Make sure you’re not missing any tricks and check out our top tips below…

1. Do your research, and actually listen to it

Sounds simple, but it’s fundamental that you don’t make assumptions. Despite how well you think you know your target market; you could be proved drastically wrong. Take Polaroid for example – when the market for print photography declined, they just couldn’t wrap their heads around it. Despite conducting their market research, and the reality that digital albums were quickly replacing physical photo albums, Polaroid employees at the top believed that there would always be a need for print photography. This assumption led to the decline of business and Polaroid was declared bankrupt in 2001 – which ultimately could have been avoided had they listened to their market research!

2. Build your own personas.

Personas are fictional characters which represent the different types of clients, or users, within your target audience. Creating research-based personas will help you to understand your client’s needs, experiences, behaviours and goals, and recognise the varying needs and expectations of different client segments. Once you’ve undertaken your research, and created your personas, it’s time to use them to directly influence your brand strategy – and ultimately your decisions across the business. Personas can be created in different forms and will vary from business to business, take a look here for some inspiration.

3. Dare to stand out (for all the right reasons!).

Magic doesn’t happen within your comfort zone. It’s time to take some (calculated) risks and dare to stand out. An odd social media post here and there with a picture of someone retiring on a beach, or spending time with their grandchildren during retirement, unfortunately, isn’t going to cut it anymore. It’s the perfect time to delve into your personas and recognise your user’s needs and goals – is there a creative way to interpret these, or can you put an alternative spin on them? Take Surreal Cereal for example; who used a playful design and an irreverent tone of voice to stand out in a saturated market. From their “fake” celebrity campaign to their intentional graphic design crimes – Surreal has achieved its success by stepping out of their comfort zone and taking risks with their brand that market leaders, the likes of Kellogg’s and Nestle, wouldn’t ever dream of.

4. Have brand guidelines in place.

An effective set of brand guidelines is crucial to ensuring that your brand elements are used correctly and look professional at all times. While your core marketing team might know your brand down to the individual pixels and hex codes, a cohesive set of brand guidelines will help the rest of your team and any external users avoid any branding mishaps (and stop your marketers from having nightmares!). By achieving consistency, you can create a strong and recognisable brand – with the ultimate goal of having a brand that’s recognisable without your logo. Take Google for example – most people will be able to recognise their brand from the typography, colours and icons alone.

5. Walk the walk, don’t just talk the talk.

Once you’ve got everything in place, it’s important to not let your hard work go to waste. Make sure that your brand is applied to all touchpoints – consistency is key. Would someone be able to recognise your company from both your website and client brochure? Could a client recognise one of your social media posts from the branding on their annual review report? If the answer to both is yes, you’re on the right track!

If you want to discuss your branding strategy, or just check you’re on the right path, our inbox is always open.