Branding Beyond Digital
We are big fans of digital. It's a set of brand building tools that we use every single day because it's so pointed, so measurable and so accessible. But our biggest struggle is to reinforce and remind clients that branding can not be purely digital. The brand experience must be extended and considered across every potential brand touchpoint. This seems like branding 101, but it's more difficult than one would expect.
You See It Every Day
We often joke with clients about how we have to be the brand police. But in actuality it's a big part of our roll with long term clients. Once we have defined and designed the brand, the key is consistency. The problem is that most of the people we work with are a part of a single brand, so they see that brand every day. As a result the desire to start to play and deviate from the structure and strategy that we've worked so hard to establish begins to creep in.Documents created in the DISCOVER phase outlining the audience, the brand essence and the brand strategy become our main tools to quell any uprisings. We recommend a solid brand style guide as well. That way if a change is made in the branding there is a record moving forward. It also helps avoid snap decisions because we can say, "Okay, if you want to make this change we're going to update the style guide." Oh wait...maybe we should take another look at this.
Branding Your Space
For businesses like restaurants, branding the space is essential. If someone sees a social media post that inspires them to try out a restaurant and the experience when they walk through the door is completely different from the digital experience, people will be disappointed. We like to be involved with interior decoration to make sure all branding efforts are aligned.The other upside of branding space is a consistent and comfortable experience throughout a chain. You always know when you're in a Starbucks even if you don't see the famous green brand mark.We're big proponents of branding office space with almost as much intent as retail spaces. When someone walks into our office they immediately know what we're all about because of the decor, the music and believe it or not, the small size of our office. We don't want a big space. We like to be tight so collaboration is natural.It's really easy these days to focus all brand building efforts on digital. The reach for the price is hard to argue. But if you focus on some of the often overlooked aspects of branding then the true story will be more effectively conveyed.