Last week we covered how to create a brand that stands out to consumers. This second installment in our 'Beyond the Logo' series maps out where you need to go after nailing down your logo.

Once you’ve established your brand, there’s still a lot to do to ensure success. Now that your brand is ready to go, it’s time to get it out there. For the sake of this blog, let’s assume you or your designer has narrowed down your logo, symbols, colors, fonts, etc...so, now that that's handled, it’s time to firm up how you’re going to use these elements.

First things first, you need to develop a brand guide. By testing out the colors, patterns, and other design elements you’ve selected, you’ll be able see how they work in real life. Getting your brand guidelines in place before you start finalizing your collateral will save a ton of time and money in the long run.

Your brand guide should cover how you utilize all the colors, icons, and how the different brand elements interact with each other. This development stage is also a great time to test out your logo on different types of collateral (and make any tweaks if necessary). No matter what the medium, all of your brand elements should work together to create a consistent but interesting look.

With all your visual elements in place, it’s time to apply your brand identity to all of the necessary collateral. If you’re tempted to stagger your brand release to save money, think again. While it may seem tempting to do things like use up the old stationary before ordering the new one, it weakens your new message, and may confuse customers.

No detail is too small when it comes to your new branding. Be sure to consider everything, including:

• Website
• Business Cards
• Stationary
• Signage
• Product packaging
• Advertising
• Store signage
• Car wraps/vehicle signage
• Uniforms
• Swag (free giveaways like pens, koozies, coffee mugs, etc.)
• Video Intro/Motion Graphics
• Social Media Graphics

Once you’ve got everything branded -- it’s time to get your team up to speed. Managing your assets requires every player of your team to commit to your brand -- they need to be in it for the long haul if you want to continually convince customers of who you are.

The makeup of your company will greatly influence how you disperse your message. High level documents like a branding brief will work well to share your new identity with your marketing team. However, customer facing workers or people in sales positions will mostly likely benefit more from handbooks or documents that explain only the elements of the rebrand that are pertinent to them.

Finally, you’re ready to launch your brand to the public. There’s no one size fits all way to get your brand out there. Your goals will influence the appropriate course of action -- from social media campaigns to full out launches there’s a variety of ways to introduce your new brand. You’ll need to work with your creative team to determine what’s appropriate for your company and budget.  

Keep in mind that what we just covered in this post can takes months to develop. Branding is a long process -- and it's a process that every ad agency handles differently. While we're a big fan of our own branding process, we know that it isn't going to work for everyone. If you're considering a rebrand we always recommend taking the time to meet with different agencies and learn about their process. Find someone that not only works for your budget, but is a great fit for your team! 

Have questions? Ready to get your rebrand started? Get in touch with us at 336-365-8559 or hannah@hueandtonecreative.com. 

If you work near or around people who do marketing you’ve probably heard that there’s “more to a brand than just the logo.” We’re here to tell you it’s true -- and to try to help explain what exactly all that other stuff that makes up a brand is (beside the logo, of course).

In a saturated marketplace, there’s a few feelings that can sway a potential customer. That’s where branding comes in -- good branding equates to money in your pocket when it causes a potential customer to choose your product over the competition’s. A good brand sells the superiority of a product, creates an emotional connection, and (over time) results in loyalty.

Good brands speak in a unified voice and stay on message. The only way to stay on message is to determine what your message is. This post will give you an idea of what your brand should be looking to accomplish -- or maybe it will give you some keywords you should be looking to hear from an agency you potentially want to partner with.

Branding isn’t a process we suggest you try to do yourself -- a good brand is based on research, effectively tested out, and has a clear strategy. It’s also well designed and maintained. That’s a lot to take on, especially for new business owners.

Below are the basics of what you want your brand to communicate. To be clear, you shouldn’t just ask yourself “What’s my vision?” -- these values should be defined by comprehensive research. From there, things like the tagline, brand hierarchy, and strategy can be developed.

• Vision: The vision behind a brand is the basis for success. Whether it’s a unique product, an enthusiastic leader, or an innovative idea, a strong vision is key to having a product that can make it’s own way in the marketplace.
• Authenticity: Authenticity isn’t about being the first to ever do something - it’s about staying true to who you are. In order to communicate authentically with your customers you need to have clarity about where you fit in the market and what sets you apart.
• Differentiation: Regardless of if you have an innovative business model, you need to be prepared to stand out from the crowd. Not only are you competing for the attention of similar services, but you’re also competing for a small slice of your customers limited attention. Every potential client or customer only has so much time to give -- and you need to get yourself some of it.
• Consistency: The best brands stay on message no matter what. Even in something as small as a tweet, using a consistent vocabulary and on-brand images are key to presenting a unified message.
• Flexible: As you develop new products or services, or the demographic you serve shifts you have to be ready and willing to alter your brand. That doesn’t mean starting from scratch (ever), or overreacting to a small change in your business. It’s about being agile when big changes come your way. And flexibility is an important thing to work into your visual brand guidelines.
• Valuable: Creating value is part of you retain customers. Value can be demonstrated in a number of ways - from quality products to a socially responsible business model. It’s what you stand for as a company -- and it’s yet another way for customers to relate to you.
• Coherent: No matter where they’re interacting with your brand, a customer should get a familiar feeling from whatever they interact with. Everything should go together -- in a loose, approachable way.
• Unique: Self-explanatory, but the most important. Never waste your time trying to replicate someone else’s success. Figure out why you stand apart -- and if you can’t figure out why, maybe you shouldn’t be in business.
   

It’s important to remember that every good business is unique, and the first key to successful branding is simply identifying all of the characteristics that make you stand out from the crowd. Once you do that, you (or whoever you hire) can mold your messaging and craft stunning visuals.

Next week, we’ll be going over where and how you should make your brand work for you out in the wild.

Not exactly to the branding stage yet? We’ve also got a guide to help you name your business.