Brand Identity Changes are in Order if…

• Your industry has changed. A well-designed brand identity is originated with the capability of evolving with its industry; however, if it wasn’t created with that ability or your industry has changed so drastically that it no longer works well, modification (or a complete overhaul) is in order.
• Your organisation is going international. When your brand identity was first created, you were a local business. Now, you’re spreading your global wings but your brand identity still has that small-town feel. Taking your brand to the world will require some adjustments.
• Your brand was never a perfect fit; you are unsatisfied with its performance. In this case, it will likely need to be re-designed from the beginning.
• Your brand identity is non-existent. In other words, you have never put your organisation through the phases of creating a proper brand strategy.
• There is inconsistency in your brand identity. Your brand communications are not congruent across your operation, or each division and product seems to stand alone, without correlation to the mother brand.
• Your products’ packaging is not getting the attention it deserves. In this case, re-branding will be necessary to claim the level of mindshare – and shelf-share – that will positively affect your bottom line.
• Your product or service is good enough to market to a more affluent market. A new brand identity can be designed to create a new brand appeal for your new – and more lucrative – audience.
• The existing brand identity is sending all the wrong messages and creating misconceptions. An improved brand identity will be a true representation of your values and will communicate the types of messages that will speak directly to your dream clients.
• When two companies merge, the brand identities of both should be monopolised upon, so that the equity already built in both will benefit the new brand identity. This will require some creative thinking – to send the message that the merger is one of equality and increased benefit for all.
• If the name of your business is changing, a new brand identity will be necessary for taking that new name to the world (or to your corner of the world).
• If a new product or service is being added to your current brand identity, it may need to be adjusted to include the benefits of the new “family member.” This need is highly dependent upon the nature of the product in relationship to the mother brand.

These situations are only a sampling of the cases in which your brand identity may need to be tweaked or revamped. To learn more about branding and how a branding expert can improve your circumstances, simply call ICE Innovation London on 0113 322 1490 or email our brand identity expert.

ICE Innovation London is your one-stop source for corporate branding, brand strategy, brand identity, and learning to build your brand.

For assured success, the branding process at ICE Innovation London is shaped by these five branding phases:

1. The Conducting of Research:  During this phase, our London branding expert will work with you to identify the vision for the brand, name goals and values, and conduct research regarding potential and existing customers’ perceptions and needs. She will also conduct market research, including the competition, as well as available and potential technology. Legal and language audits will be conducted. Key management players will be interviewed and the architecture of existing brands will be evaluated.
2. The Clarification of the Brand Strategy:  Here, branding expert and client come together to integrate learning amongst all parties, clarify the brand strategy, develop a platform, and devise the attributes of the budding brand. The branding expert composes a branding brief, creates a strategy for naming the brand, and writes a creative brief for presentation to you.
3. The Designing of the Brand Identity:  In this phase, we look into the future by asking you where you want to be in five – and ten – years. From there, we define expectations. We fashion a vision of the “big picture” and create your brand identity. We finalise the architecture of the brand and present it in a visual presentation.
4. The Creation of Touchpoints:  Here, the brand identity is finalised and the look and feel of it are developed. If a trademark is necessary, it is established. Media applications are prioritised according to your brand identity and are then designed. And finally, your brand’s architecture is applied to all communications.
5. The Management of Assets:  Now that the new brand is in place, a synergistic plan is devised to build momentum. Standards and brand guidelines are established. A strategic plan is created for the brand’s launch, and brand communications are coordinated in all realms before going public. Brand champions are identified and nurtured.

When all of these phases are implemented with the skill and experience housed at ICE Innovation London, your end result will be a brand identity that will escort your brand into a bright future.

The process is not a simple one. It is, in fact, quite rigorous. It requires a unique combination of expert investigation, strategic thinking, design excellence, and project management skills – all of which happen to be the specialties of our branding expert, Sammy Blindell.

Why not contact Sammy Blindell, our brand identity and branding expert in London? She’ll listen to your wishes, your aspirations, your expectations, and your challenges regarding the branding process. Then, she’ll devise a plan, using the five phases of branding, that gets results. Simply call her on 0113 322 1490 or send her an email message today.

How do you respond when someone asks you, “How did you hear about us?” If you’re like most people, you probably can’t remember. You might recall seeing a billboard or a banner ad, or you may remember a friend recommending the company. But when and where did you FIRST hear about them? What was the final catalyst…the one that prompted your action?

