Brand blog

Why brand manuals should be mandatory for small businesss

The 'big guys' have them - 2 inches high sometimes, bound and sent whenever their logo is sent for a new advertising medium. I'm talking about brand manuals. For anyone who has worked for a large company, you'll no doubt be familiar with these bibles of dos and do nots. They demonstrate what you are not allowed to do – stretch your logo, change the background colour, how much space it needs around it – to ensure the brand remains consistent. ...

Branding vs advertising vs marketing

Often we're asked what the difference is between branding, marketing, advertising and PR. Firstly, the key point about branding is focus. A focused business is a focused brand. Essentially if you say what you do, then do what you say, you'll have the best chance of building a valuable brand. That's it, all there is too it! OK, maybe there is a little more involved, in particular how do you know what it is you need to say? This is often really hard ...

No magic wand – Lucky for you!

Building trust with your customers is about a lot of small things. It's not about designing a great looking logo, a fancy business card and a super website, though these 'touch points' do create an impression, but it's about creating a consistent experience from the first time someone hears about your business to when they do business with you. This rule is regardless of the size of your business. You don't need to spend a lot to have a professional ...

Trimming the waistline, or trimming the wallet?

Here's an interesting thought for anyone who's ever tried to lose weight - and failed. When we make a decision to lose a few pounds, what do we do? Hire a trainer, join a gym, sign up to a weight loss program? Our judgment is so clouded by the pain our weight increase has given us that we're about to do, and pay anything to make it go away. Then after a few weeks (if we last that long), our resolve ...