Continuing with our blog series, here is another client story that shows a third valuable benefit of having a clear and relevant brand:
Two years ago I helped a 120-year-old Catholic media company rebrand itself. This company had a hand in many areas: they published the leading national Catholic magazine in the U.S. as well as two separate book imprints, ran one of the top five Catholic websites in the world, produced a nationally syndicated radio program, had a large audio/video line, ran an educational resources division, maintained a popular e-card business, and was beginning to produce apps and digital products. Each was a separate business unit. Many had been acquired over the decades and carried a unique brand or identity. I used HeLT’s corporate branding approach with this client, including our C.O.R.E.E. Brand Positioning Process and supporting marketing research.
As a result of our branding work, this client repositioned their company brand and decided, among other changes, to renamed themselves and create a new visual identity (logo & tagline). I wrote the 2-page creative brief that guided their hired design firm working on this new identity. The chosen design house was the Cincinnati branch of EricMower (then called Strata-G)—the fastest growing integrated marketing, PR & creative house in the country in 2011. The designer on the project told my client that she and her account manager had “never seen a better creative brief from a client.” The key point here is: I had been able to produce such a clearly written brief because of our branding work.
With this clear direction in hand as to what was and was not needed for the new logo—the designer was able to quickly produce a handful of great 1st-round prototypes. The client was able to choose from number of good options and then refine down to a fantastic final design. My client saved both time and money because our branding work avoided round after round of designs that weren’t on the mark and instead quickly yielded something they loved and would project to customers the image they wanted moving forward. This is just one of many examples of their improved marketing due to our branding process.
SUMMARY: When your organization has a strong understanding of its brand, your Marketing and creative teams are much better equipped to do their jobs. A clear brand is time-saving and cost-saving asset.