You’ll probably check a box or give a quick, common-sense answer for the sole purpose of pleasing the business owner. You have no idea how you heard about the company – and contrary to popular belief, it doesn’t even matter. Allow me to explain with an example:

A homemaker, Liz, listens to the radio everyday whilst preparing breakfast for her family. She hears a radio ad for a local plumber, who we’ll call “Piper Plumbing.” Months later, Google detects plumbing-related words in her Gmail account and throws up some ads for Piper Plumbing. Weeks after that, a friend mentions that she’s had Piper Plumbing over to fix a leaky faucet. This afternoon, Liz went into the cellar to fetch a bottle of wine to serve with dinner and was surprised to find three inches of water on the floor. Of course, she knew she’d have to call a plumber. But who would she call? Piper Plumbing enters her mind and she looks up the number. After the service call is scheduled, the dispatcher asks her, “How did you hear about Piper Plumbing?” Liz is stumped by the question. She answers honestly. “I really can’t remember. Piper Plumbing just popped into my mind.”

The business owner may have been disappointed in this answer; however, at ICE Innovation we know that this response is ideal. It means that the plumbing company’s brand strategy was so strong that it not only saturated communications in the market, it made its way to word-of-mouth – the most coveted form of marketing.

A business may invest in radio advertising and never hear one customer say, “I heard about your company on the radio.” That’s because even though the radio ad reached that customer, mindshare was only achieved after it was reinforced with word-of-mouth, social media, and more. The brand had established its reputation. It had become the go-to for plumbing needs, even without that new customer having first-hand experience with the company.

If your brand strategy is solid, your new customers will have difficulty pinpointing how they heard about you. Most will feel obligated to give you an answer, and for many, memory will fail them or they’ll know that one answer simply isn’t enough.

To learn how you can strengthen, create, or redesign a comprehensive brand strategy in the UK, call ICE Innovation London on 0113 322 1490, email Sammy Blindell, or Like BrandExpertUK on Facebook.

Rituals Build Your Brand

Have you ever walked into an establishment for the first time and felt confused? Maybe you were flying with an airline for the first time and you entered the wrong line. Maybe you walked into a restaurant and seated yourself, not realising that you should have ordered at the counter and gotten a pager? Or, maybe you ordered a “large” coffee instead of a “grande”…resulting in incredulous glances from the barista and the “in-the-know” customers surrounding you.

This has happened to all of us. Whilst in the moment, the resulting emotions may not seem productive, but from the viewpoint of a business owner, there couldn’t be anything better. Some people will make a quick exit and never return; however, most will study the menu, analyse the operations, and even conduct their own research online…all in an effort to feel more like an insider during their next visit. There’s a special club for people who are “in the know,” and they want to be part of it.

You can build a brand with the help of a brand custom or ritual – defined as an experience that is unique to your brand and available to all customers. It must require some type of action by the customer. It can be a small requirement, such as using silly words to order sandwiches, or it can be more action-oriented, like taking a safety course before heading down the river on a white-water rafting excursion. From the very first experience, customers will not only bond with your brand, they will bond with one another. Terms will be learnt and repeated in a secret-society type of way. They will forever hold something in common with the group, knowing that they have undergone the training and preparation that is characteristic of your brand.

Some rituals are necessary. Take the rafting training for example. Safety is a priority, so the organisation wants (and needs) its customers to come out alive. They could simply give each rafter a form to read and sign, but with hands-on training, they bond “insiders” to one another whilst creating a unique experience that will forever be associated with their organisation in the minds of rafters.

Never make newbies feel uncomfortable. Ask questions like, “Have you been here before?” Reward those who know your operations with something as simple as a smile or something as coveted as VIP treatment. Finally, make the experience memorable, but not so complicated that it’s simply not worth the effort. Give them something to talk about, and they will.

For recommendations on how you can build your brand in the UK with rituals and customs, call 0113 322 1490 or email ICE Innovation’s branding expert.

To begin, let’s define evolution. Its theory states that all things destined for survival will develop the ability to change – in response to external conditions. These changes occur as the results of choices. These choices, when made wisely, effectively do away with useless features and preserve or create the traits that will usher a species, a group – or a business – into the future.

