fact – standing out has always been important.

When you look back at some of the most important things to have been created and brought to the world in just our lifetime, you’ll find at the centre someone, or some company that refused to follow the status quo.

Standing out is one of the most important parts of your business or organisation and your brand is at the centre of it all, wrapped around you, your values, and what you stand for.

Standing out is more than just a snazzy tagline though…

 

Your values

Being yourself is a rule for life. In fact, it’s one of Arnold Schwarzenegger’s tips for success – “Trust yourself”.

Being you and building a company or organisation around the values that you stand for are important. Actually, they’re damn sure the only thing you should do. If you don’t do that, then you become beige.

(No one likes beige!)

Your values can stem from what you think about your industry or niche or how you want to make changes in the way things are done.

There are so many examples of this being done well in our society from Virgin with their fun, party-like style which runs deep from the early days of Branson’s magazine publishing, to Ben & Jerry’s who care deeply about everyone in the supply chain from supplier to consumer.

 

Tone of voice

Once you’ve sorted yourself out and allowed the values to shine through, it’s time to set that all-important tone of voice.

How you say something is how you say anything. From answering the phone to the billboard ads and social media posts; your tone of voice matters.

This can be set by what you absolutely don’t say to the words and phrases that you align yourself to. Blogs, web pages, adverts, video text and interviews can then all be led by this.

Tone of voice goes deeper than copywriting, too. If you’re creating content for podcasts and YouTube (even if you’re appearing on channels) then the words you use, the opinions you have, the topics you discuss are all important to your brand.

You wouldn’t see Nike advertising at a wedding show.

 

Palette

Colours are a big part of your brand. You don’t need telling that, do you? Your brand should have a palette that you can use in content, marketing and more. Your colour palette will have been chosen as they complement each other. That way, when you create marketing material, slide decks, social media graphics or YouTube idents, it all looks purposeful. You will more than likely have a primary colour palette for your logo and a supporting colour secondary palette for the look and feel of wider marketing material. If you don’t already have this, it’s worth having a chat with your designer.

A good brand will have brand guidelines, and these will stipulate which colours are used and often where they’re used. You might have different colour logos, but they’re to be used in the right places. It’s done on purpose, not just because it looks good on the brand guidelines PDF! You’ll possibly have different colours depending on the format, so you’ll probably need a black and white version, a reversed-out version, and versions with different colour backgrounds, etc.

 

Typography

Just as your colour palette determines your colours, your brand guidelines will also guide you on the typography you use, too. And, as above, there will be type faces and fonts decided for use in certain places and situations.

Headings and paragraphs are often different but work hand-in-hand thanks to good branding.

 

Your images

This is often overlooked but it really shouldn’t be. Ask any photography fanatic and they’ll tell you about their style and their inspirations. Photographers take pictures in a certain way and therefore they have a brand within that. The way they shoot is the way you view them.

Your brand needs photography that reflects the brand and the values it stands for. Just look at any large brand online and their website photography is a core part of their brand and it’s consistent across the board.

Apple always display their products with a stark white, almost clinical style and EE are consistent in their pictures of middle class, trendy, forward-thinking and busy people with their iconic white bubble symbols laid over the images.

 

Your marketing and content

And then it all comes together. Your values, tone of voice, colour palette, typography, and images all come together, on-brand and on-message and help you create the message for your marketing, perfectly. Every time.

Marketing needs to be on point and your brand guidelines and brand values will drive this. No matter what you’re creating and what it’s for, your brand will then guide your message so (if you’ve done it well) your message will stand out.

Marketing needs to stand out. So much marketing doesn’t because it’s not following the brand ‘rules’, or they simply never had them in the first place. Either that or it’s inconsistent… or the message is just crap!

A modern business or organisation creates a lot of content. From simple email footers to full-blown campaigns, there are so many elements to consider. Your brand should guide each and every part of this if your message is to land.

It will not only help it stand out if you’ve really followed your beliefs, but it will become consistent and that helps the consumers of your content neatly (and unconsciously) knit all your messages together and recognise you instantly no matter where they see you.

 

Branding shouldn’t blend in and neither should you or your message…

Looking to get your message out there? Want to make a real impact? Let’s have a chat. Book a call now with our head honcho, Philippa Smart, and we’ll see what we can do about getting your brand noticed.

How do you know when you need a rebrand?

Branding is everything in business. Your brand is what people say when you’re not in the room and it’s also what your customers think and feel about you, your products, and your services.

Branding could quite possibly be the most important part of your business as the essential role it plays in your marketing, sales and communication could be the difference between clients saying “yes” or “I need to think about it”.

Branding done well makes a business successful. A strong brand shows customers they can trust you to be good at what you do. It encompasses your value, your personality, and your reputation.

But is your brand working for you? Do you need to re-brand?

Re-branding is exciting, but of course it comes at a cost.

It’s always worth looking at your current brand and asking yourself whether you’re saying the right things with your messaging and visuals.

These key questions will help you to answer questions about where you are currently and how your brand works with that.

What we’d like to do is give you a little questionnaire to ask yourself, your team, or your board to decide whether you need a re-brand or not.

Although if you’re thinking you do, that gut instinct is probably right.

So… here you go…

 

 

Firstly: Collate everything you currently use to promote your products and services

This is really simple and it’s purely so that we can review them all. You’ve probably never done this, but you must. It’s a really useful and a really interesting exercise, especially as you’ll have added content over time, building in new pieces of your marketing as you needed them.

Put all of your marketing material or promotional items out on the desk in front of you and also review your website alongside these items.

Then, ask yourself these questions…

 

 

1.   Is this material professionally representing my business?

Your branding and marketing is an extension of your business, and getting them right and making sure you’re sending out the right message is key. Look at all your marketing material and then think about your beliefs, visions, and goals. Also think about who you’re trying to attract and what you’re trying to say.

Does your marketing collateral do all this?

The chances are, over time you’ve lost your way a little. That’s normal. Think about which parts of your collateral need updating and why.

 

2.   Is this material clearly articulating what we do?

Have you added in new products? Have you dropped any? Are you now working with completely different clients from the ones you were when you started or when you created this material? Have you found yourself a niche?

Again, this is really normal and part of business growth. It’s really part of the process and your marketing and branding simply needs to be updated to stay with you on your journey.

  • Does your current brand represent what you’re trying to say?
  • Is it articulating your message and explaining what you do now?

If it doesn’t, it should.

 

3.   Is it representative of where you are now?

Your brand needs to represent you now, not you 5-10 years ago! It’s normal for a brand to fall behind as the business will naturally evolve and the systems, processes, people, and customers will too.

That’s why re-brands are needed. A brand can almost represent a moment in time and if you’ve ‘moved on’ since you created your brand then it’s probably time to move the brand with you.

 

4.   Is there a clear call to action?

Looking specifically at your marketing material and then your website, are you asking the reader for the next action? So much of marketing is wasted because the consumer of the marketing doesn’t have a clear next step.

