Design Method
It’s National Gardening week! What better time to grow your business?
In the midst of National Gardening week, we started to think about the link between gardening and business. A stretch of the imagination you may think, but it got us to thinking about how when you start a company you have an idea, a seed if you will, you spend time tending to it, and you watch it grow.
There are many areas to consider when starting a business or growing a current business, but at Pelling we believe that the most crucial element to any business is branding. Much like tending your plants and preparing for the seasonal changes in your garden, is it time to look at your brand and whether it’s working for your business?
So, what is branding and why is it important?
A brand goes way beyond just a logo. A strong brand can you give you the competitive edge, helping you ‘stand out from the crowd’. It’s the way your customer perceives you and should reflect in every element of your business from logo and web design to how you answer the phone. It’s not just having a brand, but having the right brand. This can be one of the most important decisions you are likely to make, and we are here to help.
A strong brand doesn’t just happen; it takes plenty of strategic planning. You need to consider what image you are trying to create? For example are you offering high quality, high cost product/service or low cost, great value product/service? Over time, with consistency in your marketing and offering a great customer experience, you can build a strong brand, instilling trust and loyalty from customers, employees and stakeholders.
A strong brand can provide your company with much more than its physical products. If you look at brands such as Coca-Cola, Nike , Apple for example, are their products more superior to their competitors? Or is their brand creating value that far exceeds just what their product offers?
So, how do you get started on creating a brand, or re-defining your brand?
We believe the first step in creating a strong brand is to decide who you want to be? How do you want your customers to perceive you? And who do you want those customers to be? What are your strengths as a business? In a nutshell, what are your brand values? Another important consideration is your USP (Unique selling point). What is setting you apart from your competitors?
Once you have built a picture of where you want to be in the market place, you can then look at how you create that image. A great exercise is to speak to potential or current customers to establish what they are looking for, or the elements of your business that they like the most. For example, are they more concerned with cost or performance?
How can we help?
Considering all the important factors of your brand values, it’s time to look at the visual elements of your brand. These include colours, fonts, and your logo. If you are able to sum up your brand values and USP in a few words, then a strapline appearing on all literature and advertising can let customers know the advantage you offer over your competitors.
Our skilled designers can guide you through a number of decisions on all the visual elements, advising you on the best styles to support your brand. Some colours can evoke different emotional responses; fonts can have a variety of styles such as friendly, elegant or fun. These can all be tailored to support your brand values and target the right audience.
Check out a client’s re- branding success story
On the subject of branding, it reminded us of working with Fizzy Flower, an aptly named client for National Gardening week. Take a look at how we went about re-branding and re-launching their website;
Vector image by Freepik