Branding

Top Brand Strategies for 2017

June 16, 2017 by Rob Barnett Leave a Comment

It has become apparent that brands and their strategic branding agencies need to move faster in 2013, however we can’t move forward without considering the role of strategy in helping brands move towards success and growth in 2017.

If your business is looking to diversify its market this year, increase service/product offerings or increase brand followers, keep in mind that the first step of any business plan should be looking into the brand perspective of your target market and how it currently affects your business negatively or positively. The trust factor between you and your customers is crucial to the success of your goals and vision for success.

Strategies to grow your brand in 2017

Leverage your category management capabilities at retail.

Manufacturers need to apply their product and consumer expertise to help support the retailers that sell their products. Manufacturers and retailers need to form a cohesive collaborative relationship to help each other grow and remain competitive. Great companies that come to their retailer with a brand story, impactful graphic design and engaging package design will be valued and appreciated and often rewarded with better shelf presence and increased promotional opportunities. The goal is to increase foot traffic at retail and to increase consumer shopping basket size.

Be bold, and Re-brand.

The world is filled with forgettable brands. Overly designed logos and package design and a plethora of “me-to” products and services. Businesses often think that they can increase profit from a simple logo tweak, developing a new website with the same dated brand look, or splurging on a TV ad or magazine spot.

The truth is, the world doesn’t notice and likely doesn’t care. The right brand message is still not present…. If you are going through all the effort to engage your senior leadership and aspire to engage your customers in a new way — take a leap and be bold! By bold we mean define who you are as a company and who you are not. Make the tough decisions about the brand name, sub-brands, messaging, values and target market. Think about design as a strategic tool that can redefine how a category is viewed. And focus on brand experience touch points to drive home that any re-brand is more than lipstick on the proverbial pig — it’s a real, meaningful change.

Focus on Usefulness, not Innovation.

Brands need to curate innovative experiences in order to retain their current consumers and attract new ones. But brands also consistently fall into the trap of trying to creating new bells and whistles that distract the consumer, rather than providing value. A great way to avoid this is to focus on your brand’s ability to be useful. Stop thinking about innovation for a time and shift your mindset from a somewhat internal notion of innovation to a more external one of usefulness, you’ll be able to more effectively serve your consumer.

Build your Verbal Identity.

The right words are key to your brand’s success. Most people tend to think about branding in terms of imagery – company logos, photos, a website’s look and feel. It’s important, though, to understand branding is so much more than that. It’s about your values as a company and it’s also about your verbal identity. Your product names, taglines, advertising language and the everyday language you use to communicate your brand promise make up your verbal identity. This assists in projecting a consistent message for your customers to identify with.

Know your Brand is Accountable.

Social media reputation management has never been more important, and brand transparency is critical. In 2017, even the smallest mistake can become a huge public relations problem. You need to be ready with response plans in place to protect your brand reputation.

Create a Brand Experience.

In 2012, we started to see a significant shift to brand storytelling and creating branded experiences. If Apple could do it, why can’t other brands? That line of thinking brought us emotion-driven ads from Google and slick copycat designs from Microsoft. Every brand should be creating brand experiences both in-person and online in 2017. If you’re not creating them already, you’re late.

Become a Visual Brand.

In recent years, the world has witnessed the rapid growth of sites like Pinterest and Instagram that brought the demand for visual content to the forefront of digital publishing. Images didn’t just enhance content anymore. In the past, images were the content, and people loved it. Brands need to embrace visual content to tell their stories in 2017 just like the global audience has.

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The Story Behind Brand Logos

June 8, 2017 by Rob Barnett Leave a Comment

If someone were to ask you about the story behind your brand logo, how would you respond?

When it comes to branding, logos usually get the most attention, but a logo is nothing without a great brand behind it. A logo should be an impression, a suggestion or a clue. It’s really there to inspire trust and capture the essence of your brand story.

Paul Rand, one of the world’s greatest graphic designers states that “a logo is a flag, a signature, an escutcheon, a street sign. A logo does not sell (directly), it identifies. A logo is rarely a description of a business. A logo derives meaning from the quality of the thing it symbolizes, not the other way around. A logo is less important than the product it signifies; what it represents is more important than what it looks like. The subject matter of a logo can be almost anything.”