Look at your marketing with a critical eye and ask yourself some very important questions:

  • What are you asking them to do next?
  • Can prospective customers easily make contact with me if they want to place an order?

Having a clear Call To Action will make a huge difference to your enquiries. Tell people what you want them to do!

What does your brand say, and is it obvious enough?

 

5.   Is the messaging clear, concise, and consistent?

Having all your messages on-brand is powerful. Ensuring that the content, theme, and tone of voice on your website relays perfectly on your leaflets, banners, business cars, proposals and more paints a really congruent picture and generates a powerful and memorable feeling for your prospects.

Keeping the message consistent on all platforms and all materials is what the big brands do really well and for a very big reason:

It forms one strong message rather than lots of conflicting ones.

  • What’s your message?
  • Who is it for?
  • Do all of your marketing touchpoints tell it well?

 

6.   Are all images, logos and graphics up-to-date and again, consistent?

The images, logos and graphics that form your visual brand have a powerful job to do and they need to be well positioned, in focus, vivid, and consistent no matter where you see them.

  • Is your logo always top left for example?
  • Are you using the right fonts on all materials?
  • Are all your graphics up-to-date?
  • Are any of your materials now looking out-of-place?

This is a really great audit of your brand and where it sits within your marketing, and chances are you’re spotting a few places with more than a little room for improvement already.

 

7.   Are you proud of this material?

Interesting question that, isn’t it?

You should be proud of everything you put out there, and if you’ve never done this audit before you might be shocked at some of the branding you have out there.

That’s OK, this is also normal and part of a growing brand, but let’s make sure you fix it!

If you’re not proud of something you’ve created, for whatever reason, then it might well be time for a re-brand or at least a re-think of what you have in front of you right now.

 

 

If you’ve answered no to any of the above, perhaps it’s time to invest in a refresh or update of your sales and marketing materials…

We highly recommend you go away now and gather all your marketing collateral and all the places your brand appears and look at them with fresh eyes and ask some awkward questions.

Brands need to move with the business and over time they get left behind. As normal as this is, it’s important to recognise you’ve let this happen and make the right moves towards a more up-to-date, consistent and modern version of your brand.

Need help?

Ask us for a chat.

We love taking an existing brand and giving it a fresh look and feel. We’ll work with your current ethos and work out where you’re going and who with, to create the right brand, the right message and the right call to action!

Why branding is important to your marketing and growth

Why branding is important to your marketing and growth

Branding is everything to your marketing. But branding plays a really important role in many other areas of a company or organisation and like many parts of marketing, they play right into the human psyche.

Much of what a good brand will do to your end user is unseen and almost subliminal and is more powerful than you might, at first, consider it to be.

A brand is far more than a logo, it’s more than some colours and typefaces thrown together, and it’s something that runs deeper than a JPEG. It just is.

There are some very important and key areas that a brand plays into that we wanted to highlight in this blog and those are:

  • Brands gain loyalty
  • Branding builds sales
  • A brand can build a team
  • Marketing is easier with a brand
  • Awareness is driven with your branding
  • You’ll gain more value from a good, well-known brand
  • And your brand and the guidelines that accompany it will keep you consistent.

Let’s take a look…

 

 

Branding builds loyalty

Brand loyalty is a huge area of discussion for branding. One bad headline can wipe £1,000,000s off the stock of a brand and therefore the protection of a brand and how it’s involved in the media, marketing, and advertising world is a big deal.

A brand needs to be the core of a business and the centre from which all is created, and it also needs to be protected. You don’t want your brand associated with the wrong topics, the wrong events, the wrong stories, and certainly not the wrong headlines. Carefully placed PR and social media stories are the lifeblood of some and the downfall of others.

Loyalty is powerful. Apple is surely one of the best examples here. They don’t even produce the best phones technically speaking, but their brand following and fanbase carry the products through to the till.

 

 

Branding is as much about them, as it is you

A brand can say as much about a person as the brand itself. Using the Apple example above, just think about the simple, “Are you an Android or Apple user?”, conversation you’ll often see online. There’s a ‘tribe’ element to this choice. You’re either/or. You’re supporting City or United.

A brand needs to align with the ideal end user’s beliefs and values. What does your brand stand for? Does it match your ideal customer? Think about the movement right now (Oct 2019) for the environment.

Imagine if your eco-friendly product was found to be aligned with the wrong co-sponsor or was associated with an influencer who didn’t match your ideal client’s views. It all needs considering in this fast-paced world.

 

 

It’s a strong team building block

If you’re building a company or organisation, then the brand will be something that your team will wear and become a part of. That’s when you create something very special. We suspect that being an ‘Apple Genius’ or a shareholder for Waitrose because you work there, will say something about that person, and it will be something they’ll be proud of.

The result (when you do it well) is an engaged and brand advocate-led workforce and team that become an extension of everything you believe in and want to change in the world.

That’s a mission. That’s so much more than a palette of colours and some thrown together assets.

 

 

Building assets and marketing is easier

One area that really benefits from a solid brand identity is your marketing. How often have you had a new marketing campaign and needed digital or printed content, webpages or emails, adverts or videos and had to start from scratch with the creative?

With a good brand that comes complete with guidelines and the important elements and details of the brand, you’ll find when you’re creating marketing material you’re already halfway there and then some.

A simple landing page builds itself as you’ll have:

  • The fonts to use
  • The colour palette
  • Design assets and icons
  • Tone of voice
  • Brand theme and style

With all this in place already, you’ll be able to create content from social media to large campaigns so much faster.

 

 

The awareness factor

Clearly, branding builds awareness. The continual and consistent theme, style, colours, message and all that is encompassed in a good brand builds that important “I’ve heard of them” thought and that’s when brand awareness starts to work really well.

Being aware of a brand and then engaging with it is the journey to sales, subscriptions, downloads, event sales or whatever your brand is aiming to do. Each time your message is seen and it’s on brand you’ll build on the awareness.

Given then most people now need to see a message from a brand anywhere from 5-25 times it’s important that the way a message looksis on point, on message, on brand, and consistent.

 

 

Added zeros to your business value

A good brand will add value in the bank to your business and not just in sales from awareness and marketing. A brand has a value and when a company floats and goes public, the brand is a big area taken into account.

One bad headline, a poorly launched product, or a bad PR or marketing campaign can affect the value of a brand and literally change its share price overnight.

A brand is the DNA and the lifeblood of a business and the confidence in a brand can make or break a company almost immediately. Although it’s unlikely to have harmed Nike for long, the recent #JustBurnIt social media trend certainly ‘caught fire’ online.

The sports brand used an NFL player who protested against a strong issue in the US by kneeling (not standing) during the national anthem. Nike support the underdog and the grassroots in many cases, but many Nike owners chose to burn their apparel in protest back to the brand.

 

 

Keeps your content consistent

We saved the best until last…

Consistency is everything in marketing and as your brand goes hand-in-hand with your marketing messages, this will drive that consistency when you use it everywhere.

