Try a new brand of branding - the Frank Branding Process™ in 6 steps
- Frank
- Jan 15
- 32 min read
Is it time to try a new brand of branding? Things aren’t working. You’ve got a brand that was envisaged on a cocktail napkin and executed on a shoestring budget but no longer cuts the mustard. Your business deserves better and your customers need what you have to offer. It's time to give your brand a shot with better branding.
A better brand is the result of better branding. Better branding comes from a process that is measured, provides clarity, is both strategic and creative, distinct, and is doable when combined well with marketing. Without a better branding process, a better brand outcome is unlikely and if skipped, well, as the label suggests, results may vary for better business success.
Alright, with that marketing preamble jibber jabber done, this is the Frank Branding Process™ you’ll experience when working with me (yes, one day I’ll trademark that term). This is the 6-step breakdown of what we’ll work through up until the point right before deploying your branding to things like your signage, packaging, website, stationery, and how you market your brand effectively etc. So let’s give it a shot.
Now if you’re not much of a reader or don’t have the time for the completely long-winded versions further down, the Too Long;Didn’t Read version of the process looks like this:
Step 1: Initial Consult with Frank:
Usually done over a video call for 20-30 minutes + proposal provided to get a quick lay of the land, what you wanna achieve and if/how I can help. After providing a ballpark cost and timeline, a formal proposal is provided and a contract/invoice is issued if a project is greenlit to start.
Step 2: Discovery Session:
Typically 3 hours of your time over a video call (or in person if you’re more local) to identify all the aspects of your goals, business offering, team, competitors and customers.
Step 3: Brand Strategy:
I produce a simple strategy that sets the foundation for your brand direction that aims towards success (market need, market segmentation and targeting, positioning and objectives) as well as a clear plan for the steps you can then take to further execute this strategy with further branding and marketing efforts. Every brand needs this, even if it’s an update of an existing brand, because it is the clarity that is needed before moving forward and as such is a non-negotiable part of this process. We go through the strategy together on another shorter call and move onto Step 4 if agreeable.
*Step 3.5: Brand Naming and/or Brand Architecture:
If required, in between developing your Brand Strategy and Brand Identity, we may also need to name/rename your brand(s) and formulate the appropriate structure of multiple brands if you have more than one, known as Brand Architecture as this will dictate the scope and outcome of the following steps.
Step 4: Brand Identity - Internal Identity & Messaging:
Every brand (just like a person) has an identity that is more than just how it looks. So this step will define the purpose of the brand, its values, personality and voice. This is highly useful for teams to share a collective direction and use it to help define an internal culture that can set the tone for how you engage with customers… and even hire/fire within your business. Additionally, a foundational set of messaging is developed to give you the basis for any communication in a branded voice, which includes taglines and slogans, selling and value propositions, call-to-actions, and a brand story. All of which can be implemented on a website, in stationery documentation, content or ads to give you a consistent branded voice of phrases and language you can use repeatedly to get the message ingrained. Again we go through it together on another call and move onto Step 5 if agreeable.
Step 5: Brand Identity: Visual Identity (and possibly Sonic Identity):
At this step I’m designing logos, colour schemes, font choices and typography (layouts of text) and any other visual elements that can enhance the opportunity to captivate an audience and stick in the memory for your brand. It can even include things like clothing, office decor style, or mascots. These assets are presented with a collection of mockups that visulalise your branding in context for likely touchpoints that could include signage, stationery, packaging, etc. Additionally, some clients may find the need for what’s called a sonic identity, which are jingles, sounds, music, etc that create an extra level of sensory awareness for your brand and prove to be even more effective than visuals. Once again we go through what has been produced, together on another call and move onto Step 5 if agreeable.
Step 6: Final deliverables:
What you will receive as a final deliverable are PDFs of the presentations I’ve taken you through at each step prior, as well as a detailed brand guide document that acts as the ‘bible’ of your brand to refer back to your strategy, internal identity, messaging and visuals all in one document. I also produce a more shortened ‘cheat sheet’ 1-2 page version of this document as the full brand guide can be up to 40-60 pages. The last part of the final deliverables are your logo files, packaged up in a folder of print and digital use versions and file types that you’ll need to have on file for different use cases, as well as font files or links to download/purchase font licenses.
FAQs:
What happens after that?