A great logo essentially boils down to two things: great concept and great execution. When you hire a professional branding agency you’re getting this — attention to detail with every colour, every line, and every design element. Each design decision has a clearly defined purpose.

Brand experts are able to articulate messages in the form of design, so you’re able to understand how your logo capture’s the essence of your business and your brand.

Unfortunately, this strategic delivery doesn’t always happen. Some designers or online stock sites come up with dozens of logo designs and leave it up to their client to figure out which one they like and why. You might wonder why is this a bad method, after all when you only see the result of a designer’s efforts, the logo creation can look like it was a simple task. But it’s not. A logo takes thought and creativity, and many elements combine to make a good one.

Strategically it is rare to have dozens of GREAT solutions, there are usually only a few good ones, and one or two great ones. Secondly, designing without the right background context, means there’s a good chance the client will never be able to fully appreciate or take pride in their logo.

[blockquote align=”right” style=”default” author=”Milton Glaser”]that act between seeing and understanding is critical.[/blockquote]

Milton Glaser, the legendary graphic designer best known for the “I Love New York” logo, says great logo design has to do with simplicity. “You want to move the viewer in a perception so that when they first look at the logo…they get the idea, because that act between seeing and understanding is critical.

A logo doesn’t need to say exactly what a company does. It is only by association with a product, a service, a business, or a corporation that a logo takes on any real meaning. Your logo should reflect your company’s culture and values: the brand essence. So don’t feel like your coffee shop’s logo needs to show coffee beans!

There are stories all around us, and brands fighting for our attention. Are you aware of their story — and more interestingly, are you part of their story?

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Internal Brand Launch Program

June 6, 2017 by Rob Barnett Leave a Comment

Corporate Branding takes significant time and energy. Our clients breathe a sigh of relief when the branding process is completed, but despite the temptation to relax, the end of the branding process is only beginning. It’s not a destination; it’s a starting point.

When launching a brand, we encourage clients to partner with us in doing an internal brand launch and knowledge transfer. This means educating your staff about the new brand, answering specific questions they have and encouraging them to share in a cohesive brand launch.

Internal brand rollout is knowledge transfer of specific strategic processes that align and empower employees to deliver the appropriate customer experience in a consistent manner.

At the core of every strong brand is an organization that is engaged and passionate about the way it makes a difference for its customers.

The power of a brand diminishes if your staff don’t understand and believe in the brand. If they understand the brand, they will know what to say and what rules to follow. If they believe in the brand, they will know how to act and they’ll be motivated to make the brand what it should be.

Belief and brand buy-in is a powerful asset in all stages of the branding process and having buy-in makes the brand rollout much easier. Successful internal brand building requires an organization to define and clearly communicate its authentic and distinctive qualities

Brand Buy In Means

Living the corporate values.
Leveraging the corporate brand strategy to reinforce brand requirements internally and reach out to potential customers externally.
Activities, processes and communications that are empowering.
Employees can create and demonstrate consistent brand experience at all touch points.

Internal Brand Launch Tools

Brand Standards Manual (Make sure all staff have a copy)
Employee newsletters
Regular town hall meetings
Weekly messages from president
Walk-the-talk ( Brand Standards, Brand Messaging etc. )
Explanation of brand attributes
Brand Education & Toolkit via corporate website

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How to Build & Measure Brand Equity

June 2, 2017 by Rob Barnett Leave a Comment

The purpose of a brand leader is to create a strong brand—and that means building Brand Equity. Brand Equity is the value of the brand in the marketplace and is defined as the assets linked to a brand’s name and symbol that add (or subtract from) a product or service.

Coca-Cola’s brand is worth nearly $70 Billion, accounting for more than 60% of its market capitalization. Brand Equity is an intangible asset, but a common characteristic of high performing brands. Having Brand Equity means that individuals would be willing to pay a premium price for your brand’s offering.

What is Brand Equity?

The dimensions of Brand Equity can be organized into four sections: Brand Awareness, Perceived Quality, Brand Associations and Brand Loyalty.