No marketing from your corporation, company or organisation should go out ‘off-brand’ and every element you have for your brand from style, colour, setting, fonts and all should drive the creative for any visual marketing.

Just look at any Nike adverts and you’ll see the common theme of dark and dirty, grassroots, street sport, underdogs and that “Me v Me” attitude. Nike stands for something and all their ads aim to follow that.

Of course, they’ll use the same font, colours, direction and design creative, but it goes far deeper into what Nike stands for, this is what a true brand is all about.

 

 

Need help? Be Smart

We’d love to chat about creating a brand identity that does all of the above for you. There’s so much that goes into a brand, but you’ll gain so much from a well thought out and executed one.

Contact us now or get a quote here.

How to spot a weak brand (and how you can avoid being one!)

Branding is everything!

Without a brand, do you even have a business?

We might be biased in saying this, but we don’t think so. Branding is everything in business, in sales, in marketing and in building a memorable product or service that people know and love.

 

“Your brand is what other people say about you when you’re not in the room.”

Jeff Bezos, Amazon founder.

 

How true (and how powerful) is that? A brand is there for you when you’re not and you could argue it’s more powerful that way. A brand helps people to form an opinion of you, creates a feeling that people have about you, and goes a long way to cementing your business or organisation in their mind.

A brand puts your mission, your beliefs, your values, your culture, your people and your products and services into the mind of your customers. We think that’s a big deal!

So without one (or with a poor one) do you have a solid business? We’re not sure you do.

The power of brand is well documented and if you meet us out and about and ask us why it’s so powerful, you’ll never shut us up! It is an important part of any product or service and many companies have been quoted to have said that their brand is the most important part of their business.

It’s been said that if Coca Cola lost all of their products, factories, and infrastructure that they’d still have a viable business based on the power of their brand. Banks would invest, companies would give them credit, advertisers and marketers would work with them, people would buy their product even without advertising, and they’d soon rise up from the ground.

That’s all on the power of their brand and that’s why they spend so much each year on building brand awareness and linking their brand to the events and occasions that suit their company values.

But what happens if you have a bad brand?

Here are six areas of branding to think about to give you a better chance of being talked about positively when you’re not in the room.

 

1. What makes you different?

Do you remember the good old fashioned text messages? 160 character limits were a tough way to communicate but it kept us succinct, right?

Well if you can’t explain to us why and how your brand is different (and better) than your competition in a text, then you need to give it more thought.

Most brands have a solid tagline or mission statement that perfectly explains why their brand is the one to choose and why you should care. Can you do that? If you can’t, you might want to work on it.

 

2. Your business success isn’t your brand

Your tax return, number of customers or turnover is not what your customers care about. No, what your brand needs to talk about is why you’re here, what it is you help people with, and how that makes them feel.

You’re on the stock market? Bully for you. You have a 23% increase in turnover last quarter? Great! Your investors’ share price increased? Super! But that’s not your brand – that’s your numbers.

Your success can be better measured with your brand awareness and trust in that brand. It’s the collateral and bank balance that means more to your business than your tax return. Remember that Coke branding example?

 

3. What’s your mission?

“People don’t buy what you do; they buy why you do it.” Simon Sinek said it perfectly in his book ‘Start With Why’. A brand bolsters that WHY and helps people to forge allegiance with you… but you need to be quick!

Your mission statement needs to be short, sweet and memorable. A weak brand will have a huge supporting document to explain why they exist and why you should buy from them, Nike tell us to ‘Just Do It!’.

It doesn’t have to be paragraphs of text when you get it right.

“Have a Break, Have a Kit Kat”

“It Gives You Wiiiings!”

“Just Do It!”

“Every Little Helps”

“Because You’re Worth It”

“The World’s Local Bank”

“Vorsprung durch Technik”

… can you name them all? Even if you don’t know them all, we’d guess that you know most of them and that’s the power of a strong tagline or mission statement.

 

4. Your logo doesn’t say much…

A logo is the core part of your brand and the master storyteller in the mix. Your brand should tell the story and your logo has an important role in that. What does your logo say? Do you know? Does your logo have hidden meaning? Is there a story behind it?

… or was it knocked up in 30 minutes on People Per Hour by someone you never heard from again? (urgh!)

Your logo should hold the key to your story so that when someone asks you about it you instantly tell the story of your brand (quickly) and they then have a vision, a feeling, and an emotional attachment to you and your brand.

Take Amazon for example:

The ‘A’ in the logo is joined to the ‘Z’ with a yellow arrow to show that they sell everything from A-Z! Clever!

Or look at FedEx:

There’s a hidden arrow that forms a subliminal symbol for speed and precision in between the ‘E’ and the ‘X’.

Simple, effective and full of story and meaning!

 

5. You’re you; not the brand

Then there’s the ‘I’ versus ‘Us’ or ‘We’ situation. It can be very difficult to get a brand recognised when all you talk about is the founder of the business. If all you’re about is the person who set up the business then you’re not a brand. Sorry.

A true brand, a well-known brand, is a brand in its own right and even if you know the founder, you’ll mostly know or feel for the brand in a different way.

Take Virgin as an example. We know of the founder, Richard Branson, but Virgin Media, Airlines, Records, and more is a strong brand on its own. It doesn’t need Branson to survive now; it’s a brand with a very vivid feeling and recognition in your mind.

To build a true brand, the founders need to get out of the way and let the brand do the talking, the advertising, and tell the story.

Virgin’s “Changing business for good” mission runs through the brand and leaves Branson free to write, live on an island, and share inspirational quotes… although he very much put his ethos and values in to the brand from the beginning.

Your products, organisation, or service needs to be more than the people at the top.

 

6. Design beyond expectations…

That’s what we do and we suggest you have the same for your brand and everything that goes out on all your channels.

Brand is powerful and it’s more than the services and products. Invest in brand, build on brand, and make sure that every stage is ‘on brand’.

It’s what people say about you when you’re not in the room, it’s why people buy from you, and it’s often the defining factor in your being remembered over your competition.

Need help? We’d love to chat…

What are the key elements of good brand identity?

“Determine who you are and what your brand is, and what you’re not. The rest of it is just a lot of noise.”

– Geoffrey Zakarian.

 

Branding is powerful. A good brand can evoke feelings, emotions, movement, and action. When you think about the great brands of the world, they do most if not all of those things.

What they also do is stay true to not only their values, but their brand elements. How their brand is displayed and used and how the various elements are placed and set is vitally important for the power of the brand.

Much of this power is subliminal and you probably don’t even realise the effect it’s having on you. Consistently telling your brand story whilst also setting your brand out in the way it was intended is important, and the lifeblood of a valuable brand.

But what are the elements that make up a good brand? Well… read on and find out…

 

The logo or wordmark

A logo or wordmark is often considered to be the brand on its own. This is incorrect (as brand identity is far more than a logo) but a logo does form a core part of a brand identity.

What’s the difference?

A logo is usually a symbol or icon that represents the brand, sometimes with a subliminal key message or value embedded into the design. The Nike ‘swoosh’ is a good example of this.

