Branding, So Much More Than a Logo

Branding | Brand Building

Branding Is Not About Your Brand

Branding is about your audience, and most importantly, your customer. And while logos are important, they are just one small part of a successful and thriving brand. A proper branding process involves creating a multi-dimensional perspective of what the brand looks like, what it sounds like, and what it projects to the outside world. All of these aspects, when done right, increase the chances having a favorable effect on your audience's mind and emotions. And this effect should be long-lasting with the ability to gain continuous momentum over time.

Regardless of whether you are establishing a corporate identity, or a new product or service brand, it is crucial to start by aligning your brand's values with those of your customer's. What are their needs and pain points? What would make their lives easier? The answers lie in a highly immersive process that takes work and discipline to achieve.

Emerging with a 360-degree view of your market and customer needs then points the way to visual design elements and other valuable brand attributes. But if you jump straight into the production part, what will result will likely lack purpose and meaning, which consumers can sense.

In this sense, you only have one chance to launch (or relaunch) a brand, so why not do it the right way?

Thinking About Cutting Costs with a More Lean Approach to Branding?

The "ready. — fire! — aim." approach is one well embraced among lean startups. However, this idea is directed more toward product development cycles and introducing product/service innovations to the market (inspired by lessons from lean manufacturing). Along these lines, some companies like to take a quick-win approach to branding, especially startups. These companies bypass the initial phases of discovery and strategy and go straight to the design work.

You Can't Fix Reputation with Version Releases

Unlike product development, however, brand development should not run in cycles; it is not something you want to continue to experiment and work on through “version releases” once you launch. Bypassing the critical steps of research, discovery and strategy can prove to be risky and can result in exponential costs and expenditures down the road. In fact, it has the potential to cause more harm than good to your image and reputation by creating confusion and mistrust (negative brand equity). All of this is harder to reverse and overcome after the fact, as compared to accomplishing the work upfront, and creating a representative and distinctive brand that everyone can stand behind.

We understand that investing in your brand is investing in your business. That’s why MINDVIBZ^® is here to help you make the most of one of your most important investments and streamline the process to ensure you optimize the outcome of your brand's identity.

How to Determine if Working with a Branding Agency Is Right for You?

There are several factors to consider when deciding to develop and launch a brand. Firstly, review the capabilities you have internally. Are they highly trained brand strategists with decades of experience? Do they truly understand the leadership objectives? Can they articulate the nuances and intricacies of the industry, and the company’s competitive advantage, from an outside vantage point? Are they capable of developing a framework around your vision within their daily workload?

If not, then an expert agency is the appealing and ultimately cost-effective solution. A highly trained brand agency already knows and understands the process, leading the way the entire time. This creates efficiency and alliance across diverse teams such as leadership, product, and sales that each have different priorities.

To start exploring, talk with an agency like ours to hear their specific approach and vantage point. Beyond capabilities, ask yourself whether you like the people involved, and feel a connection with them. After all, these are the individuals, who will be entrusted to develop your brand and serve as trusted advisors. So be sure that you like what they have to say, and how they say it. It will give you a glimpse into what the outcome will be.

Our Brand Building Approach

Differentiate, Build Trust, Create Empathy and Gain Loyalty with MINDVIBZ^®

Building your brand and creating its essence, or the emotional heart of your brand, is essential to your company's strategy for growth. We refine and perfect attributes such as your company vision, mission statements and brand values to determine what you stand for as a company and guide your brand into the future.

Through our condensed branding process, we work in partnership with your designated team, from leadership to product management to sales and marketing. This also includes any other key internal stakeholders that are pivotal to your organization. Through our time-tested process, we and guide you to discover and define both the rational and emotional connections your audience should have with your brand, and explore the following aspects to uncover new insights and informed recommendations:

• Attributes
• Benefits
• Values
• Personality
• Essence

Understanding What Your Brand Truly Needs 

Along with shaping your brand, we look for a point of empathy that will resonate with consumers in your target audience. When it comes from a place of authenticity, an empathetic brand is more likely to form an emotional attachment, which impacts purchase behavior.