1. Brand Awareness

Often an undervalued asset, Brand Awareness affects perceptions and purchase decisions. People like familiarity, and familiar positive perceptions can lead to market superiority.

2. Perceived Quality

Perceived quality influences brand associations in many contexts and in part because it has been empirically shown to affect profitability with ROI and stock return.

3. Brand Associations

Brand Associations can be anything connecting the customer to the brand. Often including imagery, brand attributes, use situations, brand personality and icons or symbols. Intrinsic to Brand Management is determining what associations to develop and then creating programs to link these associations to the brand.

4. Brand Loyalty

Brand Loyalty is at the core of Brand Equity. The concept is to strengthen the size and intensity of each loyalty segment. A Brand which has a small, but intense customer base can have significant equity, despite its competition.

How can Brand Equity Create Business Growth?

When companies want to grow their business they often overlook Brand Equity, and instead begin offering new products, services and experiences. These efforts often fail because the brand is not strong enough for consumers to trust or follow.

EquiTrend states that the key Brand Equity Measure is perceived quality, which has been found by Total Research to be highly associated with brand-liking, trust, pride and willingness to recommend. This is essentially the average rating of consumer opinions about the brand.

EquiTrend measured Brand Equity by exploring data from 33 companies of whom had substantial sales and profits driven from the corporate brand. The results showed that firms experiencing the largest gains in Brand Equity saw their stock return average 30 percent; conversely, those firms with the largest losses in Brand Equity saw stock return average a negative 10 percent.

The relationship between Brand Equity and stock return could be caused by the fact that Brand Equity supports price premium which contributes to profitability. Thus, premium brands such as Apple, BMW, Starbucks and Whole Foods have substantial perceived quality advantages over the competition. This works both ways, where the price premium becomes a quality cue.

How to build Brand Equity?

Creating Brand Equity begins with focusing on building assets that will result in long-term profitability.

The process requires consistent reinforcement and long-term vision. This can often be a challenge for CEO’s who desire immediate growth and short-term payoff. For this reason, there must be total buy-in and trust from key stakeholders that Brand Building will result in the long-term payoff and competitive advantage.

Brilliant brand execution is the key to a strong brand; and the stronger the brand is, the higher the probability that the brand will continue generating equity and demand in the future. The challenge is to be noticed and remembered, to influence perceptions and reinforce attitudes. By measuring brand strength, it can determine how well you’re building brand equity.

Internal Brand Strength Factors

Clarity

Understanding of the Brand Purpose, values, positioning and proposition.
Understanding of target audiences, customer insights and drivers.

Commitment

Internal commitment to brand and belief in the brand.
Support for the brand, including; time, influence, investment.

Responsiveness

The ability to respond to market changes, challenges, hiccups and opportunities.
Internal leadership and a desire to constantly evolve and renew.

Protection

Securing the brand across a number of dimensions, including legal protection, proprietary technology, design or geographical area.

External Brand Strength Factors

Relevance

The fit with customer/consumer needs, desires and decision criteria.

Authenticity

The brand is soundly based on the promise and capability. It has a defined heritage and a well grounded value set. It can deliver against the high customer expectations.

Differentiation

The brands “onliness factor” and degree of radical differentiation vs. the competition.

Consistency

The ability to communicate without detracting or wandering from the core brand purpose and strategy.

Understanding

The brand is recognized by customers, and there is an emotional attachment and understanding of its distinctive qualities and characteristics.

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Considering a Re-brand?

June 2, 2017 by Rob Barnett Leave a Comment

Re-branding your business can be a challenging yet rewarding process, and to be successful it must be done with strategy — best managed by a professional branding agency.

At certain times business’ will reach the waypoint known as “the re-brand.” This occurrence may come about early on once the business discovers who they really are, or later when the business has outgrown their brand.

As your business grows and transforms, perhaps expanding into new markets, it is vital that your brand reflects the positive changes taking place. A brand is a promise, and if your brand doesn’t accurately reflect its offering, potential customers could be deterred or disappointed.

