Creating a Successful Branding Experience

Your brand encompasses what you do, how you do it, what you stand for and how you are perceived. A solid brand will not only increase the value of your company but provide an insight into your company’s direction and services. When your branding is spot on…

• People get who your business is, what you do—and why your company is so unique.

• You market your business more enthusiastically. 

• Gaining new clients and customers eases. 

• Setting your company or organization apart happens organically. 

So, what goes in to successful branding:

Design
This is the initial phase to produce the look and general function of your company. This aspect of your brand is where all ideas are flushed out to begin the visual representation of who you are as a business.

Logo
A logo is the identifier of a company usually through a word mark or symbol (often referred to as an icon). Once a logo becomes familiar, it becomes the visual identifier of a company.

Identity
Identity is the visual package that forms the aspects of the brand as a whole. Simply, identity design is based around the visual mechanisms assembled within a set of guidelines. These guidelines establish how the identity is applied throughout (i.e., color palettes, fonts, layouts, etc.). 

Strategy
Strategy has been studied for years, yet, there is no definitive answer about what a concrete strategy really is. This is the stage where a method or plan is chosen to bring about a desired future achievement of a goal or solution to your company’s unique direction.

Advertising
Advertising is a form of visual communication used to promote or sell your business's product or service.

Marketing
The marketing of your business is based in terms of what your customer needs and their satisfaction. Marketing has less to do with getting customers to pay for the product/service but developing the demand of that product/service to meet the customer’s needs.

Value
This is defined as you company’s principles or standards of behavior regarding the importance, worth and integrity of your services based on the needs of your potential customers.

Trust
This aspect of your brand is the overall experience of your company’s interaction with the customer. A brand is more than a logo, a slogan and some color choices. The core focus behind having a company image is that everything a company does and produces reflects upon the values and experience of the company. It is the full emotional interaction as a whole.

Naming Your Business

First impressions matter! Names hold a big importance to all of us. They are who we are, the mark of our identity and each name is special and unique in its own way. Your business name should be thought of in the same way. This is a very important decision and not one to be taken lightly as you will have this name for duration of your business… which will hopefully be long and prosperous.

1. What is your purpose?
Your company’s mission will help you narrow down the brand and image you want to portray with your name based on a simplistic A, B, C structure:

“We help our (A) do (B) through (C).”

Ex. We help (A) entrepreneurs (B) create memorable branding (C) through creative and distinctive logo designs.

2. Who is your client?
It’s a known fact that in life, you can’t please everyone. Creating a brand name does not only define you company but also involves an emotional response. Because of this you will want to consider your target audience and how your name may resonate with them.  It doesn’t make sense to try to please everyone. And that goes for defining the target audience for your company name and brand too. But you do want to consider your audience and how your name might resonate with them.

Think about the makeup of your target audience:

• Gender

• Age

• Location

• Profession

• Income

• Education level

3. Does your name feel authentic?
One of the biggest things we have learned is that. Being authentic and true to yourself and your mission is important in every structure of your business - from your company name to the way you answer the phone. The name and branding should feel comfortable and make you feel confident in selling your product or service. It should also set the tone for what the client can expect when working with you.

• Ask your friends and family! This can be a great way to test your business name and get feedback from people who know you best.

• How does it sound when you say it out loud? How do you feel?

4. Is it unique? Is it memorable and distinctive?
Much like your visual brand, your business name should be distinctive, memorable, easy to pronounce and emotionally appealing. This is where research is key by looking in to your competition (locally, nationally, within your industry) to ensure you are positioning yourself in a unique way.

5. Can it be trademarked?
This is an important consideration depending on how big you want to build the brand. Parameters need to be investigated and researched. We suggest going to USPTO.gov for additional information.

To find out how MadCat Branding can help put a “face to your name,” contact us at creative@madcatbranding.com

When Playing Favorites May Not Work

Everyone has a favorite color. For some there are personal reasons, for others, it is just what color works best with the shade of their eyes on a certain day. Sometimes it’s a simple question asked on a first date or an answer to a questionnaire on an online survey. The point is, more than likely you have an emotional attachment to your preferred color choice. However, that favorite color may not always be the best choice to use when designing a logo and establishing a brand. What if you’re painting a nursery and want a serene, peaceful environment for your little one, a bright, vibrant red may not be the ideal choice.

