Creating a new brand: first steps

Brand creation - a lot of work that begins first of all “behind the scenes”. Let's explain the analogy. By launching a brand, you will show the world the name, its logo, corporate identity and other distinctive features. Set the tone for the dialogue with the client and convey your mission. In order for this presentation to be convincing and effective (an indicator of which will be the excitement among the target audience and the nervous behavior of competitors), you first need to conduct in-depth preliminary research, study the product from all sides, and build a positioning strategy. And only then smoothly move on to design.

Therefore, today we’ll talk about that very part of the iceberg that is not directly noticeable in visual perception, but makes the brand and product understandable to future customers. 

Conducting marketing research

The main task is to create a complete picture of the work future brand: its place in the market, behavior in a competitive environment, how the product will look among others, how it will attract attention and offer itself.

And let's go from general to specific. We start the process with marketing research. Here you need to determine the market segment in which the business will operate: how large is the area, is it difficult for new companies to enter, who is buying and how actively, how many competitors are there, what are their strengths and weaknesses, how do they build communication with customers, what is the pricing policy for similar products.

This is a base that provides information about opportunities and helps determine further steps in creating a brand. We collect data, analyze each criterion and draw conclusions about the rationality of investments and the prospects of the product.

Comprehensive product study

Now, having studied the external circumstances, we concentrate on the product itself. It is necessary to consider it from all sides and from the perspective of different categories of people who will be involved in its creation, promotion and use. 

As creators, we highlight the differences between the product and similar offers, useful properties that will become unique advantages. Then we try to put ourselves in the buyer’s shoes and understand what attracts us and why we want to choose this particular product. Let's try to see our brand through the eyes of our competitors, whether we will become a worthy rival for them. We are also thinking about implementation, whether cooperation is interesting for retailers and other partners.

Choosing a positioning strategy

We already have a rough idea of ​​how the market mechanism works in the segment we are interested in, how the product can fit into it and how it can stand out. Based on all the data, you can formulate a positioning strategy. This stage already prepares for the development of brand design and the creation of a visual image.

The choice of positioning strategy is aimed at determining with the help of which tools the brand will be recognized and highlighted, what manner of presentation and interaction with the client, what will become the starting point in determining the position: price, comfort, benefit, status, differentiation from main competitors or another feature. 

This allows you to create a single scenario, if you will, a set of rules that will be taken into account when creating each element and brand media. With the help of positioning, that same holistic image is created, which in any place and under any circumstances gives signals to the target audience so that people can unmistakably identify your product. 

When the strategy is not worked out, there will not be a single impulse: from store shelves and from website pages, customers will read the value of the brand in different ways, and in some cases they will not recognize it at all. Therefore, we first work with general positioning, and then take on visible signs.

Development of the name and visual image

And only now, having enough information in stock and knowing the entire material base, can we begin naming and developing a corporate identity. 

The first step is to come up with a name: it is this that, first of all, introduces the audience to the brand, conveys the idea and style. For a better definition, it is possible to use the name in tandem with a slogan that clearly identifies the scope of activity and conveys the main advantages. 

Next will be the logo, which is placed on all media and acts as the main distinctive sign of the company. The remaining elements and brand media are developed depending on the specifics of the product: to promote services, it is important to create a website and other online platforms or create an office design project, for goods - packaging, labels, sales racks. 

The sequence may be different, it is important that by this moment we know exactly where and how to show our best qualities, what advantages to focus on. Surely you won’t even have to sit for weeks and go through ideas for a name, design, advertising and the rest. Having extensive information about the market and product, knowing your position, a strong name and original corporate identity will be born on their own and form an organic system.

Thoughtful work, not a superficial process. This is how we see the order of developing a brand in which you can safely invest effort and money. The creation of a visual image in itself is not the entire process of brand development, but only a stage along the way, and not the very first. If at first you don’t understand the general philosophy, strategy and main benefit, then the client will not understand whether he needs the product. 

On the main page of our website you will find a succinct description of the process of creating a brand in cooperation with us. Check it out, then scroll back to the top of the page and fill out the development brief!