More than Visual Re-branding

A common mistake is to view the re-branding process and its outcomes as a series of logo changes or marketing shifts. This is an immediate re-branding FAIL. A brand is much more than a logo or a tagline. A brand is a multitude of tangible and intangible elements which add up to create a positive or negative brand experience.

Apparent change, like a new logo or name, is often just the tip of the iceberg. The logo is a key ambassador to the brand, but for the logo to be effective it must communicate a deeper meaning. A true re-branding process involves analyzing the foundation and core of who the business is. We must gain clarity around the business’ vision and goals, current challenges, stakeholder feedback, operating procedures, market position and competitive landscape.

Only through these key findings can we work to develop a re-branding strategy.

Re-branding Strategy

At this stage the guesswork has been removed, through sound planning and analysis. Here we distill our findings to support the Re-branding Strategy Document. The re-branding strategy will encapsulate particulars about the brand that must change and also designates things that should remain the same.

Re-branding Execution

We believe our branding agency’s comprehensive approach allows us execute a holistic re-branding program from end-to-end, with the continuity and consistency vital to a re-brand.

Executing the re-branding strategy means aligning the company’s purpose with its customers’ expectations. A this stage we will; enhance the brand personality, tell the brand story through visual aspects, adapt communications to better reflect products or services, and work through the strategic messaging platform for all corporate communications.

Ditching the old brand, for good.

As a professional branding agency, we can only take you so far and then it’s up to you.

During the re-branding process, there will be some state of limbo when the old isn’t quite gone, but the new hasn’t yet taken root. We’re often surprised to watch businesses who’ve supposedly re-branded, but whom are still using some of the old graphics, communication material or brand logo.

If you are re-branding it means that your old brand is no longer viable. Part of a successful re-brand is a commitment to the new brand and a consistency moving forward. You’ve taken the time to think about your objectives, get everyone involved and invest in professional branding experts — don’t let your efforts fall to the wayside.

It is also critical to remember that your brand doesn’t live in one department – it spans the entire organization and must be supported by all.

Why Choose a Re-branding Agency

The reality of re-branding is, we as branding experts grow your brand which grows your sales and strengthen customer relationships. Growing a brand is a carefully developed strategic process that drives a brand to be established in the marketplace and hedges the brand against market fluctuations and competitors.

Why re-brand your company?

To differentiate from your competitors & stand out from the crowd.
To unify a common goal or promise across the brand.
To disassociate with a negative brand image.
To refine your brand offering, product or service.
To recover or regain clients from a specific target market.
To refresh a dated Brand Identity, to bring the company into the current expectations.

Is your business ready for a Re-brand

As branding experts we believe it’s critical to consider these principles and decide if your business should re-brand.

Re-branding is more than a face-lift – it’s a deeper change in a company’s philosophy and culture as such it often requires an intensive commitment of 6–12 months.

Objectivity often requires insight and experience from a professional branding agency, without one you’re likely to only scratch the surface. You need to do your research and choose a professional branding agency with solid re-branding experience.

A re-brand requires mastery of execution which is paramount to producing results. You’ll need to allocate the appropriate resources to effectively accomplish a re-brand.

Re-branding can involve a significant financial investment depending on the business size, stakeholders involved. You’re commitment to the re-brand should not fall short because of the financial investment required to do it properly.

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How to Create a Brand & Company

June 2, 2017 by Rob Barnett Leave a Comment

I know what you’re going to say, your new product is brilliant, it’s a game-changer and you’re unbelievably passionate so it’ll surely be a success! Problem is, if you don’t have the right business & brand strategy in place, that passion often doesn’t translate into profits.

Starting your own business is exciting, but you’ll need to spend some time developing a solid business concept, business plan, brand and marketing strategy. We’ve put together a synopsis of how to create a successful brand and company.

How to Write a Business Plan

How to write an effective business plan is about being well prepared and having plenty of resources at your fingertips. Business plans typically consist of these sections:

Executive summary

The major points of your business plan summarized in one or two pages.

Company overview

Your mission, vision, values, products, unique attributes, and the business opportunity you plan to seize.

Business environment

An analysis of your industry, your marketplace, your customers, your competition, and how you stack up.