We identify and amplify one specific value that is inherent to your brand that elevates you above all others. Some of the most important aspects of empathetic brands are::

• Ability to Attract and Drive Awareness: The cornerstone of a strong brand. Is your target audience and key stakeholders aware of your brand? Is it the first one that comes to mind?
• Positioning / Relevant Differentiation: The leading driver of future market share and profitability. Do your customers and prospects perceive your brand to be able to meet their needs and solve their problems?
• Emotional Connection: Does your brand connect with your target audience on an emotional level and convey trust?
• Value: Does your brand deliver good value for the price?
• Accessibility: Do prospects and customers perceive your brand to be convenient to get to know, trust, purchase and use?

Why Investing in Brand Development Is Investing in Your Business

There are numerous advantages to working together with a modern marketing and branding agency like MINDVIBZ^® to bring the development of your brand identity to life. Here are five:

Building a strong, empathetic brand with the right expertise, internally and externally, …

1. Helps you differentiate and set you apart.
2. Helps your audience want to connect with you.
3. Influences behaviors toward desired outcomes.
4. Creates organizational synergies by getting everyone working on the same page keeping the customer in mind.
5. Is an investment you make once (you don't want to do this one twice, so be sure to do it right the first time).

Four Cornerstones of a Great Brand

At MINDVIBZ^®, our brand and identity development services are designed to create an ever growing affinity among your customers and prospects by ensuring it is:

1. Distinct  (instant recognition)
2. Memorable  (easy remembrance)
3. Cohesive & Easy to Apply  (scalable repetition)
4. Clear & Easy to Share  (effortless recommendation)

Our Brand Building Framework Solution

A Tried-and-True Brand Building Process Methodology

By working with us, you and your team will align and gain a greater understanding of your brand’s role in achieving your business’ goals and objectives. When you invest in the brand building services from MINDVIBZ^®, you’ll be led through our tried-and-true process to create a strong and unique brand, which increases the opportunities for market success and visibility. Here are the steps involved. 

1. Brand Discovery: Gain insight and understanding about the challenges and opportunities your brand is facing, and ways to connect and grow. Agency-led team workshop to review business growth objectives, guiding principles, industry and competition, product/service features and benefits and your audience and segmentation.
2. Brand Strategy: We devise a strategy including brand positioning, brand promise and attributes, brand personality, benefits, value proposition, brand touchpoint mapping and more.
3. Brand Naming: We create a brand or product name (if you haven't already secured one) that is not only distinctive and appealing to your audience but is also available to trademark and protect.
4. Brand Design: We develop a verbal and visual identity that resonates with your audience and attracts, connects and builds trust. We create design elements including logo design, tagline development, typography, colors, logo lockup, brand voice, brand story and more.
5. Brand Guidelines: We unify and strengthen your brand with brand guidelines to ensure consistency and proper usage, preserving its integrity and value. Guidelines include logo system, typography, color system, brand imagery direction, stationery layouts, and more.
6. Brand Integration: We'll make initial recommendations to ensure consistency across all channels from the website, social media and sales collateral to resale partners and beyond, which may lead to additional assignments or a long-term agency partnership.

Where the Groundwork Begins

We know that having a solid blueprint and putting it into action doesn’t just take careful planning and execution. It also requires solid communication.

That’s why we’re dedicated to:

• Taking the lead on arranging collaborative sessions across your team stakeholders.
• Making ourselves available after meetings for additional review and feedback.
• Streamlining the process using the skills and efficiencies we have developed over time.
• Aligning with a designated, single point-of-contact to consolidate feedback.

Build a Brand That Pulls Your Audience In Like a Magnet with MINDVIBZ^® 

If you’re looking to differentiate, build trust, create empathy and emotional connections with your brand, MINDVIBZ® will help with a strategic brand blueprint and development strategy that addresses your needs and business objectives, along with our own creative vision and insights.

To start building your brand so it's built to last, click here to get started and we’ll be happy to get in touch to see how we can help.