There is challenge involved with creating a brand that has this ability. It must be focussed enough to appeal to a specific target audience whilst simultaneously having the flexibility to change along with industry trends and climates.

From the very beginning, these practices will support evolutionary brand management:

• Expect change and be ready for it. Study the market. Read what the experts are saying. Listen to your clients and to other non-client members of your target audience. Use what you learn to predict what people will need next.
• Prepare yourself to accept and tackle new opportunities. This requires an open mind. Don’t tie yourself to past practices. Instead, look for ways that your brand can do new things in its own way.
• Study the numbers. Look into how past changes have affected your bottom line – and the bottom lines of others who have enacted change. Use the data you collect to help shape your next brand management move(s).
• Stay abreast of what the competition is doing. Don’t be a follower; don’t copy their every move. Instead, use what you learn to gain a “big picture” understanding of your industry and where it’s headed.
• Consult with someone whom you admire and trust…someone who is not part of your organisation. Often, an outside viewpoint is representative of those belonging to your customers. Too often, business owners and managers are too close to operations to get the full picture.
• Embrace inspiration. Look for it around every corner. You might find it in peer group discussions, networking events, motivational seminars…and even in seemingly unexpected places, like in the next chapter of a riveting novel, on the massage table, or whilst walking through the garden.
• Listen to everyone, not just “experts.” Your employees, your affiliates, your clients, and even random people in the street will tell you – either directly or indirectly – what they want and in which direction your brand management should go. No opinion is insignificant; in fact, it’s the ones you wouldn’t expect that are often the most evolutionary.

It can be difficult to determine which direction is the right one, particularly when you can’t see a clear brand management path. That’s where ICE Innovation London come in. We’ll not only help you to manage your brand, we’ll show you just how effectively it can evolve. You need only call 0113 322 1490 or email Sammy Blindell for expert advice on brand management.

With so much corporate branding advice going around, it can be easy to believe that the writing of website, brochure, and other copy is antiquated…that writing copy, and doing it well, is nothing but an old-fashioned time suck.

“Paragraphs should be short. Language should be simple. Sentences should be curt. Keywords should be inserted where applicable.” You’ve heard all of this, but what you may not have heard is that in addition to all of this, copy should be applicable, friendly, informative, and invaluable. You’re not simply seducing search engines; there are people out there who still read copy.

• Contrary to what you may have heard, we do not recommend that you attempt to appeal to a mass audience with copy. Instead, use buzz words and brand communication language that only your niche audience can appreciate. With your written words, make it clear that your corporate branding is a perfect fit for your audience’s specific needs. This will compel them to read on – to the end.
• Copy should deliver. Shallow language or teasers without delivery will leave your readers feeling unsatisfied. Instead, give them the level of information that makes them want to exclaim, “Anywhere else, I’d have to pay for this!”
• Offer evidence. When you sprinkle your written copy with proof that backs up your claims, you will build your credibility and people will dread the thought of NOT reading on – they might miss something important!
• Make your copy unique to your corporate branding identity. If you were to place your copy next to your competitors’, would yours scream loudly, in the name of your brand? Or would it appear to be nothing more than a cut-and-paste clone of others’ in your industry? Your corporate branding has its own flavour. Make sure it’s infused into every piece of your copy.
• Your copy should never be a simple list of facts. Because you know your audience, you know about their fears, their scepticism, their bad past experiences…and your copy should not only reassure them, it should convey the sentiment that you’re a friend, an expert…a professional in whom they can trust.
• Speak to the needs of your clients. When you make it clear that you’re ready, willing, and able to solve your clients’ specific problems, they will read on to learn more.
• Tailor the length of your copy to your specific niche and to the needs of your readers. As a general rule, the more scepticism involved in your niche, or the more complicated your business offerings, the longer the copy should be.

Writing copy in support of corporate branding is a specialised art, and ICE Innovation have the resources and the experts necessary for your success. Call us on 0113 322 1490 or email our corporate branding expert for more advice on writing effective copy.

