Startups build brand strategies into their business plans. Established companies review their brand strategy every few years and if needed, retool and rebrand to suit changing markets. It should be obvious that branding is an essential element in any successful business plan.

Some may think of branding as a time-consuming exercise and added cost on top of already expensive marketing programs. When talking about traditional branding strategies, they’re right!

Did you know…?

You can save time and money on branding while making your brand stronger at the same time.

Project-Integrated Branding

Branding is an effort that can be blended with a concrete initiative such as a new business card, brochure, ad campaign or website design. This makes sense because you can see the brand come alive in its first execution, even in the development phase.

Branding is included!

If your website designer happens to be a trained and highly experienced brand strategist, then maybe you could expect branding or rebranding to be included in your web design project. Your branding strategy can be naturally integrated into the process rather than extra work added on to the job. This happens to be one of our firm’s key differentiators.

We designed a new brand concept concurrently with a website project for a Massachusetts retailer & distributor. By integrating this creative work, the client saved a ton of time and money while launching an entirely new, fresh and lively brand that’s growing and has become quite popular in the local market.

If your brand identity is drab or outdated, we will help you improve its look and feel as well as its relevancy in any project we touch.

Is It Time for Rebranding?

Do you own or manage a small business? Does it make sense to hire a branding agency when you can work with a senior brand strategist in the design and launch of a new marketing piece?

More Branding Success Examples

• How about a refreshed brand identity without paying for an expensive branding strategy? This client just got one and loves it! Click to experience their brand powered on!
• Another client never asked for a brand strategy but did indeed rebrand their company just by hiring us to design business cards, truck signage and a new website.
• And for another client, a new website design project morphed their brand into a completely refreshed image and identity in all of their other marketing communications.
• We transformed a CPA’s brand from “bookkeeper & tax preparer” to “trusted CPA and business advisor” with a new website. The client described her experience this way: “Thanks for coordinating the website. It is by far the best one I’ve ever had, and it sends the right message about what my business is all about.”

Does your business look, sound and feel the way you want it to? Want to feel great about your brand? Project-integrated branding might be ideal.

Redesign your website, brochure or ad for the price you would expect to pay and you will receive a professional brand strategy review and upgrade free.

Click to get started! Or, just call 603-345-7223 to talk with a senior brand strategist and design expert.

The post Get a premium brand identity without “branding!” appeared first on Chuck Sink Link.

There’s nothing wrong with any of the steps taken in this scenario but there’s a vital ingredient missing which often leads to client disappointment. Being focused on graphic design and showing something artistically pleasing, web designers will rush off to design a website without client-reviewed content, save perhaps an established tagline and some corporate identity. Let’s take the simple example of a coffee shop. In all the zones where the right words are needed to convey your precise message, you see something like this…

Image source: hilecreative.com

Now, you the client are expected to fall in love with the colors & visuals, approve the “look and feel” and begin the hard work of replacing the meaningless “Lorem Ipsum” placeholder text with your own expertly written, compelling messages so the designer can develop a functional website.

The ball is in your court and the process is stalled. 

You may not even like the initial design visual because the verbal messages for the website were glossed over and not provided for in your meeting. The designer’s incomplete understanding of your business and brand identity can result in a design do-over with frustration on both sides.

Do you have time to write your entire website – headlines, storytelling and bullet points – or would you expect your agency/designer to help produce a strong message in both words and visuals… at a minimum, something to kick start the process with the initial design comps?

You may wonder at this point why the website design process isn’t better defined – particularly in the small business arena. Small web boutiques and freelance designers often struggle with the content provision aspect of web design during the early development stage, instead relying on their clients to come up with it.

Need a good web designer? Ask a content specialist!

Great web development firms apply consistent processes and systems to their clients’ projects which includes specifying responsibility for launch-ready content. This manages both expectations and workflows. But for many small businesses, affording the top tier services of such firms can be an issue.

There’s an alternative web design approach that allows small businesses to work with talented web design pros combined with the creative direction and business acumen you find at elite marketing agencies.

You begin your design process with content. 

A website design that begins with the actual words and messages that it will ultimately display, rather than a bunch of placeholder gibberish, is starting out much more true to the brand. When you see the words and images working together from the get go, you will be further on your way to approving the design, completing development and launching the website. Editing text and images here and there on a live website can be done on the fly.

Finalizing the design becomes enjoyable as you see it all come together in a beautiful and fully functioning website. You cannot wait for your customers and the public to see it, engage with it and act on it’s messages.

The post Reverse engineer your website design appeared first on Chuck Sink Link.