There are many brand agencies out there and most approach branding from the foundation of one or two core competencies. There are agencies that have a background in advertising, practitioners who come from a business consulting background, marketers, PR consultants, researchers, and designers with a background in corporate identity. All are equally valid and offer a perspective on the branding process.
We have seen a lot of approaches to branding that, in our opinion, are too complicated. Einstein said that “If you can’t explain it simply, you don’t understand it well enough.” Our brand model is simple. It provides a level of rigour whilst ensuring that the creative process is not inhibited.
What is a brand?
Before looking at our brand model, we need to ask an important question – what is a brand? Put simply, a brand is a promise of value. Brands allow us to express two basic human needs: a sense of belonging and a desire to differentiate ourselves from those around us. Brands facilitate choice.
Brand Discovery
Fundamental to our belief about corporate branding is that brands are revealed not manufactured. Authenticity in brand building is incredibly important – we all know a fake brand when we see one.
Our first step, therefore in building strong brands is research. Depending on the project brief and budget, brand discovery can include:
- Design audits
- Competitor audits
- Stakeholder interviews
- Focus group research
- Quantitative research
- Workshops
Brand Promise
Once a complete picture of the brand and its competitive environment has been completed, Leo Creative works with the client, through a workshop-based process to define the Brand’s DNA.
At the heart of Brand DNA is the brand promise or core idea. The brand promise is what drives a brand – an internal statement that captures the brand’s central organising thought. A brand promise should be sustainable over an extended period of time.
Further definition is provided through a set of distinctive brand attributes. Too often brand attributes (or values) are merely ‘corporate speak’ – values that one could rightly expect to find in any successful, sustainable business eg. innovation, integrity, teamwork etc. Clearly there is nothing unique or distinctive about these values – they are baseline values. Brand attributes can be both tangible or intangible and may reflect the personal or organisational aspects of the brand.
Brand Expression
The brand expression phase is where brands are brought to life – how the brand looks, how it sounds and feels.
Brand Architecture
Many organisations own and manage multiple brands. The framework that describes how these brands relate to one another is called ‘brand architecture’. The architecture should be clear, easy to comprehend and consistent.
Brand Naming
Naming is arguably one of most challenging aspects of branding and name changes in particular are notoriously challenging. The trigger for a name change can be when the old name is badly tarnished, or the result of a merger or acquisition, a change of ownership, or a change in direction where the old name is no longer relevant.
Brand Icon
The prime identifier for almost all brands is the logo, symbol or icon. It is a distinctive mark that visually represents the core idea of the brand with impact, brevity and immediacy. The brand icon is the signpost for the brand.
Brand Identity
Brand identity is a critical component of brand expression, bringing together the key elements of the logo, colour palette, typography, imagery, shape, texture and layout to create visual brand story. Used consistently Brand Identity delivers a memorable visual feast that elicits an emotional connection.
Brand Theme
Unlike the brand promise, the brand theme is an external statement and is often referred to as a campaign theme or a tagline and can change in response to an evolving competitive environment.
Brand Language
Brand language defines how the brand speaks – is the language formal, conversational, technical, relaxed etc.
Brand Proposition/s
Unlike an FMCG brand where a single Unique Selling Proposition (USP) is king, corporate brands often require tailored propositions for each key stakeholder group eg. employees, customers, partners, suppliers, government, regulatory bodies, media, interest groups etc. These statements then become the foundation of a broader communications plan.
Brand Guidelines
Every successful brand operates under brand guidelines. They are designed to inform and motivate, and are essential in forming and reinforcing a strong internal brand culture. A comprehensive suite of information, the guidelines ensures a consistent execution of the brand by anyone who ‘touches’ the brand, including staff and third party suppliers.
Brand Action
As stated above, authenticity in branding is vital. In other words:
Behaviour = Brand = Reputation
‘Living’ the brand is the responsibility of every employee and the brand should inform and influence all aspects of an organisation including:
- Recruitment
- Learning & Development
- Remuneration
- Policies & Procedures
- Operations
- Marketing
- Product Development
- Finance
- Investor Relations
- Corporate Social Responsibility
For this reason ‘branding’ is often used as a change management tool.