When you order a bespoke branding project, what should you expect to receive?
The more you immerse yourself in the business world, the more you find you can’t escape certain terminology. Like quicksand, you can find yourself sucked into a conversation filled with abbreviations and jargon you don’t understand, and trust us, that’s a slippery path. Before you know it, you could have agreed to something not even remotely advantageous to your business.
Well, that’s why we are here to help. In this blog, we want to look at one of the most popular terminologies of the modern business era. That is, of course, ‘branding’! Despite always being something of incredible importance, ‘branding’ and ‘brand’ have jumped to the forefront of every business mind since social media arrived. Largely down to the fact you can reinforce your brand far more readily than you ever could before the digital age, and with relative ease too.
Building a ‘brand’ has become the thing to do. We no longer want to create a start-up business; we want more than that. We want something with an identity of its own; we want a brand.
If that last paragraph sounds like you. Or, if owning a brand is mainly the reason you’ve ended up on this blog, well, it’s your lucky day because you’ve come to the right place. At Create8, building game-changing brands is a massive part of our workload and something we adore. And guess what! In this blog, we are going to help you understand what a Create8 branding project could mean to you.
So, let’s move swiftly on with this written brand adventure.
What’s included in a brand package/project?
Brand refresh
Before explaining the workload and behaviour you should expect from your branding agency, we feel it will be beneficial to explain what could be included in your package.
As with most business assets, a branding project can pretty much be as expansive as you want it to be. Many varied elements will come together to build an unforgettable brand, but the best agencies will understand that you may or may not have the resources to invest in all the assets right away.
So, what should you be expecting?
Well, firstly, it’s absolutely essential that you don’t mistake a branding project for logo design, as those contestants on The Apprentice often do! (We still don’t understand why this never gets pulled up, but that’s for another day!) Of course, logo design is one piece of the branding jigsaw, but it certainly isn’t a complete project, and don’t let anyone tell you otherwise.
When purchasing a brand project from a reputable agency or branding expert, you should expect them to think about several elements. They should think about everything within your business, from your target audience, company values, through to your mission statement, brand positioning, down to the history, your processes, even the people in your workplace, before they move into designing how your brand should look and feel.
Top Tip: The easiest way to complete the branding puzzle is to make a list of every touchpoint your company will have with potential customers. Go into your meetings with this list, ask questions and get valuable answers. If your prospective agency isn’t able to give you what you need, they’ll be plenty just waiting for the opportunity.
Branding at Create8
At Create8, we aim to build ambitious and meaningful brands that talk to your potential clients at every opportunity. We know your brand needs to talk, walk, look and feel precisely the way you want it to because your business is an extension of you and all the hard work you have poured into it.
When it comes to building brands that tick every box and create a stir in their sector, we’ve pretty much written the book (well, we’ve written a tonne of blogs, so that’s pretty much the same, right?
Choosing Create8 means you’re in safe hands, and you know that your agency will go above and beyond to bring your branding dreams to reality. But, you don’t have to just take our word for it. Why not follow the link below and check out some of our recent work?
The process of a branding project
If there’s one thing we want from every new client, it’s high expectations. At Create8, we’ve built our reputation on providing a service that goes above and beyond what is expected and helps our clients maximise their opportunities for long-term growth.
When a new project comes through the door at Create8 HQ, the cogs start turning, and our team begins building the perfect brand project. The importance of each client’s ideals for their brand is pivotal to how we design and develop the project; therefore, there are always specific steps that you can expect from our team.
Brand research
If your branding package doesn’t start with research, quite honestly, you don’t want it! Research allows us to align ourselves with your business and to understand not only your journey but the branding approach of your competitors. Without conducting in-depth research, an agency won’t know what works and what doesn’t, nor will they be able to fully understand what makes you special. Basically, you’ll be getting a blind branding project, and that’s not what you want.
Brand strategy
We will also work alongside you to create a long-term brand strategy for your company. This may seem way beyond where you are at currently, but without foresight, your brand can potentially outgrow itself and leave you missing out on potential opportunities and capital. Your strategy will define all of the approaches we will take and how you will continue to champion the same mentality further down the line. To formulate the strategy, we will use the research, your USPs and individual strengths to position you in the perfect place to succeed.
Brand workshops
Maybe it’s just us, but to create the strategy and conduct the research, we think running brand workshops are essential. You can never really get a feel for a business until you get a sense of the entrepreneur driving it. Our brand workshops allow you to understand Create8 and, of course, for us to go on your branding journey with you.
The exciting part
OK, so now we understand what you want to achieve, it’s time for the fun to begin. Once all of the groundwork is put in place, you can expect our team to get their creative juices flowing. At the design and refine stage, we build out our plans for your brand elements and retune and sharpen them until they fit your expectations perfectly.
At this point, depending on what it is you include as part of your branding project, we may also go away and formulate the tone of voice and written content for your business, using our expert copywriters.
We call it design and refine because we include you in each step of the journey. Your brand will never genuinely represent you until you understand the elements involved, and we have been able to create exactly what you had in mind.
Set your expectations high
The delivery stage is the final stage of any branding project. At this point, you will have fully signed off on all of the work we have completed and be eager to set off on your business adventure. This is every entrepreneur’s favourite part as it’s time to head off into the world and show off what you have created.
However, once again, depending on what type of package you have chosen, you may have hired Create8 to continue to work by your side. In which case, this isn’t the end after all! Some of our packages come with support and maintenance, for example, social media content creation, blog creation or brand development to include additional brands or products. The truth is, as mentioned prior, the beauty of a branding project is that it is as expansive as you need it to be.
At Create8, we pride ourselves on being a thought-provoking group of innovative creatives who love a challenge. When it comes to branding, no job is too big or too small for you to ask for our help. As well as the larger branding projects, we also have a fantastic array of brand-refresh packages whereby we can help breathe life back into your brand.
For us, a branding package has to be as collaborative as possible and include the entrepreneur at every step. Throughout the branding process, we always ask our clients for feedback and to offer any input they may have regarding how we can further develop the project.
So, what are you waiting for?
If you’re looking for a branding project or want to learn about all of the various assets that can be included when you work with Create8, reach out to us today. Alternatively, follow the link below and look at some of our previous projects; head to the contact us page and send a message, and we will get back to you.
Take a look at some more of our blogs for helpful tips, tricks and advice:
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