A Brand Audit as a process whereby many aspects of an existing brand are examined and tested in order to evaluate how well it adheres to the way in which it is supposed to be used both internally and externally. Normally, a brand audit will include the evaluation of the following elements: APPLICATION – How the visual elements of…
What is a Brand’s Tone of Voice?
The Brand Voice is how the character of your brand – your Corporate Identity – is communicated through the words you use and the text you write – the content and style of textual and verbal communications. You can think of it as your visual identity in words rather than pictures. The main objective of managing…
What is a Brand?
The terms brand and branding are not new. The origin of branding can be traced to ancient times, when craftsmen put their mark on the items that they made – this is effectively the beginning of a modern-day trade mark. The branding of farm animals to avoid theft by identify them as belonging to a particular person is also an ancient…
What is a Logo?
A logo is a graphic mark, emblem, or symbol used by organisations and sometimes individuals to help promote instant recognition of their products and/or services. Logos can by symbols or icons or can be the name of the organization (usually in a stylised form) or a combination of the two. Since a logo is often the first impression that prospective…
Why is a Logo important?
A well designed, distinctive, logo that is properly marketed within the organisation’s target market(s) should communicate exactly what the organisation does without the need for any further explanation. A good example of this is the McDonald’s “M”. A child who can’t read is able to identify it and knows what it means for to them –…
Why should I Re-brand my Business?
If you don’t Understand Why you Won’t Understand How If you are considering re-branding your business, it is essential that you have clear business reasons as to why you want to re-brand your company before embarking upon a potentially expensive re-branding project. Re-branding is not about just freshening up your existing brand – it is a business-critical decision and should not be taken…
What is Corporate Identity?
A corporate identity is the overall image of a business in the minds of their stakeholders, including customers, employees, suppliers etc. At the basic level, corporate identity is an expression of the culture, ethos, and ‘personality’ of the business, as well as the products and/or services it offers. It is a representation of how a firm views itself, how it wishes to…
What is a Visual Identity?
Visual Identity is a term that is used to describe the visual elements of a brand. It is important that these graphic elements of your brand are based on your brands logo, colour schemes, typefaces, etc. and are integrated throughout your organisation. While the exact nature of the visual representation of the brand will depend on the media…
Why is Copyright Important to Branding?
Copyright is the exclusive right to make copies, license, and otherwise exploit a literary, musical, or artistic work, whether printed, audio, video, etc. It is intrinsic in the UK (no need to apply for it) and copyright works are protected for 50 years after the death of the author. Copyright,or rather the ownership of copyright, is a potentially critical…
What is Direct Marketing?
Direct Response Marketing is specifically designed to elicit an immediate response from your target audience. The exact nature of the response will vary depending on the type of business you are in and your overall marketing strategy but will include outcomes like purchases, visits to your web site, a contact to set up a meeting…