BRANDING
plan + position
Top shelf branding
WHAT IT MEANS
The technical definition of a brand is the sum total of all functional and emotional assets of the product, service or group that differentiate it among the competition. Ultimately though, a brand is a person’s gut feeling about a product, service or company. It’s a gut feeling because we’re all emotional, intuitive beings, despite our best efforts to be rational. And it’s a person’s gut feeling because in the end, the brand is defined by individuals—not companies, markets, or the general public. Each person creates his or her own version of it. Regardless of whether the beliefs a customer holds about your company are many or few, good or bad, accurate or inaccurate, they comprise the image of your brand and influence how your customer thinks and buys.
01
Brand
Consultation
Before your brand is created, your organization should be set up for success. The Creative Bar examines both your current and future state to understand what will motivate your customers and employees. This foundation supports a brand that drives positive experiences and engagement at every point of contact.
Analysis: Create a collaborative document to better understand your primary objectives, general history, political landscape, resources, competitors, etc.
Collateral & Media Audit: Review existing marketing and advertising materials.
Familiarization Tour: Tour the company, face-to-face interaction.
Key Stakeholder Interviews: One-on-one interviews with key stakeholders to gather current perceptions.
Demographic Interviews: Informal interview and think-tank process with existing customers. This will not only allow us to learn more about the core demographic, but also reveal targeted advertising opportunities.
To create an experience accurately reflecting a brand, an organization’s team needs to embrace the new brand and know how to use it before it’s implemented in their industry. How they answer phones, how they treat their customers, how it feels to deal with their business, the look of your website and marketing materials — these are all expressions that make your brand message work. The Creative Bar helps implement your brand by presenting the organization’s newly created guidelines to staff, the board of directors, vendors and industry press. Working together face-to-face is crucial to creating an authentic brand. That is why we have traveled to over ten countries on four continents to effectively build and launch our clients’ brands.
02
Brand
Development
The best time to brand is at the beginning. But what if you missed it? The obvious news is you’re likely losing profitability—not capitalizing on your “slice of the pie”, if you will. But the most important and lesser-known reality is that the longer you stay where you are, the harder it is to change your consumer’s perception of you. Companies like Blockbuster, Kodak and AOL, for example, realized this too late.
Marketing a product successfully and with any kind of longevity falls solely on the brand. Your competitors may come out with a similar product tomorrow but a Harley Davidson man is a Harley Davidson man. If the bike isn’t his brand, with the same feeling and emotion he grew to love and expect from it, he won’t buy the bike.
Services are products that people buy sight-unseen. Unlike tangible products, that shoppers can see and feel, people buy services based on their trust that the brand they’re buying from will deliver as promised. Examples of globally recognized service brands include Google, H&R Block, and FedEx.
The most important thing when it comes to effective brand deployment is consistency. Our Communication Style Guide will explain how to properly deploy your brand concerning all things visual—from logo to fonts, colors, photo style and more.
03
Brand
Deployment
The power of effective graphic design work should not be overlooked. Now more than ever, design has a huge opportunity to prove itself as a company’s most valuable consumer touch point. Many factors influence a final product, and it is important to recognize the significance of a successful design as it is the beginning of all effective visual communications. The Creative Bar has won numerous national graphic design awards for clients of all sizes and budgets, and prides itself on providing excellent work to the client, allowing a company to stand apart from its competition.
The process of designing a website begins with a concept that includes planning, research, and production. Many companies use websites to deliver their brand message to their consumers directly. With technology constantly evolving, The Creative Bar offers website creation on a variety of different platforms in order to meet the needs of its clients—including HTML, WordPress and Smartphone applications.