In short, we discuss what next steps you’d like my assistance with to roll out your brand. Which could be a website, signage, stationery, packaging, merchandise, content, etc. This might be done with me and/or as a referral onto other providers (eg. printers or web developers).
How long does it take?
To give you a typical ballpark, you’re looking at 6-8 weeks on average from Steps 1 to 5, and an extra week to get your final deliverables in place for Step 6. Every brand development process is going to be a little different in total duration and dependent on what you’re actually going to need. You might not need to touch your existing visual identity, or you might also need to add in brand naming. In addition to this, if revisions are required at steps 3, 4 or 5, then that can add some extra time to redevelop the outcomes of those steps.
What if I don’t like what you produce?
If you aren’t happy with all or part of what I produce in either Step 3, 4, 5 or 6, then you have the opportunity to engage in a revision, where I will adjust the outcome of what I have produced for that step, based on the feedback you provide. It is imperative that we nail the direction of what your expectations are and what I can do to revise the outcome of that step, before I go ahead and produce the revised result.
What if I don’t need all these steps?
This is something we discuss at Step 1 in the initial consult and proposal part of the process. Some brands don’t need everything while some need it all, so I’m going to make sure the process is tailored to your needs.
What if I just need design help with signage or packaging or website?
We'll cover this in Step 1, as some brands have their branding in place and a refresh of specific touchpoints is all that is needed. So depending on what you have in place already we then set out what is needed and how I’ll be able to help with a tailored proposal.
Now here’s the longer version if you’re already so undeniably captivated by this and want to learn more! More! MORE!... about the Frank Branding Process™
Because let’s face it, in my vanity I had the time to write this thesis and thought it's better to get it down on paper than half-arse it in a long-winded conversation. That said, it wouldn’t even fit into a TEDTalk format anyway, nor within the constraints of an Instagram Reel where the attention span is less than a fly on a hot day. So I know many won’t read all of this, and that’s ok. Because I’ll still do a cracking job of better branding for your brand with this process, so that you see better business success! But if you do end up reading the whole thing, I think you'll find some gems throughout that, to be 'Frank', could have been entirely seperate articles on their own. Nonetheless, I do hope this inspire you to give your brand a shot with better branding. Here we go.
Step 1: Initial Consult
Here’s where we kick off and for any new client I work with, I’ve gotta know a little bit about you, your business and what’s going on to get a good gauge of if I can help, how I can help, and to what extent I can help you. So this is where I need to know the following and I’ll straight up ask you these questions given I only want to take up about 20-30mins of your time over a video call or phone call:
What’s the business?
Who are you/your team?
What’s the goal?
What’s the problem getting in the way?
What have you done already?
How do you think I can help?
What do you need from me to give you the confidence to work together?
Now based on your business and what you’re looking to achieve I’ll tell you right off that bat if I can help. Sometimes I might be as useless as t*ts on a bull depending on your situation and it’s more practically helpful for me to refer you on to someone that could help with your specific need. Because there are times I’ve engaged with business owners and teams who were already a little further down the road from having their brand in place and just needed to market themselves to a greater extent. It happens. Or you may have your branding in place and want help updating certain touchpoints like your signage, packaging, stationery, etc. This is the step I do with any client to get a gauge of what’s actually going on and what’s needed.
But let’s say we’re a good fit and I can help you. And let’s say you’re in a situation where you need to rebrand your business. It was first designed on a cocktail napkin over dinner with your partner (personal or business) and you just got someone (or maybe even AI) to whip up a quick logo, website and a few other touchpoints for your product or service on the cheap but the result was subpar compared to what you were really hoping for.
At this point I’ll tell you we’re going to do the full 6 steps of the Frank Branding Process™ and give you the ballpark cost. To put a definitive pin on this point, this is where you tell me if it’s realistically out of your budget or if you’re happy to proceed. No point wasting each other’s time, right?
I’ll end up doing a whole other post about budget allocations for branding and marketing, but to note here quickly if you’re unsure about what all this stuff costs, typically the average spend is around 5-10% of your annual turnover for branding/marketing spend for businesses. Now I’m not saying a rebrand is necessarily going to be priced at 10% of your revenue, especially if you’re turning over $10M annually. But what you do also need to do is also factor in the potential outlay needed to deploy this branding and the costs associated with marketing your business with advertising, content, etc, so that your brand is actually able to reach and connect with your target market. So 10% to bring in the full 100% of revenue each year is a basic ballpark of looking at it. Even though you’re obviously going to have the compounding effects of previous efforts, your team, word of mouth, etc. The point is, it’s a broad industry investment benchmark in your business and my pricing for this Frank Branding Process™ is typically $15,000.
