Need help with branding?

Your brand is what helps you stand out from everyone else in your field and beyond. It's encapsulated in your logo, but it is about much more besides. We can help with every aspect of it.

When it started out, branding was used simply as a means to denote the ownership of livestock, so if cattle owned by two different people inadvertently mixed in a pasture, it was easy to spot which belonged to whom. It also helped to guard against cattle rustling.

Branding was a way of quickly and visually distinguishing between herds.

We may have given up on doing it with a branding iron heated in the coals until white hot, but the basic principle hasn't really changed all that much over the years.

Put simply, branding is all about differentiation.

It's a way of standing out, whether that's on social media or a supermarket shelf.

People often confuse branding with logos, and while they are definitely a key aspect of branding, it would be wrong to think that's all it is about.

These days, branding is about your mission, your vision and values, the way your business acts, its voice, and its ethics just as much as it is about visual assets (it's why we advocate including things like social media persona in Brand Guidelines, not just details of the typeface and colours used in a logo and slogan).

Branding today involves all the many ways that you can portray the uniqueness of your business and its value proposition. How you can differentiate it. How you can make sure it stands out from its rivals.

Take the Innocent food and drinks business as an example - it's really got branding nailed. The logo with a halo (denoting innocence, at a glance) is immediately and subtly suggestive of wholesome produce. And if you haven't already, check out its legendary use of social media where over 602,000 people have 'liked' its Facebook page and more than 275,000 people follow it on Twitter.

Businesses that take a strong stance on the environmental or societal issues of the day also have brands that are distinguishable from others. Voluntarily paying people the Living Wage Foundation's real living wage, for instance, is a great way of setting your business apart, and is just as much a part of its overall branding as the way it looks.

What branding is all about, in a nutshell, is acting, looking and being different so you stand out, get noticed and are remembered.

We can help you understand your purpose, your points of difference (and how to promote them), and craft a brand identity that sums-up your entire essence. If all you need is a logo, our designers can create that for you too.