Color generates an emotional response and triggers those feelings without you realizing it. We often use color to depict our feelings. How many of us have ever felt blue, turned green, blacked out, or seen red in a day-to-day basis? While the psychology of color theory is a broad spectrum , there is a general scope of emotions tied to what we see. A few examples are below:

• Red: passion, aggression, alert

• Yellow: happy, light-hearted, cautionary

• Blue: sad, calm, inviting

• Orange: excitement, vibrancy, cheap

• Green: nature, profit, envy

When choosing a color for your logo, this aspect of its development needs to be a primary focus on the design. So, while the Fuzzy Wuzzy Brown in the Crayola crayon box draws your attention, it may not work best for your business. The color choice needs to be purposeful and represent a visual portrayal about your business. A thoughtful color palette communicates your message across a broad audience. It sets a purpose to your messaging and can help direct the eye through your layout and branding design. Careful consideration needs to be implemented when establishing color guidelines into your brand and identity.

Color is a stimulus and evokes an emotional response which may be difficult to express into words. In today’s age, we are a very visual, and fast-paced society. Even at a quick glance, color becomes recognizable. Properly utilizing color into your visuals helps tell your story and simplifies your message.

So, whether your logo actually utilizes your favorite color, is a color that compliments your initial choice or is a color seen somewhere that stirred up a positive emotional response, your palette needs to be thought out, tested, and incorporated properly to portray who you are as a business.

Family Tradition

My father was a remarkable artist, better than he ever gave himself credit for. I learned this as a boy when I found out he hand painted a phoenix on the hood of his friend’s truck. That, in itself, isn’t all that impressive, the awe-inspiring part was HOW he painted it. He used both hands to simultaneously paint each side of the firebird… at the same time! I didn’t believe it until his friend told me he watched my dad paint the entire thing. I asked my dad why he did it that way and he said it was the only way he could get the proper proportions and balance to the picture. All he did was look down the center of the hood and paint both sets of wings with each hand, never taking his eyes off that center point.

Over time he stopped drawing. He did help with my more art-based homework assignments and only occasionally would pick up a pencil for fun. But once I showed the prospect of being able to draw, he pushed me harder than anyone to do it - partly out of regret he didn’t pursue his gift – and out of the potential he saw in me. This kind of “living through your children” didn’t upset me as I enjoyed being able to create something from nothing and was elated to have this time spent with my dad. He always told me that I was better than he ever was and that if I had a passion to be creative, to never let it go. Now, I’m not sure I was better than he was. His tools were a pencil and paintbrush and my tools are a computer and mouse – which allow me to cheat in certain areas. But what I have is the same eye for perspective, attention for small details, and the ability to view objects a bit differently by inspecting all angles.

I was blessed a second time in my life by marrying another gifted artist. She has been by my side and an inspiration in her own way. While my talent on the computer may be a bit better than hers, it’s her mind, her creativity and her honest critiques that help keep me focused and offer a different perspective in my everyday learning curve. In doing what we do as a team, it isn’t too far off to declare that she is the brains of the paring and I’m the muscle. A role we both work perfectly together.

But now is where the story really takes flight (a slight reference to the phoenix mentioned earlier). My boys are showing a propensity for drawing. Their excitement to sit down and draw/color anything is infectious. I encourage them in the way my father encouraged me. And I want to push them to be creative but not direct them to do so. Whether being creative is something they want to pursue or not, I want them to find a love of something and go after it wholeheartedly. The byproduct of their enthusiasm is inspiring me again to find that love in what I do. To look at things differently, find that unique angle, explore an unexplored approach to visually solving a problem. And to find the giddiness and utter joy in doing so. I would love for the day to come; however, where I could carry on the family tradition and tell them, “you’re better than your old man ever was.”