So in short we have a conversation to briefly understand your needs and if I can help, with a ballpark figure provided. If this is achievable, I’ll then provide you with a formal proposal for approval (if needed). If all is agreeable, a contract agreement and invoice will be provided to be completed and paid before commencement of the project. So that it covers terms and conditions for copyright assignment, warranties for both parties, confidentiality, as well as the scope of work.
Two last short notes to finish up this step, are that my proposals typically last up to 6 months and depending on the scope of the project, the total amount may be billed 100% upfront before commencement or billed in a staged cadence as we progress with the project.
Step 2: Discovery Session
Whether you are local to me or not, will depend on the form in which we conduct the discovery session. If local we can connect in person and this may take up 4-5 hours of your time as conversations and the total interaction can take up a little more. Otherwise, I typically organise a video call we can do at your convenience and this usually takes around 3 hours.
The way I conduct these sessions is simply to ask you questions as conversation starters and have a back and forward dialog to gain as much clarity I can from you about your business, customers and competition and in turn, hopefully give you just as much clarity. Because these sessions can feel cathartic, as if it’s a psychology session when getting all your thoughts down on paper. For some it can be challenging to look introspectively, especially if there are challenges or faults that need to be overcome, or simply because it’s often hard to think about what we want and who we are. And this can be often mitigated if you have a team of people present, rather than one person (unless you are a team of one), so that you can have subjective and objective viewpoints when we cross reference each other’s views, opinions, gripes and goals.
So think of it like playing 20 questions, but there are no wrong answers and the more information you can give me, the more insight I can then later use to your advantage to give you the answer you need in the form of a brand strategy and branding/marketing efforts. It’s simply questions about your three C’s, company, customers and the competition. What do you do/offer, who is it for, and who are you up against.
Additionally, you may have some hard data for me to also be aware of and find useful as a good benchmark for who your customers are, your market share, your market penetration, average customer spend, customer behaviour trends, conversion and churn rates, and how your competitors are doing comparatively. If you want to gain data like this we can set up future systems or engage with providers for better brand tracking.
The part that you won’t notice much throughout this session, is that I’m also picking up on the subconscious cues you give in your personality, the way you communicate, and how you engage with one another. That might sound a little creepy but it’s a really helpful way of identifying the personality and even team culture dynamic that could be enhanced and instilled into your brand. It’s not just about the facts and figures for an ongoing Brand Strategy, there’s also the psychological side of how your brand captivates, connects with people that I can capture and instill into the Brand Identity side of things.
I have been asked before, “how can all of this information you take down possibly be implemented into one brand?” and it’s true, there will always be more than I need when developing both a strategy and identity for your brand. But when you do need to find that diamond in the rough idea or concept that your brand can be formed around, it does take sifting through a heap of stuff that may not be as useful as others, and finding those few gems that can work.
Now as a result of the session, I’ll be recording our conversation both in video and/or audio, as well as written form, so that we both have a record of it to refer back to or even share with others in your team that couldn’t be present. We then move onto Step 3.
Step 3: Brand Strategy
Okay, strategy in the context of a brand is pretty similar to a business strategy. Put simply, a brand strategy is identifying how you believe your brand will win, rather than how your business will be financially successful in the context of a business strategy. They might sound the same but financial outcomes vary based on what winning actually means for your brand strategy, which might be market share, customer retention, market penetration, brand awareness, expansion of locations, new product lines, increased customer spend, or even team retention.
Now profitability is still the non-negotiable baseline for any brand strategy, as any of these efforts need to have a desired outcome that will put positive pressure towards increasing net profitability. Because without it, you won’t have a business. But this type of strategy is focused on what makes the brand live and breath on top of the business staying afloat. In essence, take away your product or service and if there’s any value left from the brand you’ve created, you’ve created brand equity. It’s the reason Nike can charge $50 for a plain white t-shirt, while Target sells one for $5. There’s equity in the swoosh logo and the full identity of the brand.
