Creative Digital & Design Agency, London, Essex

As a Branding Agency, we are amazed at how many times we hear a sentence along the lines of “We are looking to brand our business, how much do you charge for a logo?”.

While logo design is of course a key part of any branding process we usually respond with a brief “we don’t design logo’s we create brands” before explaining the difference between the two. The thing that surprises us the most is that most people are aware brands and branding, they participate in the process every day when choosing their favourite supermarket or deciding who to bank with. They understand how emotional connections are made, how trust is created and how relationships are developed, yet when it comes to their own business they want a logo “knocked up” quick.

Most businesses, especially smaller or newer businesses seem to think branding is for the big boys and not worth the investment. This couldn’t be further from the truth. Your brand should be the backbone of your business, an indication of your core values and the emotional connection between you and your customers, so getting right from the off is essential.

Know Your Audience

A professional approach to your branding process should commence by defining the image that you would likely project to your target clientele, in many cases this is established before you have even come up with a name! Understanding yourself and your audience, as simple as that may sound, is often overlooked and not taken into consideration. Every item of your brand should be developed in a way that effortlessly connects to your audience in the most effective way, from the tone of voice to the way your staff contact customers.

Develop an Identity

Once you have defined the value & vision of your brand then the next stage is to turn this into an visual identity, from naming to corporate identity design. This identity should then be applied to any elements that will come into contact with your target audience from website design, packaging and other promotional materials to uniforms and signage.

Effective branding, if correctly planned and delivered consistently across every channel will, in time, ensure a strong brand identity that is instantly recognisable, provides an emotional attachment from your customers and will eventually lead to success for your business.