A wordmark will be the brand or company name set in a typeface that should be used on all the collateral and marketing that company uses. Think DHL, Coca-Cola, or John Lewis.

The logo or wordmark are then used in almost everything that’s created by that company. The logo is used as a metaphorical stamp to show, without any confusion, that this content, marketing, or message is from that company.

A logo will appear in anything from an email signature to the bottom right hand side of a billboard.

 

Logo size

The size of the logo might not have seemed important before, but the size of the logo in comparison to its setting is important. Will the logo act like a watermark and be fairly small compared to the marketing or advertising?

Or will the logo be big and proud on other areas like exhibition stands and social media banners?

This really matters. Just whacking your logo in whatever size on whatever you feel like will make your brand look less thought-out and more accidental. It’s the difference between a professional company and someone who’s clearly making it up as they go along!

In guidelines we often stipulate the logo size relating to the formats our clients use.

 

Logo position

The position of your logo is important too. Where your logo appears and where you place it will need to be set out in your brand guidelines and this becomes an important part of your brand and is a core element. It’s important to set out in your guidelines where it appears for on the format it’s intended for and then use it consistently in that position. Large companies and organisations will not allow their logo to be tarnished by placing words or images too close to it or putting it in inappropriate positions.

 

Colour and style variations

It’s also a very good idea to have a PNG version, a white logo, a clear background version, or even a black logo for certain messages, situations, materials, and so on.

Most logo designs will come with the different styles, but what they don’t necessarily come with is guidance or rules on where and when to use them. This in itself is a very easily fixed and important element to your brand message.

 

 

Brand colours

Your brand colours will certainly feature in your logo or wordmark but will then direct the design of any marketing, clothing, leaflets and similar.

Depending on the organisation your brand colours will often be two-tiered:

Primary colour palette – these colours will appear in your logo and in all marketing material that you do.

Secondary colour palette – these colours will allow you to be more flexible in some instances on marketing materials, adverts, or packaging. These colours will always complement the primary colours and should not be used over and above or instead of the primary colour palette.

Using accurate brand colours is vitally important for any printed materials and items like PDFs, business cards, social media banners, adverts, and so on. Don’t guess!

 

 

Typefaces

Good brand identity includes the typefaces and fonts that you use alongside your brand. (Watch this space as we’ll be writing a blog about that soon too.) Even with the simplest of brand guidelines these are included and are there to help you stay consistent across your marketing and company messages.

Usually you’ll have around two typefaces for your brand identity. This will help you stay consistent at all times. A designer will appreciate having more than one typeface for different marketing and design work depending on its objective.

Your guidelines should also cover an alternative system typeface to use which is globally available on the most common computers and websites. That way, when you’re creating email marketing, Word documents, PDFs, PowerPoint or anything digital, it will translate well and look the same at the other end.

One key thing to remember here, in this ever digital-led world, is to choose a typeface that is available to most designers. That way, when you’re creating email marketing, Word documents, PDFs, PowerPoint or anything digital, it will translate well and look the same at the other end.

There’s nothing worse than a typeface being poorly translated on the other side of ‘the cloud’ and making your life complicated and your document a disaster.

 

 

Tone of voice

Just briefly, as this is a large subject that we’ll discuss another time, your tone of voice then follows on from your mission, vision and values.

How do you introduce yourself? How do you email? Which words do you need to use regularly – and which ones should you always avoid?

Tone of voice is important because words have such a deep meaning. Politicians can lose jobs in one sentence from bad PR after they use the wrong word and brands are also under close scrutiny. What does your brand stand for? Which words do you feel match that?

A tone of voice document should be used for all copy and content created for and shared by your brand.

 

 

Image style

There’s no doubt that you’ll be creating images for your company and brand. How do you keep them consistent? Most companies don’t add their logo and typeface to their images. The image should speak for itself in both the style it’s been shot and the content. An image taken in a certain way is a way of showing your brand personality and should be shot professionally with a clear brief and within your brand guidelines. Things including the way the photos are lit as well as the filter, story, perspective, and rules of photography can define precisely how your images are created and used.

The images you use, the style of those images, and the way you set them and apply your wording, logos, and other elements is a core part of your brand.

We create photography for brands because of this. If words are important and a picture paints a thousand of them, then on-brand images are important!

This might seem a little draconian, but it’s important. Just like any self-conscious person lets only the best photos of themselves be tagged on their Facebook, you should be just as protective about the images your company is aligned with.

 

Graphical elements

Ah… the hidden, silent icing on your delicious branding cake. Small graphical elements will be carefully placed and set within your brand identity, website, and marketing. Icons or symbols, often used to separate pages or as bullet points, are a key element but are often forgotten or not even created for a brand.

Certain shapes, spacing, your approach to whitespace in copy and content, and even colour blocks will be part of your graphical elements. The branding rules will ensure that all of your content from digital to print is set out correctly and as intended for your brand.

This simple area can have a huge impact and is where a cheaper ‘DIY’ brand will fail. Using stock elements may have copyright issues, not having spacing and colour block rules will mean anything is possible and your brand is open to a redesign every time it’s used! Consistency is important when building trust with your potential buyers. Imagine if you went to buy a coffee from Caffe Nero and their branding had suddenly turned yellow. You’d be a bit confused.

 

 

Make sure you get a “Wow!” instead of an “Oh dear!”

Make sure the space around your logo is protected, your bullet points on leaflets are pre-determined, and that you have a clear set of guidelines for designers and marketers that you work with, on where you put what.

It’s important.

The way your brand was created and the messages that you intend to send out will need working on and developing long after a branding agency like us hands it over to you.

Pay attention to the little things. A brand’s success relies on far more than just popping your logo in the corner.

Do you need to work on your brand identity? This is what we do exceptionally well at Be Smart.

Call us today to talk through how we can help you make your brand stand out.

What does the branding design process look like?

Branding is everything. The right brand can make a huge impact on your bottom line. Successful companies the world over know this. Get the brand right, the message right, and your advertising and marketing will land and the sales will follow.

Get it wrong and… well expect very little.

It’s a science, it’s a mix of science and creativity, this branding thing. A science that has a process that works. We didn’t build this science, but we abide by its rules!

We’re often asked: “What does the brand design process look like?” so it felt like a good time to share what’s involved with creating a new visual brand.

Grab a cuppa (or G&T depending on the time of day) and sit back and relax. Here’s what the design process looks like and why it’s important to follow it.

Firstly, there are some key stages to any branding work.

These are:

  • Initial scoping meeting
  • Full brand proposal
  • Strategic work
  • Research
  • Branding report
  • Brand proposition
  • Design research
  • Creative
  • Presentation to the senior team
  • Development of ideas
  • Sign-off

These are the key areas we follow when undertaking any work with a client (new or current) and they’re like our commandments; our framework to any branding work. Sometimes but not always, they may appear in a different order!

Let’s take a look at each stage and then explain their importance so you get to understand what the branding process is all about….