In addition to this, the Brand Strategy we develop together, is clearly defining the most viable target you can focus on to then meet them when and where they will likely see and need you. We call these instances ‘Category Entry Points’ - the times, reasons and places where your brand needs to be to show up to be both thought of and available when needed. The goal is achieving what we call ‘mental availability’ or ‘salience’ - meaning “does your brand come to mind in a buying situation”, coupled with ‘physical availability’ - meaning “is your brand accessible and in the place it’s needed”, without both of these your brand won’t be the one people buy in a crowded marketplace of options that customers now have in the form of your competition.
If we define this, we can then specifically develop a plan for how to brand and market your offering so that we position it in a way that your target customer will easily think of it and be able to access it when it comes to things like how your product looks, when/where it is stocked, making it easy to book your services, setting your pricing to align with the price tolerances of buyers, designing to attract their attention over the noise of other offerings, crafting memorable messages that can be easily attributed to our brand when they hear or see it again, or creating a brand culture that people can gravitate towards and feel part of. All these tactical things we can execute on are influenced and directed by your Brand Strategy as the north star, map, compass, GPS directions, whatever you see it as, to always refer back to, and to know if you’re still on course.
So my task, given all the information I’ve collected from you during our Discovery Session and further company, customer, and competition research I look into (as we may even do team and customer interviews additionally), is to then distill that down into the simplest form possible by defining:
Key insights
Market Orientation (what the market need is)
Segmentation and Targeting (who needs it/who’s most viable)
Positioning (what is our position in the market to be remembered/chosen for)
Objectives (how we’ll measure success to know if the targeting & positioning is working)
Tactics (branding and marketing tasks that achieve those Objectives)
Budget & Timeline (a prioritised timeline and costings for those Tactics to be developed)
This is the foundation of any simple and effective brand strategy (or some call it marketing strategy). 100% it is a hypothesis, there are no guarantees of success but it will be a strategy based on what we believe will help your brand win, as well as taking from the experience both I have and what the market has seen success in doing. But it’s especially doing so on a playing field of your choice, doing it your distinct way, which means there could very well be a precedent where it’s seeing what works and taking accountability when it doesn’t to reassess and find the better course. But when you want a blue ocean strategy so that no other competitor comes close, it can be uncharted territory of bold decisions that you work through and it’s what every business goes through. Because if there was a set course for this that worked every time, every business would be an instant success, but success does leave clues.
Now you might already have a solid strategy in place, which would be amazing to work with. Though you’re likely coming to someone like me because you don’t already have one, or something isn’t working well enough. So if, let’s say, it’s the latter, we review and identify changes for the next calendar or financial year so that it’s clearer and maybe more doable. Because regardless of if you have one or not, a brand strategy should always be revisited cyclically. Just like an annual financial report and review to plan your budget for the next financial year, you do the same with your Brand Strategy. Because hey, the efforts you need to do as a result of the strategy are going to need a budget, and as a result they’re going to (hopefully positively) affect your revenue stream. Which means you review what is working, what might need to change and what new things can be done to further growth and success.
So the final result of this step after a couple of weeks of me formulating this strategy for your brand, we’re going to meet up again, likely over another video call for up to an hour of your time, and I’ll take you through those 7 Brand Strategy areas that formulate your strategy. It’s just a few slides and my task is to be able to summarise it for you on one page so it’s clear, easy to understand and doable in a way that everyone in your team can understand it and even apply it to their every day tasks when they can get behind the goal at hand. Because if it’s too complicated and not concise, it goes over everyone's heads and won’t be executed effectively.
You’ll get a week to review this, provide any feedback or request changes if needed. Once agreeable, we move onto the next step.
*Step 3.5: Brand Naming & Brand Architecture (if required)
There are sometimes two additional steps that can be wedged in between the Brand Strategy and Internal Identity development and they are either or both Brand Naming and Brand Architecture.
If you have an entire new brand or you want to create a whole new name, then brand naming at this stage is often a great time to do this as the selection of a name can guide and tie in nicely with the identity of your brand. Naming can also be applicable for specific product brands or service offerings too. We want to find a name that fits the following criteria set out by the guy (and good friend of mine) who wrote book on ‘Brand Naming’, Rob Meyerson:
Is it Meaningful
Is it Memorable
Is it Adaptable
Is it Distinctive
Does it sound good
Does it look good
Is it legally available
Is it linguistically viable
Is it easy to spell and pronounce
It can be a tricky process and can add a little extra time to the process, but a great name can have a great impact on the outcome of the following steps of my Frank Branding Process™.