At ICE Innovation, our branding expert has seen the effects of brand strategy:

• A streamlined branding process: When you follow the proven steps of a brand strategy, you will eliminate having to endure the distractions caused by unproven branding methods.
• A brand strategy inspires networking. Whilst in the midst of executing your brand strategy, you will produce stirrings within your target audience. The buzz will build. People will talk. Your brand will be on the lips (and the social media channels) of those who matter.
• A brand strategy enhances your brand profile. A brand is about a reputation that inspires trust. As you follow the steps outlined in your brand strategy, you will simultaneously be working to build your good, trustworthy reputation.
• Social media: Many brand strategy procedures involve public exposure through social media channels.
• As every business owner knows, repeat business is invaluable. Developing and following a brand strategy increases your chances of scoring the repeat business you’re hoping for.
• Referrals. Who can deny the value of referrals? With a properly executed brand strategy, your number of referrals will grow.
• A brand strategy establishes small, attainable goals along the route to your larger branding goals. This helps to ensure that you stay on track and experience your greatest possible success.
• A well-thought-out brand strategy makes good fiscal sense. Once in place, it will save time, money, resources, and energy with its momentum.
• Too often, significant business growth is not sustainable…that is, without a foolproof brand strategy in place.
• When all communications are aligned to your brand strategy, employees, affiliates, and customers will use their words to move your company forward – toward your branding goals.
• A brand strategy eliminates the need for an in-house sales team. When implemented properly, a brand strategy and the communications associated with it are your sales team.
• A brand strategy ensures that even new employees with no previous industry experience can easily convey your brand message.
• A powerful brand strategy fuels a successful sales strategy, communications strategy, and business development strategy.
• Even if a brand strategy wasn’t in place at the inception of your business, you can start now, using existing employees, affiliates, and clients to transform your success.
• When you go to ICE Innovation for guidance in the creation of a brand strategy, you’ll not only gain access to their years of experience and depth of branding wisdom, you’ll gain access to their expansive database of contacts – to build your own network.

Our branding and business experts thrive on working to build your brand. Developing a powerful brand strategy is a large part of that, and we’re eager to show you how many tremendous opportunities lie ahead. Call ICE Innovation on 0113 322 1490 or email us.

Knowing what a brand is will help to keep you focussed whilst building a brand. A brand can be described in a number of ways:

• A brand is a trust mark. It is something that people know and turn to with confidence.
• A brand inspires loyalty. Consumers feel reciprocity toward it.
• A brand is a short-hand sorting device. When quick consumer decisions need to be made, it is a “go-to.”
• A brand is an ideal that aligns with a consumer’s belief system. It embodies their expectations, your promises, and a big idea that you both agree upon.
• A brand is considered to be superior by its supporters.
• A brand is remembered and recognised immediately (with lots of help from its logo).
• A brand is an identity. As a familiar face is to an onlooker, a brand is to a consumer. One look at a brand’s public image, and emotions and memories are stirred.
• A brand is the language that is used in communications within your organisation, with your affiliates, and with the public.
• A brand is the environment that you promote within the office, at corporate events, and with customer relations.
• A brand is the colours that you incorporate in your logo, on your website, in your corporate clothing and gifts, on your stationery, and in every place where colour can be used to communicate underlying messages to the public.
• A brand is the effect that you have on clients…which will inspire word-of-mouth advertising.
• A brand is the embodiment of your values and those which you have instilled into your organisation. It is the demonstration of these values, through your brand communications, that will aid you in building a brand.
• A brand is the visual messages you send with public communications, such as brochures, billboards, promotional gifts, exhibitions, direct mail, website banners, business cards, letterheads, newsletters, packaging, and online marketing.
• A brand is the way you communicate with prospective and existing clients, including channels such as radio, telephone, social media, emails, and person-person interactions.
• A brand is the way(s) in which you will solve people’s problems.
• A brand is the way(s) in which you will solve problems using methods that are unlike any other.
• A brand is the feeling people get when they see your logo, hear your company name, use your products and/or services, and when they reflect upon the ways you have touched and/or changed the way they live or do business.

Building a brand requires a solid understanding of branding. Too often, business owners consider branding to be too abstract, and find themselves tempted to bypass the branding process. There’s no need for that, particularly when you have the branding expertise of ICE Innovation London. Call our branding expert today on 0113 322 1490 or email Sammy here.

Branding is less about what you tell the world than what the world says about you. It’s about the impressions you create and how those impressions take flight to construct your reputation.