 

What does each stage look like?

Initial scoping meeting

It all starts here. We sit down, chat about the weather and the journey to the meeting (how very British!) and then we get down to the crux of it.

The initial scoping meeting is where we’ll talk about your business, your vision, your aims and the purpose of the business, and the brand you’re looking to create.

Most importantly we’ll try to nail down why you’re different from others in your field so we can price the branding work and determine what ‘dig deep’ work we’ll need to do to get a success for you as a client.

 

Full brand proposal

After we’ve digested all the notes from the initial meeting we’ll send over our thoughts and visions for the work and give you a full brand proposal which outlines exactly what, why, where, and when – with an outline of the investment.

 

Strategic work

More often than not we then need to build in some time to work with the senior team in your business to work out exactly what you’re trying to achieve with the brand. This isn’t your thing, it’s ours – and we’re very conscious that we need to get this right from the off. Why are you different? Why do people choose you? Who are you? What do you stand for and what’s the intended brand message?

This stage is sooo important to really draw out the essence of the company and create something that makes you stand out. This strategic work can be short or long depending on each client’s needs.

 

Research

Never drive blind. You shouldn’t consider creating a brand without looking at the market and finding out what’s already out there, who the audience is, what drives them, and what messages are likely to grab their interest.

Depending on what you know already it’s sometimes necessary to conduct some research (quantitative and qualitative) to find out where you are now and where you want to be.

 

Branding report

And then we wrap it all up in a report to show the findings from all the essential work carried out so far. It might sound like a lot of faffing but it’s essential to a good brand and when you skip the steps it rarely works.

The conclusions of all the strategic work and what needs to be done will be included in the report so everyone knows what we’ve got and where we’re going. This is also hugely helpful later down the line when you’re planning your marketing.

 

Brand proposition

And then we get to it. The brand proposition will show and state who you are, why you’re different and what the brand will need to convey. This is just as important as the colours and images. Honestly!

 

Design research

Then we’ll move onto researching the competition in greater detail than previously (this would have come up in the strategic stage) to make sure we’re not about to blend in with someone or look similar to them. With all the inspiration out there online, the TV, on the road, on your phone, it’s easy to be planted with an idea that’s not come from your deep dive, but actually from something that already exists.

This research ensures you don’t accidentally blend in with what’s already out there… what a waste of time that would be!

 

Creative

Then we’ll have a full briefing session with the design team, based on what’s been uncovered in the strategic work. This can be a short process or a longer process, depending on the size of your business and there’s no real rule here. This can’t happen without the above. The creative just doesn’t work effectively without all the work that precedes it.

 

Presentation to the senior team

And then it’s crunch time! We take our concept and present it to the senior team with full rationalised explanations as to why we have created what we’ve created. This will involve a recap on the findings so far, what we found in the market place, and what we feel is the brand and message that will deliver the visions and goals for the project.

 

Development of ideas

We’ll take any feedback from the presentation meeting and then move onto the development of ideas with the feedback from you, the client. You’ll note that the work takes a while to get to and we’re still re-working even after all that research and deep dive work.

This is normal as it’s often tough for you as the senior team to ‘visualise’ the brand concept without seeing it and then you have some more input to give us. Don’t forget you need to look at the concepts from the shoes of your ideal client.

 

Sign-off

Hooray! You love it, of course. Sign off happens, and then we move onto brand guidelines and handover. Then it’s over to you to implement your stunning new visuals. Or us if you want it done well! Hohoho

 

 

The common issues and how to avoid them…

The branding process might look like a long, drawn out affair but our results speak for themselves. Without all this work, the final brand lacks substance and clarity and the messages doesn’t land. Yes, you can get a logo on Fiver but that’s not going to work for your business if you have standards, I’m afraid!

It’s essentially a waste of time doing it if you skip the steps.

We see some common issues that cause the branding process to go off piste and here are the most common:

 

We don’t want the strategic work – just get on with the visuals…

Some companies don’t want to do the strategic work. They see this as pointless, time-consuming, and some think we’re only doing it to charge them more money. They just want the pretty pictures and the exciting part.

That’s understandable, but it means their new brand will lack substance and won’t make its mark in the world and this means a lack of results for them. We have to stand our ground on this one at times!

 

They won’t stand in their customer’s shoes…

Clients need to view the visuals standing in the shoes of their clients in order to make a comment that is not biased. It’s all too easy to give your opinion on a new brand and not the opinion of your customers; the people for whom it matters. You are not your intended audience.

Getting into the shoes of your client (or not) can make or break this key stage.

 

“We don’t want research – just get on with it!”

Uh oh… they want to drive blind. When we hear that they don’t see the need for research, we brace ourselves for a mini battle. It is important and it is essential to the final success of the campaign.

 

“We’ll skip the brand guidelines, thanks!”

One BIG reason a re-brand won’t work is the final piece of the puzzle. When the client doesn’t see the need for guidelines, it’s a warning sign that the brand won’t be used and shared in the right way and this will undo so much of the good work carried out so far. Again we’ll try to educate and explain why they’re incredibly important.

 

 

Why is a strong brand so important?

We’re bound to thing a strong brand is powerful – it’s what we do. After all this work you might be thinking it’s a lot of work for little reward. but you’d be mistaken.

 

We feel that there are eight benefits to a strong brand, and these are:

  1. Customer recognition
  2. Customer loyalty
  3. Consistency
  4. Brand equity
  5. Credibility
  6. Attracting new talent
  7. Allowing shared values
  8. Added confidence.

You really can’t put a price on those resulting benefits of a good, strong brand. Although… we do, and we’d love to chat with you if you’d like a new brand.

Branding is a big process and we hope you can see why it takes time and money to create a truly memorable brand.

If you’d like to chat to us about your new brand then please do contact us now and we’ll get our heads together.

We’re a naughty brand design Agency – we often don’t do as we’re told!

We’re sure you must have heard the old adage, ‘The customer is always right’.

Classic.

Classic ERROR!

The client isn’t always right. The client doesn’t always know best. And sometimes, just occasionally, it’s best to be honest and tell them.

We do.

We’re often seen as a naughty agency, as we don’t do as we’re told.

We don’t do it to annoy our clients though. We do it because we know we’re right and they’re wrong.

We do it out of love!

Love for them and love for the end results.

Harsh? Maybe. Results-driven? Abso-bloody-lutely!

There are many great quotes in the business world, but we feel this one sums up our point perfectly. It’s from someone who knows a thing or two about making businesses successful. You may have heard of him.

“It doesn’t make sense to hire smart people and tell them what to do; we hire smart people so they can tell us what to do.”
Steve Jobs, Apple inc.

That’s why we believe that if you ask us to work on your brand and design, then you’re advised to let us ‘do our thing’ over expecting us to follow your ideas. We’ll certainly listen. But if you’re off the mark, we’ll tell you, explain why, and do what we feel is right.

