Brand Strategy Affects Design

First-time readers are sometimes confused by this gutsy branding blog of ours. Because of the confusion surrounding what branding is, they come in all geeked about designing grandiose logos and insane backgrounds. And, while I’m all about “insane,” the fact is I don’t talk much about design for one reason: strategy doesn’t serve the design – design serves the strategy. Laura Ries, daughter of Al Ries – one of the fathers of positioning theory – said in an article discussing Hillary Clinton’s new logo “…you don’t start by creating a visual, you start by creating a strategy.” Source

That doesn’t mean design’s not important.

Double negatives aside, it’s something every gutsy business owner and entrepreneur needs to think about when it comes to branding. Our process, for instance, begins with a Discovery phase, where a lot of competitive research is done. This research informs your strategy and helps us determine things like your target market, pricing structure, message – and yes – your design.

That’s not to say design’s not important – it just needs to be done after the strategy.

Good Brand Design Is Always Simple

I’ve already written about what makes a good logo here, so this is for everything else.

The most important thing about your brand’s design, as with everything else about your brand, is keeping it simple. But don’t just take my word for it. Check out this link on why marketing simplicity is huge from the Harvard Business Review, or this Forbes article detailing how simplicity is the key to Apple’s success, and here’s one more from the Washington Post, dealing with simplicity specifically for small business marketing.

Simplicity, my gutsy friends, is key!

Making Your Brand’s Logo Stand Out

Let’s say your logo’s blue. Well, one of our favorite design tricks is to make sure the only other things that are blue are calls to action, such as a block containing “click here to receive our newsletter” on your website. In this case, you’d keep the blue to a minimum to make sure your logo stands out.

What About the Background?

This one’s easy enough. We generally use a black, white, or gray background – depending on our clients’ competition – because they’re simple colors that usually contrast nicely with a logo.

And the Text?

When it comes to text – above all else – make sure it’s readable. This seems simple enough, but some people still blow it. No matter your business, use as simple a font as you can get away with. We use arial. It’s not the sexiest of fonts, but I’d be willing to bet you haven’t had much trouble reading this post – and that’s what’s important.

Another thing to keep in mind is font color. Make sure it doesn’t contrast too harshly against the background. This post has a white font against a dark gray – rather than black – background, because if the contrast were too great, people would be straining to read it. And then they’d throw things. And damaged stuff is bad.

Okay, Okay, but What About Extra Design Elements?

When it comes to extra design elements, such as bullets, lines, or any other shapes, only use them to enhance what you already have. Never add design elements just to add them. It takes away from the simplicity of your graphics. And if you want some color, there’s nothing wrong with a well-placed photo in your design’s layout.

And Now the Consistency Lecture

Come on, you knew it was coming.

After using all those tips to design your brand’s look, it’s time to make it consistent across the board! Your website, social media pages, business cards, flyers, pricing sheet, even proposals and internal documents, along with everything else you create, need to have your look. This keeps things simple – there’s that word again – for your clients, thus keeping you number one in their minds in your business category. It also keeps things simple for you, so you won’t be trying to figure out how to design price sheets for the rest of your life!

whew I’m Finally About Done Typing!

Here’s hoping those design tips – after coming up with your brand strategy, of course – help launch you to stratospheric heights! As always, if you have any questions regarding your gutsy brand or brand strategy, feel free to get a hold of us at contact@mayniaxbranding.com!

And, of course, remember to stay gutsy!

I have about a zillion branding topics in my head I want to talk about, but I’ll save them for a zillion rainy days. Instead, I thought I’d give you some super sweet branding moves that should be simple to implement, so you can differentiate yourself from those poor saps that haven’t discovered this blog, yet. So, let’s get to ’em!

1. Brand yourself as a specialist

I know, I know, you’re an entrepreneur! You need money! And you’ll run yourself into the wall doing every possible little thing you know how to do to get it!

I get it. I’ve been there. But the fact is offering too many things is a huge reason why business owners and entrepreneurs struggle from month to month. Look, I know the struggle’s real – I hate myself for typing that – and that you need to make ends meet, so I’m not suggesting you cease all the extra things you’re doing. I’m just saying that, when you brand and market your business, you focus on selling only one product or service – the one you actually give a damn about. That way, you’re setting yourself up to only sell that one product or service, long-term.

And, in case you’re not sure focus is where it’s at, here are a few links you’ll want to check out:

Chipotle’s stock price, from 2006 to now – click “max.”
McDonald’s, which has been selling far too many items, plans to streamline its menu.
Google lost more market share in “search” than it has in years. I believe that’s due to it putting its name on everything.

2. Put your face on your business card

I suggest this for one reason: differentiation, especially if you do a lot of networking.

Look at the huge pile of business cards in your office. Now, go through them and try to remember everyone who gave them to you. Most people can’t, and those who can should probably be working in a lab somewhere. Or possibly being tested in a lab somewhere.

In that stack of business cards, there were a few with faces, but the vast majority didn’t have them. And that’s why you put your face on your business card. And don’t be shy because you’re not “photogenic.” I’m not exactly a pretty boy, and if you go to our website or Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and Google+ accounts, you’ll see it everywhere. For better or worse. Which means it’s probably worse.

3. Make your logo red or blue, or red and white or blue and white

We conducted a study of the Fortune 100’s logos to come up with this theory. It’s not always set in stone, but it’s definitely something you should consider. And hey look, you can find our blog post about it here!

4. Create a tagline

The goal of branding is always to be first in the mind of clients and prospective clients alike. The reason I talk so much about simplicity and focus is because no one remembers complicated. One of the ways to get in the mind is through a tagline people can’t forget. When we come up with a tagline, we use three things: 1) Leadership. 2) What you do. 3) A word for clients and potential clients to remember. Bonus points if you can give it some alliteration or make it rhyme!

It’s amazing the number of businesses we come across that don’t use taglines. Don’t be that guy!

5. Limit social media

Before we get into this, I want to type something that seems counter-intuitive to it: grab every social media account you can! You never know what’s going to take off, and you don’t want to try to get an account later, only to have your name snatched up by someone else.

With that typed, here’s what I mean by “limit social media.”

Avoid constantly updating them all. To be a real social media expert on a ton of networks, you actually need to do social media 40+ hours per week. Because I’m typing to gutsy entrepreneurs and business owners, I’m guessing you don’t have that kind of time to play on Facebook. So, my suggestion is this: focus on one social media platform. That way, you should get pretty good at it, and you’ll still have time to do everything else that consumes your work week. And, by the time you feel like you’ve really mastered that one platform, maybe you’ll be able to hire a social media expert to handle all the platforms you signed up for.

Remember, gang, branding is a long-term project. It takes a long time to get a brand going, but when it catches, it catches fast! Keep at it, and if you’d like to talk to us about helping you brand, feel free to get a hold of us at contact@mayniaxbranding.com, or sign up for our newsletter on your way out of the site.

Have fun, and as always,

Stay gutsy!