Happy New Year

I thought it might be nice to share some of the work nothing does have carried out over 2007. It's been a busy year with various branding and re-branding work carried out. I have included a small selection here but there is a more detailed gallery on our website along with a selection of case studies. If you would like to receive more information regarding our work or wish to see some of our case studies then please just get in touch.

Small Business, Small Mind

'Isn't branding just for big companies?'

This was the question I was recently asked and it is true that large companies spend vast amounts of money on their respective brand and it's also true that branding is a multi million pound industry. However that doesn't mean that it's only the global companies who should take branding seriously. Or equally that it isn't just as important for the smaller companies. In fact it could be argued that due to the huge competition within the S.M.E. arena (sorry about the acronym, you have permission to hit me with a big stick) that branding and brand position are actually more valuable for the smaller business.

It doesn't have to cost you your whole marketing budget for the next five years or even swallow up huge chunks of your time. Done properly it's actually a fun and interesting venture that can and will help you and your company stand out in a crowded marketplace and give you a huge advantage over your competition.

So go and stick one in the eye of the global giants and get branded like the big boys.

9 Branding Top Tips

Well 10 would be too obvious and at nothing does we like to do something different.

Communicate what you want to be and how you want your customers to think you are. And then believe it 100%

Your brand is your company's personality. Make sure your personality is right for you and your company.

Love it and live it! Embrace your brand and eat, sleep, drink, shower, shave and sh** it.
It does mean THAT much.

Ensure all your staff understand, and more importantly are proud of the brand they work for.

Your brand should be in everything: The way you answer the phone, send emails and the pictures on your (branded) walls. It all speaks volumes about your brand. (See point 3).

Review it. Brands do (and should) evolve. Customers and climates change and your brand should adapt to your business changes.

Less is more. Don't over egg it with mixed messages. Focus on what makes you and your brand unique.

Create a cult. Getting people to fall in love with and express loyalty to your brand is the holy grail.

If it ain't working change it. Don't carry on with something that doesn't express your company, this will only damage your business.

Revolt-ing

Go on then lets do it; Let's say 'it's revolution not evolution.' (I hate tired old marketing terms more than Ikea even if you do turn them on their heads.)

Right, well we've got that out of the way but come on let's really go for it. If you want to stand out, if you want to be seen as different and if you want to take the lead then you are going to have to revolt. You are going to have to say: screw everybody else I am better than them and the way I do it is the best. By god it takes guts to do that and you may find yourself stood alone but soon everyone else can see that because you have had the balls to stand alone and you have positioned yourself exactly how you want to, without any influence from your competitors. That this sets you miles in front of them.

Great design and great marketing comes from revolution and ultimately having the guts to believe so much in who you are that you will go out on a limb and revolt. So hats off to the revolutionaries and long may they find the courage to stand-alone.

It's great to stand alone when it gives you the time to watch everyone else catch up

shock photography

Most clients see it as an easy way to cut costs and some designers see it as an easy way to great imagery. The photo library!

They've been around for years and god bless 'em they've embraced the internet like it's some kind of saviour. So much so that now it's not just an easy option for designers, it's thier first point of call. Picture the scene. Monday morning in your typical design studio. The Creative Director gathers his troops to announce that there is a new brief to be worked on and some poor sod has been told to trawl through the online photo libraries to look for suitable images. What the hell does that Creative Director think he's gonna get? Well I can tell you. He'll end up with a pile of sterile images that fall far short of what he wants to communicate, a bunch of bland shots that will never effectively communicate a brand because of their overall state of nothingness. But what the hell, he'll go with them anyway.

Stock photography is the paint by numbers of the design world. When you log on to their website it's like passing through those spinning yellow, urine coloured doors of Ikea. You leave your imagination behind. They will try and dress it up as the cutting edge of creativity and the place to buy (as will the photo libraries), but mass appeal does not equate to good design. It's just plain lazy. The right images require the input of the designer and the client to develop something that is unique, and when this is done successfully you have an image that not only is right but it embraces your brand without a hint of ambiguity. I know that this takes a little extra time and money but it's time and money well spent and it will, without question focus your brand to where you want it to be.

So look at it like this: Stock photography is the Ikea of branding. They might sell hot dogs but boy do they give you indigestion.

what do you say?

We are all guilty of this, we spend so much time focusing on what we do we forget to think about what we say. I'm not talking about how we answer the phone here but what we say visually to our clients and customers. Your identity speaks volumes about who you are, what you do and who you do it for, even before you have had a chance to open your mouth, introduce yourself and deliver your well rehearsed pitch.

It's highly unlikely that when you meet a potential new customer that nothing visual is presented to them, even if it's just a business card. They even may have had brochures or catalogues prior to the meeting and they are even more likely to have had a good poke around your website. After just a quick glance at any of this material their mind has been made up. The customer now has in his head thoughts about your company, it's services and most importantly your quality, and chances are, if he now wants to use your services/products.

But the vital thing here is that none of this is out of your control. You can communicate your business effectively and quickly if you are prepared to invest a little time is finding out just what you want to say. It is then reasonably straight forward to bring all your visual communications in line with this! It's not alchemy of any kind as some design agencies might imply (they do this so they feel exalted), like most marketing, it's common sense!

So give it a go. Does your identity say who you are, what you do, who you do it for and for how much?