Branding and Identity
Insert Some Clever Tagline Here.
Two Lines Looks Better Than One!
Branding
A lot of customers wonder what branding really is and how to effectively use corporate branding as a tool to enhance their business. A brand is an idea. Actually it is a set of ideas, emotions, thoughts and impressions that live in the hearts and minds of anyone who comes in contact with your company. Developing, extending and maintaining a brand takes deliberate, conscious, and strategic intent on the part of any company. It is work and it requires significant soul searching, brainstorming, honesty and transparency. You need to decide what you want to be, in what manner would you like customers, prospects and the general public to think about your company, what feelings you would like to conjure up in people who come in contact with your brand, how you want people to think about your company, and how you go about achieving such a lofty goal. As soon as the decision is made, action needs to be taken every single day to ensure the success of the brand development process.
Logo Development
A well developed, well thought out logo should serve as an accurate representation of your company, its history, mission, philosophy, ideals, products and services. It is a snapshot of everything and it needs to immediately convey the branding of your company that you want to live in the minds of anyone who sees it. Logos come in all shapes, sizes, and colors. They can be icons, illustrations or straight word marks. Effective logo development is an element of strategic marketing and corporate branding. Logos are designed to be an accurate representation of the company’s brand, which is as much a part of the company culture as a drop of water is of the ocean. You do not know where one stops and the other starts.
Whenever DCG accepts a logo design project for a client, we always begin with a basic understanding of your business and corporate branding. Your logo must convey the best intention of your company and immediately simplify and translate your brand into the most basic and understandable of terms.
Mission Statement
In order for a Mission Statement to be more than just a collection of meaningless words or ideas that are strung together to form a fine sounding paragraph, it must be the product of a specific process. In a situation where there are partners involved, fleshing out a Mission Statement with an experienced third party can lead to feelings of increased purpose and pride. A good Mission Statement bares your soul to the world by stating who you are, what you do, who you do it for, and why. Reaching such an agreement is not the easiest thing in the world to do, but it is worth every minute spent on its pursuit.
Style Guide
A style guide is a graphic and digital designer’s version of the Bible for your company. DCG has been heavily involved in developing style guides for a number of companies and it is always the right thing to do. Your firm’s style guide is a book of specific instructions to anyone who is working in a capacity where the expression of the company’s branding is involved. Development of a style guide will define the company colors, provide clear directions for use of the company logo, company fonts that will become aspects of the firm’s DNA, and proper deployment of its graphic identity and how that identity is going to be presented. The style guide has all the answers and, if it is correctly put together, is something that can travel from one designer to another and be completely understood.
Tag Line
Whereas a Mission Statement is an excellent tool for sharing your soul with the rest of the world by articulating who you are, what you do, who you do it for and why, your Tag Line is a way of connecting you to the world. Tag lines need to be constructed as a bridge between what the company is selling and the inherent benefits the customer will enjoy as a result of making the decision to buy. It is a bridge that can be crossed either way. Tag lines should be long enough to make your unique selling proposition – that is benefit oriented – clear to anyone who hears or reads it. It also needs to be short enough to engender immediate impact. Successful tag lines are memorable, and connect the company and customer through the medium of benefits.
Let’s Get Started
Ready to start a branding project or want to know more about our process? Let’s start a conversation and get to know a little more about you. It only takes a minute and could be the foundation to a great relationship.
