If you have ever experienced #branding you will understand how delighted I am to have emerged on the other side! We have a brand and shiny new logo for Branches And All. As a #scotland based #familybusiness, with #funding for businesses such as ours inexistent #notAI #notIT this has been a challenging journey, constrained by both time and costs. I have a young family, a day job and try to be the best entrepreneur I can in the meantime!
Moreover, the application we made to Innovate UK as part of their #creativecatalyst call and which we hoped will support costs for #branding our emerging business, back in January 2023, was not approved.
What have I learned about making a successful brand with limited resources?
This is now my second experience crafting a #brandidentity. Previously, I collaborated with the same talented illustrator and designer to create a logo for Ionut Pasare at Flora Gardening Ltd, who has been successfully growing since 2011.
Lessons I learned from these two experiences:
Work with people you know and trust. I identify contacts who understand what I am trying to create, and resonate with my mission. Very often, these people become real advocates of your business. Pavel Mocan who built our very first website for Flora Gardening, Louise Kirby who has patiently and passionately invested time into understanding our businesses, visiting our premises and then delivering inspirational artwork for both Flora Gardening in 2014 and Branches And All in 2023 and Wendy Maltman FRSA who has been a gem find from Women Ahead business networking: consulting what is our mission at Branches And All, finding support for us for #marketing data to be gathered by talented Debbie Hutchison.
Gather the data, listen to the experts and then trust your instincts. Following from point 1, I find I need to look at #data from #marketinganalytics to gather information where the future brand sits in the current market. I also networked with other companies in the sector and try to understand their struggles, should they wish to share them. Otherwise, internet searches for key words that resonate with your brand will find you similar businesses, which you can survey. After you gather all this information, PLEASE distill it and make a decision that you feel is right for you! It's important that you, as founder, are happy for with the brand and #logo you create and no amount of data can inform your decision better than your gut instinct!
Be consistent with launching your brand across all channels. As you might have seen, I have already launched the brand and logo for Branches And All on #instagram. Our website will follow shortly, in the same colourway as our logo and artwork. You can also ask your designer the colour code of the brand and use that as background for all posts, and that will help establish your brand identity across your chosen sector.
I hope this was useful, and I would be happy to connect if you have any comments, or tips as we are building our presence in the sector!
Thank you,
Stefania
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