Clients don’t always know best; we do

We’ve been doing this thing for 25 years. With that comes a lot of experience, including experience we gained during times when things didn’t turn out the way they were expected to.

Why would all that experience be ignored (by us) when a client shares a brief that we know simply won’t work?

There have been many times when a client briefs us on a job and we just know that what they want us to do, or the way they want us to do it, just won’t work.

It won’t get the results they need. That’s what they’re paying us for. So we push back and say (politely) “No”.

We say no to clients for a few different reasons

Here are some of the main ones.

#NaughtyAgency

 

The comms or marketing person is inexperienced at briefing agencies

We’re not trying to be all high and mighty here, but there are good and bad ways to brief a design agency. If you’re not experienced in the best way to brief an agency on a project, then the results you get may well fall short of the results you want.

We feel it’s a good thing to push back and ask lots of questions. It helps the person briefing us to improve and also helps them to get a good result for their team. It helps them to think of things they may not have even been aware of. That can only help everyone in the long run.

 

The client wants to achieve gold star results on a lead level budget

Setting expectations is key to a good working relationship and when the client has a grand plan presented on a Fisher Price budget we have to say something! It’s not their fault, they’re not trying to pull the wool over our eyes, they just have a lot of optimism!

It’s only right that we tell them like it is. For this, you get that, not that.

 

The briefing has come down from exec level, so it needs to happen

Oh dear. We see this one a lot. Just because someone at the top had an idea in a meeting does not mean it will work in a design brief and it doesn’t mean it’ll work in the real world either.

We’re often met with a marketing person who’s just going with it as it’s come from ‘up above’, so they don’t question it.

We do, and we counter pitch with a new brief instead. But we’ll explain and help them – we’d never leave them stuck.

 

The client wants an 8 page brochure and has enough text for a 16 pager!

It can be really easy to create a lot of wording and not focus on how that will look in a beautifully designed brochure. We’ve seen 16 pages of copy crammed into an 8 pager – it’s ugly! Don’t ruin the design just because you think you want an 8 page brochure.

We’ll advise you to expand your brochure or shrink your copy depending on the best option for you and what would work better for your customers.

 

The client wants an infographic but have no facts or figures

We’re good, but we’re not that good! We can create the most amazing design, but we need something to go on. Infographics work very well indeed… but you need to supply the content or it’s not going anywhere!

We design it, you research it. We’re not about to pretend we’re an expert in your world any more than accept you’re an expert in ours.

 

The client wants Word templates, but we say no because they’re better in PowerPoint

There are so many different ways to present your message that we’re going to get suggestions that won’t work out. PowerPoint, for example, is far easier to work with for less-experienced people than Word and the final piece will be easier to present too.

If you want it in Word, but it’s better in PowerPoint, you’ll be getting it in PowerPoint. #SorryNotSorry. 😉

 

The client wants an app because it’s the ‘trendy’ thing to do

We love a good app as much as the next agency, but sometimes you simply don’t need one. When it’s a sledgehammer to crack a nut, we’ll hit you with some home truths as well as saving you some money and effort.

If all you need is some extra functionality on a website, we’ll do that instead as it’s less expensive and might be a better solution to your problem.

 

The client wants to use crap images from their iPhone

Smartphone cameras have come a long way since the introduction of the first camera phone in 2000, but even now with the 12MP iPhones, the quality won’t be as good as what the good old-fashioned camera was designed for… taking photos!

Tell us you want to use your smartphone photos and we’ll suggest using some decent stock images or having some bespoke photography instead.

 

The client asks us to deliver at break-neck speed

Whilst we always will try our hardest to get the design project delivered in good time, in our experience, it often breaks processes when we ‘rush it through’.

Ask us to go to faster and we’ll be straight-up and tell you that it isn’t possible, rather than over-promise and under-deliver like some people do.

 

The client wants to rebrand but won’t spend on the guidelines

Cutting corners on a re-brand isn’t a great idea. Your brand will form most of your marketing in the future. Brand guidelines are sooooo important and not having them is like flying in the dark!

We don’t like flying in the dark or asking you to, so we politely insist that you have guidelines with any re-brand to ensure our new creation continues to work for you in the future.

 

The client has to produce an annual report and doesn’t want to ‘design it’

Hang on, you do actually want this report to be read, don’t you? The whole idea is that your audience actually get the information you’ve put together, yes?

By designing it with a theme it makes the most of it and encourage people to actually read it. This is a small investment in comparison to the overall cost of the project.

Ask us to set it in a Word document and we’ll be having words!

We’re not awkward. We’re experienced!

We’ve seen a lot of design work in our 26 years and that gives us a unique view on the way information and brands are presented. If you think your idea is great, but we’re certain it’ll fail, we’re not going to do you a disservice and go along with it.

We’re not being awkward, we’re being valuable. You’re not just buying our services; you’re buying our experience.

So there you have it. Our admission that we don’t always do what we’re told all the time!

Why great photography is essential to your brand (and when stock photos simply kill it!)

You did it! You got a great new brand created, updated your marketing and website, and launched it into the world.

You’re getting great comments and feedback and it all looks like you’ve totally nailed it. Now you have to keep up the good work and keep that brand in that great place.

… but this is where most businesses screw it up!

We’ve never been ones to hold back on what we see and we’re not about to do that in this blog, so if you’re of a nervous disposition when you’re told some home truths about branding use then click away now.

Still here? Great… Let’s get this message well and truly out there so you don’t make some serious mistakes.

 

Good imagery reflects on a brand and so does crap imagery

 

Let’s get the obvious, “No shit, Sherlock” moment out of the way and make it really obvious what we’re talking about here.

  • Great imagery, great messages.
  • Crap images, crap messages.

The quality of photos used on websites and marketing collateral is getting very messy, poor, and so off-brand! If you’re thinking about stealing from Google images or buying cheap stock from some poor online store, or even using your poor-quality smartphone snaps – just don’t!

Your photos – and the quality of them – reflect directly on a brand and business. The brand and your story are the DNA of your marketing. It’s for this reason that you need to make sure you’re using appropriate images and images that are of a quality that you would want to be associated with your brand.

A brand needs to come alive through the imagery; not be killed by it.

 

How to kill a brand with smiley-faced white-teeth hand-shaky people…

 

You know all that work you did when you created the brand identity?

You know all those meetings, emails, calls, and big decisions you made when you created that new logo, the colour palette, fonts, values, and the tone of voice?

You can kill the impact of that by heading to one of those cheap stock photo sites, downloading a file of someone you’ve never met, who’s ‘super-excited’ to be doing something very mundane (or working in a space that clearly has never been worked in before), or working on a computer with a screengrab that bears zero resemblance to you, your message, or your brand!

Here’s what we mean. Have you seen how happy these ladies are to be eating a salad? Fake news!

 

Does your photo represent your brand?

 

No? Then why use it?

That wonderful brand you created and painstakingly worked on could be let down by imagery that doesn’t fit your brand identity. It really can make or break your brand.

You can really confuse people by saying one thing and doing something else. People need to trust you to buy from you, and this is all part of building the trust.

