As a creative, getting this information from your clients can be just as hard if you don’t know the right questions to ask.
That’s why having a branding process in place is so important. The branding process helps businesses figure out who they are and how to communicate that information. It also ensures that communication and business strategies are aligned.
As a creative, getting this information from your clients can be just as hard if you don’t know the right questions to ask.
That’s why having a branding process in place is so important. The branding process helps businesses figure out who they are and how to communicate that information. It also ensures that communication and business strategies are aligned.
Like with most industries, Marketing is filled with jargon. Knowing the terms is crucial when working with other industry professionals, but you should be careful not to use too much jargon when working with clients. You want to make your clients feel comfortable, not intimidated by a bunch of foreign terms. If you do need to use these terms with your clients, make sure they understand what they mean.
A brand is not a logo. A brand is everything your business does that a customer can experience, and everything that impacts that experience. Branding is the process of developing, defining and designing those experiences.
“Creative” refers to the deliverables that make up any form of communication, marketing or advertising. It can also refer to the professionals that work in the marketing, advertising or design industry.
Branding is complicated. There are, however useful tools you can use when working with clients in order to get the information you need.
By setting up a structure and defining a few key customer objectives, you can bring focus to the work being produced while ensuring the company’s business and communication goals are being met.
Here are a few questions you should always ask when working with a new client:
1. What is the take away? (What is the one thing a customer should understand after the interaction)
2. Who is this for? (Who is your customer? What are their demographics and traits?)
3. What do they want? ( What do you do that they need?)
4. Why does it matter? (Why would choosing your product matter to them?)
Now that you have defined the business goals and characteristics, it’s time to get to start creating. When you are working through this, make prototypes. Develop 3-5 versions and then review your work against the information you have from the client.
Is it communicating the most important message? Does it align with the adjectives? Select the version that is most aligned with the brand — not which looks cooler or pops the most.
Next, ask your client to come up with 5 adjectives that relate to the look, feel and values of their company. It’s important that there are a few overarching characteristics carried through every aspect of the business. When a business constantly looks, sounds and feels the same way, people will begin to recognize who they are and be able to tell their story for them.
Type, Color and Voice are key elements of any brand. Each one plays the important role of communicating what a company’s “personality” is to its current and potential customers.
Type is the most common way businesses miscommunicate who they are. For example, if childlike and whimsical are not how you would describe your business, Comic Sans is not a font you should be using. If it is, then Comic Sans is a great font.
When a stranger with no context looks at the Type you select, the way he describes it should be similar to how one would describe your business. It is that simple.
Unlike Type, Color needs context. For Apple, white means style, but out of context, white could mean anything. It could be stress-inducing like a void of nothingness, or it could be clean — it is entirely up to the context.
Again, pick colors that a stranger would describe the same way you would want your business described.
The more colors you add, the more complicated color gets. In general, keep it simple. Three colors are a good place to start, and always test it in context.
Pro tip: use Adobe Kuler. You can just put in your adjectives, and it will give you color sets that have been described similarly. It’s not perfect, but it is a good place to start.
Whether or not we know it, we are constantly deciding how we think about brands. And as humans, we are good at it.
Where the power of this comes in is in the systemization and collaborative approach of doing it with intent and focus — prototyping creative and picking the version that most aligns with your business values and goals, and using it as a guide for future projects.
Powerful brands are built when a company’s creative elements accurately communicate who they are and what they’re working to achieve.
Like our work, the Hardy Brands team is an embodiment of the perfect balance of strategy and creative. We’ve cultivated a team of certified brand specialists and strategists, designers, copywriters and marketing professionals who are ferocious about helping you succeed. We’re a Montana marketing agency that will constantly strive to improve your business.
As a branding, marketing and design agency, we partner with all types of businesses, from restaurants and breweries to building and real estate professionals, nonprofits to accountants and many others. Get a better idea of who we are and what we do by visiting our Work page.