Company description

The capabilities that give you a unique advantage over your competitors — including your management, technology, operations, distribution, service, finances, and marketing.

Company strategy

Your roadmap to the future (including how you’ll seize opportunities and avoid threats), your growth plans, your marketing plan, and even your exit strategy

Financial review

The state of your finances, including your income statement, balance sheet, cash flow statement, profit projection, and budget

Action plan

The steps and process’ you’ll take to implement your business plan and meet your goals and objectives.

Download the Straydog Business Plan Template

How to Name your Brand

The right name can make a significant impact for your business. Arriving at that perfect name, is a challenge, and it seems the URLs for every four-letter word in the English language have long since been snatched up, making the process of finding something unique and legally protectable seem insurmountable.

Don’t be discouraged and don’t settle for something less than perfect! Your naming strategy should be carefully considered, as great names create a positive image in the consumers mind, can help with “brand play” and are unique and consistent with your brand vision.

As you search for the perfect name, try not to fall into the temptation of taking the “me too” strategy, as it won’t help your brand stand apart from the competition. Really, if there’s already BlackBerry are you seriously considering Grape?

If you’re stuck, we recommend seeking the help of a professional brand naming expert. They are skilled at the art of coming up with names that makes sense, are unique and more importantly… will help tell your brand story.

Learn more about Brand naming styles [+]
Try Canada’s name search NUANS Corporate Name Search [+]
Contact our branding firm Request a Brand Naming Quote [+]

How to Brand your Business

Once you have your business plan finalized, you’ll need to hire a Professional Branding Firm to assist in developing a brand for your business.

Before jumping into the process of searching for a branding firm, you need to have a clear understanding of what developing a brand actually involves. There are many companies who offer services such as; logo design, web design, business card design and so on, but that is not branding… a logo is not your brand.

Logo design, identity design and web design all have different roles that together, assist in communicating the brand message and forming a perceived image for a business or product.

Branding is the process or creating a brand name, personality, messaging, graphics and strategy around what your company stands for and wants to express. Branding is about building a positive collection of perceptions about your business in your customers’ minds.

Learn more about Branding [+]

How to Create Brand Value

Once you’ve established your business and developed a solid brand, you should be able to effortless express the brand value you are providing your customers.

Building your brand value begins with a powerful storytelling strategy and making a strategic commitment to put this core value proposition, consistently at the core of every brand communication. This means each time you interact with and communicate with your target audience, whether it’s in-person, through a brochure, on your website or through social media, you are expressing your same mission and brand promise of how you fulfill their need.

Brand value is a perception in the mind of the consumer, which like that familiar, well-worn route you take to your favourite coffee shop can also lead to habit — the personal, automatic, and unconscious behaviour you so desire for your new company.

Brand Building Resources

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Straydog launches 3 new websites for Paladin Security

May 5, 2017 by Rob Barnett Leave a Comment

Straydog completes and launches Paladin Security’s new websites.

For over 6 years, Paladin Security has worked closely with Straydog for all of their branding, graphic design and website design and development services. In this time, we have provided a very broad range of services to Paladin Security. From brand management, and strategic brand consulting services, to the graphic design for promotional and marketing material, and the design for all of their trade show booths, as well as the interior and graphic design for their head office in Burnaby, BC. Over the years we have also had the pleasure to be their choice for all of their website design, development and ongoing support needs. In 2012, we took their old Joomla website and designed a new and impressive website in Drupal. At the same time, we also designed and developed an internal Drupal intranet site for all of their employee online communication needs.

Over the years, Paladin has grown an an incredible pace, from their humble beginnings over 40 years ago with just 4 employees and 1 contract, to over 10,000 employees today, they are now the largest independent integrated security firm in Canada, and we are proud to be their agency of choice.

In 2016, Paladin began to move into the USA, which was no easy feat considering the level of competition in the US. In order for this US expansion to be successful, it meant that the Paladin brand would require some re-focus and re-fining for the US marketplace. The US is a much different marketplace, especially with respect to security, and this meant that success in the US would be dependent upon the ability for Paladin and the Paladin brand to effectively communicate their core difference and value-added benefit of being a security company focused on providing the highest standards of security service, custom-tailored to each clients requirements based on the industry in which they operate. This move also required a new brand name for the US marketplace and a new website as well, the PalAmerican website. We also built their new US intranet site for their US employees.

