Your brand is so much more than your logo. It’s the personality that you create and live both online and offline.
Conversations in the media have dealt with branding for many years. In the age of hand-rendered typography and hand-made graphic design, a brand was almost simpler than it is now. The main focus areas were around logo, typography, billboards, store fronts, and other objects that were created for the physical environment.
In the current digital landscape, the focus is on digital properties: websites, Facebook pages, Instagram feeds, and digitally created/edited images for these platforms.
When creating a new brand, the most common approach is to choose a name, claim and set up all the digital platforms and go immediately into thinking about the logo.
I would suggest a different approach.
1. Start with what your company does and, more importantly, what your company does not do.
This will help you choose a name and develop a focused brand. Choosing a general name in very broad fields can cause your brand to become lost in a sea of similarly named companies. For example, choosing a name like “Joanne Jones Consulting”, is a bit too general vague and you may find it difficult to appeal to your chosen target market. You may also end up fielding emails for quotes that aren’t related to your services.
2. Decide what your brand values are.
These are the values that your staff members believe in. Your brand does more than provide a service or sell a product. It fulfils a promise, but it can only do this if the values of your brand are clear. These could be very simple values, for example: “We value honesty fun, laughter, joy and compassion.” Your brand values help you tell your unique story.
3. Decide on a name and logo
Your name and logo are often your prospective clients’ first point of contact with your brand. Once you have got your brand values and story figured out, it’s logical then to step into name and logo creation.
4. Create your social media & website
Once you have a solid concept of your brand, you can go ahead and create your website. Your website tells prospective clients more about your brand and your services. You want this to wow your visitors.
5. Create and curate content
Now it’s time to create content for your brand on your social media channels. You want this to tell your fans and community more about your work and more about the people behind the brand. Don’t be afraid to get a little bit personal here. Give your fans a ‘behind the scenes’ look into your day, or share sneak peeks into special projects that you’re working on.
Your brand should be true to the people who created it, so that you create something you love and are proud to share with the world.
This was a blog post written in 2016 when I and my business were in a very different place, physically and mentally. This was written from the perspective of someone who was a few months into running her own business in a different country from where I now live.
I have the experience of running a business, as well as 4 years of working at a marketing agency behind me, and thus my perspective has changed somewhat. I am sharing my older blog posts (from a previous iteration of my website) as a way to have a record of my writing online again.
Melissa De Klerk
Website Designer and Developer, tea lover
I am the owner and founder of Melissa Helen Co.
I have been a web designer and developer since 2015 and have worked with Wordpress since 2008. Since I started my business in 2016, my interests have revolved around business strategy and how that influences their websites.
I design and build websites for small to medium-sized businesses, have many years of branding experience, and have worked in marketing agencies.
You can send me a message me through my contact page, and find me on social media by clicking the buttons below.
