For Brand Discovery & Creation
Why do I call it Brand Discovery?
Simple. A brand must be discovered. All good brands are like hidden gems. They must be dug up, polished and turned into something noteworthy. But often the brand isn't obvious. But even there a brand is not 100% original. It can share values that already exist. That's why it's important to discover the most unique qualities that are worth highlighting. A brand is also only as good as the people behind it --the designer(s) creating it and the people managing it.
Brand Discovery
Brand discovery can happen many ways. It can even happen by accident. Sometimes its very methodical. Sometimes its very loose. For this reason I disregard almost all "design processes" that are hailed as exemplary by many design firms. These are just fancy selling points that often produce a very similar set of works. Look at many companies using them. You will often find little diversity. Where no diversity exists, no brand recognition exists. And as we all know, brand recognition is paramount to amassing followers. Most often its about targeting your audience. Nowadays niche markets are key. But mostly the people in those markets are key. It's becoming less and less common to find "catch-all" branding and marketing schemes. We are marketing to a more select crowd. This crowd tends to be "early adopters" --or at least they should be.
Brand Creation
Brand creation is the fun stuff --taking all that juicy data and formulating it into something beautiful, intriguing and most of all: relevant to your audience. Brand creation involves many aspects, design being key. Design can range from the voice of a narrator to the color of your logo. It can also be the way you phrase things. The way you carry yourself. The speed of your website. In todays competitive crowd, anything that can be judged, will be. So make it count.
Brand Integration
Brand integration is taking an existing brand and integrating new pieces to it. Think of it like a jigsaw puzzle. Perhaps your brand has become diluted through misuse. Through misuse you "lose pieces." Brand integration seeks to integrate new pieces that will help strengthen your (potentially) once strong brand and complete that puzzle. Brand integration can also mean taking two companies or entities and merging them. Acquisitions are common candidates in this field. When an acquisition happens, two competing companies are now strategically aligned. But their brands are not. What to do? Brand integration to the rescue.