On a fundamental level, branding is about people and how you interact with them. Here are some guidelines that ICE Innovation use when building a brand:

• Get inside your target audience’s heads. Know what worries them, what they fear, what intrigues them, and what excites them. Build relationships with a curiosity that will result in a deep understanding of the people you want to reach. Don’t change your message to appeal to everyone; instead, focus your message so that you’ll feel like the perfect fit to the right people.
•  Treat and respect people as associates…as equals. Approach every interaction as a collaborative effort in which each party has plenty to offer. Listen intently and respect your clients’ wishes, as well as any qualms they might have.
• Move forward with your loyal customers. As their needs multiply, grow to meet those needs. This will establish a “team” feeling and will solidify clients’ emotional investments in you – increasing brand loyalty. Even better, anticipate needs that will arise (which should be doable if you understand your clients well enough) and create solutions that will be ready-to-go when necessary.
• Conduct some serious introspection into your own values. Naming your values and making them evident in everything you do will attract those who share those values – meaning that what’s important to you will be important to them (and vice-versa).
• Interact with consumers regularly. This means meeting with people in person, making contact by phone, making yourself available as needs arise, offering seminars, reaching out with community events…and of course, social media.
• Make your passion for what you do evident. When your excitement for your craft oozes from every pore and pervades every interaction, it will be difficult for people not to participate.
• Hire people who understand your clientele and who are also passionate about your business. When people bear witness to this type of unity within an organisation, it compounds their faith in its performance and spurs them to want to be a part of the tight society you have created.
• Deliver exceptional service in your actions and you won’t have to shout about “customer service” at every turn. Certainly, you’ve heard that “actions speak louder than words.” This is as true of branding as it is of life. Tell them, but more importantly, show them.

Building a brand is all about people. Connect. Listen. Learn.

To discover how ICE Innovation Leeds can jumpstart your branding efforts, call 0113 322 1490 or connect with us here.

• Google Apps:  Free forms from this provider are simple…intended for gathering limited contact information.
• FormSite:  This form application automatically creates PDFs using captured data. It also integrates third-party information, uses conditional logic, encrypts, uploads files, makes notifications, and offers mobile forms.
• FormStack:  With this application, the forms in your website design will have conditional logic, the ability to import and export data, analytics, email verification, payment processing, coupon codes, built-in calculators, “brandable” themes, data encryption, plus, it categorises submissions and routes them to the recipient(s) that you specify.
• FormAssembly:  These forms are simple to build, with options like multiple pages, validation of data, third-party app integration, conditional logic, customised branding, and file uploads.
• MachForm:  Integrate this form-builder into your website design with simple drag-and-drop designing. You’ll enjoy editable themes, forms with multiple pages, auto-responders, file uploading, entry exporting, PayPal incorporation, and the acceptance of electronic signatures.
• Coffee Cup Web Form Builder:  There’s no coding required for building forms here. Forms are responsive, meaning mobile devices pose no problem. You’ll drag-and-drop to create forms, integrate payments and third-party apps, customise fields, and choose whether you or Coffee Cup will host the form.
• Wufoo:  This form-building tool is widely used, thanks to its ease of use and its many available features, including pre-designed templates, spam blocking, the ability to brand forms, file uploading, advanced analytics, integration of payment options, management of users, and user notifications.
• ioDeck:  Unlike the other website design form options we’ve presented, this tool is a one-time purchase (as opposed to a monthly-fee-based option). You’ll have access to six months of support and limitless forms for any number of website designs, each with an unlimited number of fields. The form builder is highly intuitive, with security features, validation, and notifications through Facebook, Twitter, or email.
• Gravity Forms:  This tool is exclusive to WordPress. With it, you can create multipage forms, offer PayPal options, integrate conditional logic, and customise notifications. Entered data can even be purposed to land directly in a blog post.
• JotForm:  This is a basic form builder that offers data capture, tools for compiling survey information, acceptance of payments, and a number of templates to choose from.
• pForm:  This option is more simplistic and far more limited than other forms, with choices only including colour and fields; however, it is free.
• 123ContactForm:  Use this form-builder in your website design for encryption of data, notifications by email, data exporting and routing, multi-lingual communications, third-party application integration, file uploading, branded themes, and inclusion of gathered data in charts and reports. This application can be used with WordPress.

ICE Innovation is here to answer all of your website design and form-building questions. Simply call 0113 322 1490 or email our London website design expert.