Photos and imagery are part of a brand.

(We’ll say that again in caps as it’s important and we want to shout about it!)

“PHOTOS AND IMAGERY ARE PART OF A BRAND!”

When you had the brand guidelines created, that was meant to cover everything you do with that brand and that obviously meant website, email, social media and traditional marketing materials.

But it also meant the way you present pitches, the way you behave at business events, the way you answer the phone, the car you drive…

… and the images you use.

Put it like this:

You wouldn’t exhibit at a business show with dirty crumpled clothes, wearing your slippers, with a broken banner and some crumpled leaflets would you? And we’re pretty sure you’d clean your teeth and brush your hair before going to a client meeting.

So, you’re not going to use poor images, are you?

 

We believe that image styles should be in brand guidelines

 

Create parameters around the photos and other images that you use with the brand and stick to them.

Make sure they are aligned to the brand identity.

This plays out across all the marketing your brand will do. When you consider how many channels and how many ways you can market now, that’s a lot of areas where photos could kill the brand!

Here’s some areas to think about with your brand guidelines for images:

  • How do you find and store images for your website (for current and future pages and articles)?
  • When you create images for social media, what style do they need to be in?
  • When exhibiting, networking, or creating an online profile, what images do you need?
  • When creating a new product or service suite, how will the images be selected?

Look, here’s the deal:

If your style is active and supportive, you wouldn’t use an image of a person stood still on their own, would you?

Think about that core message you have in the brand and then ask yourself each time you use an image or photo:

“Does this convey the message I’m trying to get people to remember and resonate with?”

 

Stock images can look false and are often out of kilter with your brand identity

Stock photos weren’t created for you.

Images that are created for you and are very much in line with your brand work 100% better.

Stock images were created for some generic situation like “Meeting” or “Walking” or “Greeting” or even “Women running in pencil skirt to a meeting”. They’re mostly just terrible and clichéd.

 

[Disclaimer]

Some stock image sites are now far better than they used to be. There are some great stock photo and image sites out there and you can use them – we’ll allow you! But you can only use them on one condition:

Make sure you choose images that match your brand identity.

We understand that sometimes the budget won’t allow you to have the best images or photos and you may well have to go for stock, but when you do, select stock images VERY CAREFULLY.

 

 

By the time you’ve spent hours looking for the right stock images, you may as well have paid a professional to get exactly what you want…

 

We’ve started offering this very service because we want to put a stop to the death of brand through poor images and photos.

Photos taken for a specific piece of content or brand identity are far more powerful and often a far more effective choice (for brand, time, and money).

Yes, you can find a stock site that suits a brand and we’re sure you might be pretty nifty with an iPhone, but you can’t beat unique and on-brand images taken with the brand in mind.

Wouldn’t it be easier to have your own bank of images of everything you need, so you can just choose from a selection you know are high quality and relevant?

</Rant over>

… well almost.

Go back to the website, social media, marketing, and wherever else you have images and then get your brand identity and guidelines to hand and be honest with yourself:

  • Do they represent it?
  • Do they amplify it?
  • Or do they kill it a little bit inside?

Choose wisely or create images for the job in hand.

The results are powerful, and you’ll have a far stronger message.

 

Waggy Dog Stories: 7 Lessons From Our Office Dog That Will Improve Your Brand

Darcie the office dogMeet Darcie. Darcie is a black Labrador and she’ll lick you until you pass out! She’s a classic lab in that she needs exercise, lots of food, but will stay by your side no matter what. Darcie can be found in the office on most days and it was just recently we realised how much she emulates a great brand.

Actually, nearly all dogs do.

Even if you’re not a dog person and you prefer cats (someone has to) bear with us on this. If you have a brand (if you don’t – get one here), you’ll want to hear what Darcie has to share with you.

Side note: Darcie didn’t write this blog and therefore isn’t about to appear on Britain’s Got Talent as the first dog who can smash out 800 coherent words on a keyword!

 

1.   Be loud

Be more “Woof Woof”. When Darcie wants something, she’ll let you know, but not always with her bark. Dogs get noticed by barking but they also have an uncanny knack of being there right in the middle of the kitchen when you’re ready to cook.

Your brand needs to learn from this. You need to be noticed, you need to be timely, and you always need to be ready to receive the business. Be it scraps from a plate or that next contract, your brand plays an important part in not being forgotten.

Oh, and unlike Darcy, make sure your bite is as effective as your bark!

 

2.   Be faithful

This is doggy 101. Faithfulness is a dog’s secret weapon and when you chose a dog, you might have done so for this quality. When it comes to your brand, being faithful is incredibly important too….

Far too many brands are not faithful to those core values, beliefs and visions that were set-out when the brand was created. They weren’t created just for the pitch or to sit on a pretty document. You need to stay faithful to those values with all the marketing and outreach that you do!

 

3.   Choose the right breed

Darcie is a Labrador and although we love her, labs aren’t everyone’s cup of tea. (We bet those people make other bad choices too!) Some prefer smaller dogs, some need more of a working dog, some need sensory dogs, and some have ‘dogs with jobs’ like assistance dogs or dogs for the hard of hearing.

Different breeds give different results and so does a brand.

If you want an agency to roll over and let you have it your way, then don’t choose us – we’re rather focused on the best result (just like Darcie is on that leftover lunchtime snack!).

Choose your brand and your branding agency wisely. Get the wrong breed and you’ll struggle to be compatible, and could fail.

 

4.   Show your enthusiasm

Darcie loves it when we come back into the office… even if we only went downstairs to the car! Most dogs are like this – full of enthusiasm and full of energy about you! Make your customers feel that special. Show you care, show that you’re listening, and that you appreciate them.

Did you know it costs nearly five times as much to convert new business? Wag your tail at your current customers instead!

 

5.   Be consistent

Dogs are simple creatures and despite their intelligence, they’re pretty predictable. If your dog loves chasing for sticks then it matters not whether it’s a sunny Sunday or a rainy Wednesday, it’ll want to play stick. Darcie has her favourite foods and your clients will have their special requests and dislikes too.

When you win a client or customer it’s usually because of some value or behaviour that you or your brand displays. Don’t veer off course too much. Stay consistent and give them what they expect where you can. Sure, surprise them with the odd dead bird from the park to mix things up a little, but remain mostly what they bought into for the majority.

 

6.   Be inquisitive

And in contrast to above, don’t be afraid to try out new things, new avenues, and be proud with your brand and where it associates. Being inquisitive is a great characteristic of a dog and your brand can do this too.

Don’t fall into the time old problem of getting stale and not evolving. Look at your brand, look at the messages you’re putting out, and the materials you’re creating. Do they still serve you? Do you need to be more inquisitive and sniff out something new?

 

7.   Be Obedient. But Also, Don’t Be

OK, here’s a rule to take and not to take from a dog and it certainly applies to us in our work.