This expansion was also the right time for Paladin in Canada to re-focus their brand and digital presence in this country. For that to happen, we partnered with Paladin to design and develop their new Paladin Security website.

Our scope of services:

Comprehensive digital strategy for Canadian and US online presence
IA, UX and wireframing for the two new websites
Website design and WordPress development for the new websites
Drupal development services for their new US intranet site for employees
Web copyrighting for both the new corporate and US websites

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Straydog designs the new brand & website for Cannabis Compliance Inc.

May 2, 2017 by Rob Barnett Leave a Comment

Straydog designs and the new brand and website for Cannabis Compliance Inc.

Cannabis Compliance Inc. is a newly incorporated company, a spin-off from NHP Consulting, which has worked with Straydog for over 8 years. With the massive and growing opportunity for the medicinal and recreational cannabis business in Canada, NHP began CCI in early 2017 and then recently asked us to develop the new “brand identity” and website for the new Cannabis Compliance Inc. company.

The result: A bold and clean brand identity. We have designed a strong CCI anogram, whereby the gaps in the letters represent the comprehensive services that CCI provide to their clients.

Our scope of services:

Strategic brand development and brand design services
Graphic design of business collateral: business cards, letterhead and envelopes, email signature
Design for a marketing brochure
Trade show booth design
Website design
WordPress development
Web and print copyrighting
Google G-Suite and email configuration

If you’re looking for strategic brand or website design and development services, then give us a whistle! Request a Proposal

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The new City of Vancouver logo

February 27, 2017 by Rob Barnett Leave a Comment

As a guest of Kirk LaPointe on Vancouver’s Roundhouse Radio, Straydog’s Rob Barnett comments on the newly design City of Vancouver Logo.

Airing on Monday evening February 27th on Roundhouse Radio – 98.3 FM, Rob Barnett is interviewed by Kirk LaPointe regarding the City of Vancouver’s decision to design a new city logo/wordmark, here are some treats from that interview;

Asked as to whether the new logo should is a good design or not, Rob mentions that ” A well defined, well designed logo or wordmark should help to capture an audiences’ imagination, it should instill a sense of belonging among it’s residents and it should be beneficial for economic purposes such as tourism and business investment. Vancouver is a vibrant, progressive and naturally beautiful city. When we think of Vancouver, when visitors, tourists, residents or investors think of Vancouver, what comes to mind? The logo should reflect these thoughts and emotions. The logo should help to inspire the viewer and to communicate all the great things that are Vancouver…..this logo certainly misses the mark on that regard”.

Moreover, what do do city planners and key stakeholders want these people to think when they look at the logo? These are things that a brand should convey. A city brand, logo or wordmark should be a visual representation of everything that a city embodies, it’s personality, it’s culture, it’s beauty, it’s uniqueness. It’s hard to see how this new logo achieves this.

Vancouver is about natural beauty, multiculturalism, progressiveness, openness, our First Nations heritage, the health and vibrant lifestyle of it’s residents. The logo should be a reflection of these qualities and characteristics.

Vancouver is the most livable city in North American, and ranked in the top 5 in the world. We constantly score high in terms of health, education, culture and the environment. Is the new logo a good representation of this?

What was wrong with the old logo? Did the city undergo an exhaustive research process to determine direction for design, did the process involve a thorough analysis of other city brands and logos, did they conduct interviews with key stakeholders, residents, investors or visitors on what they thought of the existing brand or how they view Vancouver…..what inspires them about the city, why they choose to live, visit or invest here?

It’s been reported that they city paid $8,000 for this re-brand or design of the new logo. I would ask how a budget of $8,000 could support a thorough brand development process? In my professional opinion, that’s just not do-able. $8,000 would support some design, without strategy, and it seems that that’s what has occurred here.

Are you an early or late-stage company that can benefit from an investment in brand building? If so, Request a Proposal

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