Branding in the modern world can be a complex place that’s often filled with challenges to overcome and major pitfalls to avoid. So, how do we successfully navigate our way through it and why do many brands fail?
On a daily basis, we see brands of all shapes and sizes launch their new identities across media platforms with the hope that they’ll receive a rapturous applause from everyone. Sometimes a brand is an instant success, but more often than not people start to question it: “I don’t get it. What is it?”; “What does it mean?”; “Why have they done it that way?”; “How much did they spend on that?”.
Yes, you’ll always get your ‘Naysayers’, ‘Mood Hoovers’ and ‘Keyboard Warriors’, and we all know these people get a kick out of bringing others down. But if the majority of your audience doesn’t buy into your new brand and start to reject it, then something has gone wrong during the creative process.
There are a number of reasons why, but one of the biggest failures is not investing in the first stage of the creative process. I’m not talking about asking a creative agency, or designer, to create some logo ideas with ‘proof of concept’, which usually means applying it to a whole range of promotional items like stationery, website, signs or even a tote bag. No. I’m talking about really understanding what your business is and uncovering as much insight as possible, before you do the above.
As an agency, you can jump straight into the creative stage, but only if the business your working with can give you every bit of insight about themselves, their audience profiles, robust market research, a brand strategy and a solid brief to work from, including their ‘Single-minded Proposition’. This all sounds really good, but in my experience this very rarely happens.
I’ve seen so many companies jump past the first stage, often with guesswork and not enough buy-in from everyone within their business. Sometimes it’s to save money. Quite often it’s because they don’t believe it’s worth the investment. And occasionally they don’t know that they even need it. They commission a creative agency, or designer, to create a new brand then expect it to work miracles. It may look nice on the surface, but it won’t have any depth, or meaning. Or it just won’t resonate with their audience. A costly mistake, which can lead to starting again, or trying to do a repair job on the new brand.
We never jump straight into a creative or digital project without knowing everything about our client first. It’s a collaborative process, so we work closely with them. We ask loads of questions and we ask them to give us as much information as possible. We do this to identify where the gaps are, or to uncover what’s not working. This is all part of our scoping sessions. Once we’ve analysed all the insight and undertaken any brand or digital audit, we then devise a plan to work with the client to get a clearer picture of their business. We call this process ‘Absolute Clarity’.
We believe our process is robust, as long as our clients don’t skip parts. We’ve spent years refining it and we still do because we always face new challenges, so we’re constantly improving the way we work to get the best outcomes for our clients. If you skip parts of the process, more often than not, something will go wrong further down the line.
Imagine this, before you set off on a long journey in your car, with your family for a holiday. You’ve put all your luggage on a roof rack and you haven’t secured it properly. You’ve not bothered to check the oil, water, or even put enough fuel in. Let’s say you’ve not even had it serviced recently. Not had the brakes or tyres checked. Are the wheel nuts even secure? Have you planned out your journey and where you’re going to take breaks? Have you planned for any typical emergencies like travel sickness with the kids? Have you packed any food or drinks just in case you get stuck? Do you know what you’re going to do when you’ve arrived at your destination, or what’s going to happen for the duration of your break?
This analogy might sound a bit ‘cheesy’, but you get the idea and you’ll probably do some, or most of those things above. You’ll probably assume you don’t need to do some of those things, because you put a lot of faith in your car.
Predictably, you’ll only find out once you’ve set off when things start to go wrong. A brand or digital project is exactly the same. If you don’t plan, or you try to wing it without considering all the details, the wheels will eventually fall off.
I’m not trying to scare you into spending loads of money at the start of a project, and I wouldn’t want you to waste your budget on parts of the first stage that you’ve already undertaken previously, like investing in your brand values for example. I’m just making the point that a successful project may require you to invest up front. It will save you so much budget in the future, so you won’t have to throw money at repairing it when it fails, or forking out when you have to start again.
Businesses and brands can become fragmented over time. There are many reasons why. It could be down to new people joining who have differing opinions. Or additional products and services that lead to increased growth. There may of been a change in direction for the business due to evolving markets, or even starting to operate in multiple locations. Whatever the reasons, it happens to the majority of businesses.
Before it gets out of hand, you need to be constantly reviewing and assessing your brand to see if it still communicates your business and its personality in the right way. Has it been stretched so far that it’s no longer fit for purpose? Does it stand out enough in a crowded marketplace? Are you clearly positioning it or articulating it in a succinct way? Or has it simply become tired or started to look dated compared to your competitors?
If you don’t have the capability in-house, it’s time to bring in an agency who can help you. The problems are often easier to identify from an outside perspective.
When selecting an agency to work with, choose wisely. Some agencies are brilliant at the initial stage of a project, but their creative output doesn’t match up. Others are great at the creative stage, but don’t know how to work on the insight or strategy. I’ve seen some agencies who only focus on either the strategy or creative, but partner up and work together successfully. Just make sure you do your homework and plan before you approach one. It could be the difference between success and failure.
We have the capability and expertise to do both. Our process is called ‘Absolute Clarity’ and as the name suggests, we’re all about ‘Clear Insights’, ‘Clear Thinking’ and ‘Clear Results’. I’ve seen so many agencies overcomplicate the process, usually to justify the spend. They think they can blind you with science. I’ve seen confusing pyramid diagrams that are meant to make your brand foundations clear, but clearly don’t. I’ve also seen poorly executed PowerPoint presentations by well known agencies who charge you a fortune for revealing one word to describe your brand ambition. Don’t be fooled.
We don’t do this. We keep things as simple as possible, often using layman’s terms so everyone understands them. We try to avoid marketing jargon as much as possible. We know that there needs to be some detail behind your brand, but we avoid the unnecessary waffle. It’s all about the clarity. If you start your brand project right, it will have a greater chance of success.
If you have a current branding issue and would like to discuss it with our brand team then please call 01204 669566 or email studio@absolute.agency