You say ‘potayto’ and I say ‘potahto’…
If the humble potato needed a new brand identity, where would you go with it?
Our business is all about branding, from naming a product or service to developing the proposition and identity. We don’t want to teach grandma to suck eggs, but if you haven’t sucked many, please read on.
If you’re involved in any part of the marketing mix, then the likelihood is that you’ve already covered the basics: you’ll know why your product’s different, relevant and compelling, you’ll understand the hopes and desires of your target audience and the price point that makes them feel comfortable and, most important of all, you’ll have a tight grip on the values that your brand embodies.
With all this information, we can develop the proposition and the identity. To help us get there we stick to five guiding principles:
1. Nothing is sacrosanct; have an open mind…
(You should never play around with your logo. Tell Google.)
2. Research is important, but so is instinct…
(When you feel something has legs but the research doesn’t, go with your gut.)
3. Being memorable doesn’t equal sales…
(Not all publicity is good publicity. Liz knows this now.)
4. Always tell the truth…
(Once you’ve been caught lying it sticks no matter what you do next.)
5. Don’t blend in…
(Why develop branding that doesn’t get noticed?)
This is text-book stuff, right? But life isn’t a text book and what often happens is a little like the story about the cobbler’s shoes – you become so busy serving your customers, you neglect your own shoes. So, brand guidelines get ignored or changed to suit circumstances; brand values erode as there’s no one or no system in place to help new staff buy into them or reinforce them with the current workforce; the frequency of website updates and social media posts become contingent on who’s got the most time to devote to it; in short the brand you put your heart and soul into developing, is no longer thriving but becoming stunted without you even noticing.
If, on reflection, any of this sounds familiar to you, your organisation might benefit from a Dart Design Brand Audit. Our audit will consider every aspect of brand delivery, from how the telephones are answered and the way your social media accounts are managed to the design of your suite of literature and the usefulness of your website. From the audit you’ll have a clear idea of what needs to be changed, updated or left alone.
If you think there’s a chance your brand identity is becoming a hot potato or a confusing mash up, then please get in touch.