Being obedient is a great value to have when you’re a dog and also with your brand. A brand needs to front a business or company that will obey the brand message that’s set out. That’s not to say you should always give your customer exactly what they want, as you need to stay inquisitive. But for the most part, stay obedient.

Unless of course you’re taking on briefs from clients and then we say – question everything! Being obedient here could land you in trouble in the long run and we know this all too well.

We won’t take a brief, we’ll make it and that disobedience serves us well as we want the client to have the brand that their customers want, not the one that they think they need.

 

Sit! That’s a good dog….

Branding (good branding) is powerful and when you get it right you need to follow on from that with consistent and faithful following of those messages that made it great.

Bark loud, sniff around, and always be ready for that sale by being omnipresent… just like our Darcie!

Need help with your branding? Call us on the dog and bone or give us a “Woof!” here and we’ll be in touch.

The Role of Colour in Branding and Design

Branding is far more than just a logo. A brand is a theme, a vision, a story – and in many respects a brand is a feeling! It’s not some wishy-washy concept either – it’s science!

Managed carefully, your brand can evoke a feeling in your customers. That needs careful attention and constant work. When you get it right you’ll attract the right people more of the time – and your clients will be attracted you because they see the vision and share the beliefs that you do.

 

“All from a brand?”

Yes – all from a brand!

 

There’s more to this than meets the eye then? Actually, it’s only partly about what meets the eye. You see, your visual branding is projecting almost subliminal messages to your clients, customers and leads via your messages, marketing and logo.

You’re sending out messages based on deep and hard-wired human reactive systems whether you like it or not.

So, are you asking your customers to fight, fly or freeze? Or are you asking for love, saying you’re reliable, or showing them that you’re a calm and collected company?

There’s a lot of psychology at play here!

Colour plays a massive role in how memorable and recognisable a design is and in this blog we wanted to delve into that. What does your branding say and how do the colours you use convey that?

 

The human brain looks for trustworthy brands

Like it or not, research shows that as humans we’re mostly asleep! Experts say that nearly 95% of your day is run on auto-pilot and marketers know this. Branding with an eye on the colours that provoke the right reaction can really help you to gain the trust of those customers who are mostly working in auto-pilot.

Great design is about creating harmony and balance among the elements of a brand and helping them come together to create a final product that’s simply outstanding. The colours chosen by your designer play a huge part in that.

But it’s also about creating trust and building authority. Big brands do this well and as well as their alignments with celebs and viral campaigns, big brands use their branding to build trust. Colours have a big effect on this with colours like blue and purple both being seen as very trustworthy colours.

 

Colour affects the mood of the design

Colours actually affect your mood and when you think about it, this is a safety mechanism that used to serve us well. The more primitive humans didn’t even have language, so triggers like colours to show safe places or dangerous animals and foods were essential.

There’s a lot of research out there to show that we’re still operating on these programmes to this day and so the colour of your branding can be very powerful indeed.

Using red for example can incite anger, love, and passion. Using blue can create a sense of peace, serenity, and security.

The colours that you choose go far beyond your favourites – they’re deeply engrained into our minds and you’d do well to research these before deciding on your primary and secondary colours.

 

The colour palette of your design has an important job to do. The primary colour palette, which usually includes one or more colours, which will be included in your logo will also have a secondary colour palette that complements this and brings the design alive. The important part of this is that the colours do complement each other in terms of design but also in message, and you’ll see why when we get into the colour psychology.

Sticking to your chosen colour palette is important and you should refer to this whenever you create any type of marketing material. It needs to be blended into everything you do and every touch point of your business should be on brand and using the appropriate colours.

Most businesses will have brand guidelines and it’s highly recommended that you follow them, especially with the colours, as this will have a huge impact on your message!

 

Colour can be negative as well as positive!

Yes, colour can be a real positive in your brand, but it can be negative too.

Let’s say for example that you want to be a calm and peaceful brand. Maybe you’re a meditation consultant or you run a yoga studio. The last thing you need in your brand is anger, excitement, vibrant thoughts or even an overly expensive feeling.

Avoiding some colours is often a good step and to create the feeling of calm, serenity and energy (as with the above example) you’d be better with blues, greens, or oranges rather than red or yellows for example.

Contrasting colours also need to follow this trait so choose colours that complement the other colours as well as making sure it matches your overall message, too!

 

What do you want your brand to say? Choose a colour that says that.

This might sound really obvious now, but choosing the right colours are incredibly important to your brand message and what it is you want to convey to your customers. What are your core beliefs? What does your brand say? What do you want it to say?

Choosing the right colour palette needs a carefully considered approach as this could make or break your message. You’ll choose a tagline or company values depending on the nature of your brand or project, and your colours need to follow that hand-in-hand.

 

Colour contrast is key!

One colour can say one thing, and another can say something entirely different. Take Amazon for example. Amazon is the world’s leading e-commerce brand so you know they’ll have this down to every last detail. In fact, Amazon’s brand guidelines are well worth checking out as an example of why good companies are strict with their design guidelines to protect their brand.

The main visual branding is

  • White (simple, pure, clean)
  • Black (quality, trustworthiness, sleek)
  • And then orange (happy, positive, and full of energy).

Amazon contrasts these colours really well throughout their site and once you know this, you’ll see it everywhere. Take their ‘One-click’ buttons for example. The ‘Add to basket’ button is orange, but more yellow in colour (maybe to reflect the fresh, vibrant and exciting feel of ordering something new) but their ‘Buy Now’ button in a darker orange, a more pressing colour, nearer red which symbolises action but not too near so that you’re in any danger when you click it.

The colour of buttons has been well researched and some suggest that simply getting the buttons to stand out so they’re noticed is more powerful, but Amazon are purely in the orange camp with a happy and positive feel to their click.

If you’re looking to use colour to influence a buying decision then one of the most important things is contrast.

 

So what do the colours in your brand say?

This isn’t an exhaustive list, but it gives you a really good start. As with anything like branding and design, you’re always advised to speak to the experts (that’s us) but here are some very simple guidelines to cement this idea of colour and psychology in branding.

  • RED – Excitement, strength, appetite
  • BLUE – calm, relaxed, trusted
  • GREEN – relaxing, fresh, symbolises moving forward
  • YELLOW – fresh, vibrant, creative
  • WHITE – pure, clean, unblemished, perfect, gentle, sleek
  • ORANGE – happy, positive, energetic
  • PURPLE – luxury, quality, trustworthy
  • PINK – positive, romantic, loving, and Smart (Oh OK, we added in Smart!)
  • BLACK – Classy, expensive, trustworthy, sleek

It’s obvious now why Ann Summers are pink, Apple are white and Morrisons are green and yellow, right?

The choice of colour in branding is key and if you’re looking to make true long-lasting impact then we need to go deeper and look into the mind of your customers. We’re all operating on a system that was build to keep us safe, show us excitement, and drive us to be hungry, passionate, take action and feel safe.

Doesn’t it make sense to align your brand with the right message?

If you’d like us to look at your brand colours to see whether they fit with your business just get in touch for a chat.