Successful brands motivate and inspire. So in creating or reinventing brands it is vital not to become formulaic. But having a process as a guide is a useful basis for shaping brand thinking. Scroll down the page to discover some of the key areas that Jog explores when creating and developing brands with clients.
What do I want my brand to be known for?
What’s my brand’s story?
Why will people rely on my brand?
Why will my brand be famous?
What do I want people to think when they see it?
Is my brand’s story authentic and compelling?
Avoid spin; it’s honesty that has legs.
How will my brand better meet their needs?
Think broadly; emotional needs, practical needs.
Who will be most interested initially?
How will I extend my audience base over time?
How will my audience be my brand?
Don’t try to be everyone’s friend.
Target a core group that you can build on.
Pick an initial target group that won’t limit your brand and can be influential.
Then work out where to go next.
Audience can personify a brand.
They can have a huge positive or negative influence on broader brand perception. Use this to your advantage.
What MUST your brand do well (and avoid doing badly)?
What will my brand do differently from peer brands?
What is essential, what’s negotiable?
What does this tell you about your brand values?
Are my brand values distinctive or just industry norms?
Keep your list of values tight (try for just three).
A value isn’t a value unless it’s vital to your brand.
How will my brand be different from competitors?
Where are there gaps in the market?
How can I protect and develop my brand position?
Take a long hard look.
You may be surprised how similar competitors are.
Work out a successful way to be different.
If you have an open (undeveloped) market, you probably have the biggest challenge.
Try to think of ways to protect your chosen position, but also think about how it enables you to respond and develop.
How loose could my brand be?
Can my brand be tight and own a whole space?
How will I express my brand’s focus?
Flexibility can increase business options, but may come at the expense of brand clarity and strength.
Tight branding can allow you to build recognition quickly and easily.
But if your market changes radically will you be trapped?
Sometimes core brands are quite loose but product-specific branding is much tighter.
Can you have the best of both?
Context: where will my brand be seen and heard?
Expectation:
what will people want?
Consistency:
how will I make
the most of
each change?
Thinking about the environments in which your brand must perform helps determine what core assets you need and what these must do.
If you feel people will have expectations for how your brand should look and feel it is vital to consider these.
BUT you can play with expectation.
In the beginning simplicity may be especially important.
Use repetition to build recognition. Then you can push your brand from there.