The importance of brand development

Your brand is one of the most valuable assets of your business. It’s the outer shell, the point of contact existing and potential customers have with your business. It’s the gut feeling people have about your business. It is not a logo. A strong brand will increase customer loyalty, increase profits and increase the valuation of your business.

Brand is one of the most hard working aspects of your business. It runs through everything you do. It needs to be considered, imaginative and worked on throughout the life of the brand to be most effective. This is why brand development and creation is so important – it’s the blue print for your brand and business.

Our brand development process

Department of brand uses a structured process to develop and create brands as detailed below.

Brand education

Having worked with many clients over the years, we feel one of the most important stages of the brand process is to educate and inform our clients on brand. Clients need to feel part of the brand process and to make educated decisions. We do this through brand tutorials and signposting to books we recommend and articles we have written. We feel it is very important for any client to be informed throughout their brand journey. This allows for the brand process to be both enjoyable and fruitful.

Brand competition analysis

An important part of the process is to look at your competition. Department of Brand will identify what they do well, what they do wrong and where there is opportunities in the market to stand out.

Brand niche definition

Often a brand can be confusing for a customer if a business offers a wide range of services or products which perhaps you wouldn’t expect to be grouped together. Finding the core of the business and defining its brand niche is essential to create a well performing brand which is top of mind in its field. We facilitate this through analysing the business and market, and considering it from the perspective of a strong brand.

Brand personality definition

Just like a person, a brand has a personality. When defining the brand personality of a business, we craft a personality for the business which is honest to the business, and one that will appeal to the core demographic of the brand. The personality of the brand affects everything in the brand, from the way your business talks to customers, written copy and the visual aspect of the brand.

Brand values definition

The values of your business are very important, but are often lost in communication and day to day running of your business. It is important to define those values and for them to be integral in the brand.

Brand attributes and benefits

Business attribute are often misused in branding and marketing and take centre stage. What is important is to take all the great attributes of the business and turn them into benefits which can then be integrated into the essence of the brand.

Brand Essence definition

Brand essence (sometime called brand DNA) is the heart and soul of your brand. It is created from combining the personality, benefits and values of the brand. It allows for the brand to be summarised in a short sentence and become the blueprint for the entire brand. With a well thought out brand essence, it is easy to know when something is on-brand or not. It creates a clear vision for the business and brand.

Brand mark creation

Once the brand has been defined, we will then create a brand mark based on the blueprint set out above. The development of the brand mark initially starts in black and white with various visual concepts. These are then developed to the final brand mark, with all relevant treatments and guidelines for the brand.