Then sometimes in combination to naming, or stand alone, you may have several brands that need to be guided by a common or individual strategy and how they are managed comes under the banner of a thing we call Brand Architecture. You might not have heard of the term before but it refers to one of the following systems of brand naming and identities:
Branded House: This refers to a structure of brands where there are several brands that fit within the same naming convention or brand system where they all look like offshoots of the same brand, often held under the one parent brand that shares the same branding. An example of this is FedEx (as shown below)
House of Brands: This structure refers to multiple standalone brands housed under a separately branded parent brand. Examples of this are Pepsico and their separate owned brands of Pepsi, Doritos, Lipton, etc (as show below)
Sub Brands: This refers to a structure of products or services offered by a main brand that are given their own naming conventions with the same branding. An example of this is Apple’s product lineup of Apple Watch, Apple iPhone, Apple iPad, Apple TV, all starting with their Apple logomark (as shown below)
Endorsed Brands:
This refers to a structure of brands that have the main parent brand logo/name integrated into the name of the other product or service brands. An example of this is Kelloggs, with their Kellogg’s Corn Flakes, Kellogg’s Coco Pops, Kellogg’s Special K, etc (as show below)
This Brand Architecture process will help determine what structure is most appropriate as well as what then needs to be developed in the following Brand Identity development steps. However, this part of the process will likely be uncovered in our Initial Consult to identify the appropriate scope of the project if you end up having or intend on having multiple brands developed within this process.
Step 4: Brand Identity - Internal Brand Identity & Messaging
The common misconception of branding is that a brand, just like a brand on a cow, is purely a visual symbol of your business with something as simple as your logo. And yeah, this is the entomology of the word branding. However, if you think about yourself as a brand, is your identity only defined by how you look or dress? Of course not, and this is why we go a little deeper now with branding to properly get to the root of what your business’ brand is, so that it influences the perception of your brand by customers and in relation to your competitors. Because many experts in branding and marketing will tell you that your brand is not what you say it is, it’s what they (your customers) say it is. I say hogwash to that in part, as you do have the opportunity to define your brand and people will say or think what they want to, regardless. Giving them something to feel or think in my ‘Frank’ opinion, is the way to go.
So we start from the inside out and this is why the Discovery Session step where we focus on you, your team and your business can be so challenging for some. As we often don’t define what our purpose is, what we value, what is our personality and how we communicate. But if we could, wouldn’t we then have more clarity in what we’re doing, so that others know and understand what we’re doing and offering? I think so, and even if this sounds a bit airy fairy, all it is, is clarity to get everyone on the same page in forming a collective brand identity and make use of it to your advantage.
Which is why in this step I’m helping you define these characteristics for your brand as a collective identity and it’s going to be based on the positioning from your Brand Strategy. Because this identity is a separate entity to who you are as the founder and who your team is, and it needs to be an identity that customers are going to engage with and think of you for. It’s a bit like a family unit but with a shared singular direction, ethos and voice. And this is why I like this part of branding so much, as it can be what defines your internal team culture, which I’m guessing is going to be of great help for your HR or business development team too.
It’s going to help you identify the people who align with this identity, but also clearly understand and get behind what the purpose is and how to communicate that. So that when you and your team get out there and engage with customers, no matter who it is in the team, it’s a clear and consistent brand experience.
And this stuff is really simple, as much as it is really important to get right. The ramifications of it not being embraced is that you don’t have a unified team, an unclear direction, or you have an outlier that doesn’t fit and needs to be let go. But even more important is it not resulting in a poor customer experience when it comes to sales and the actual product/service support.
I also say it’s simple because it needs to revolve around a very simple concept for your brand, it might be just the positioning or at least being influenced by it, to create a kind of theme for your brand that makes it easier to define and could even be based on a single word.
For example, a past client of mine had a greeting card business and the positioning for her business that sold greeting cards with elegantly written swear words on them, was “greeting cards with swear words on them that create a reaction”. So the single-minded concept for the identity of her brand, called ‘Kunty Kards’, was ‘kunty reactions’. This defined every part of her brand identity, from purpose to messaging and the goal of her customer’s experience of her products was to elicit this reaction that would make them say a swear word (hopefully in a positive way). Be it from what was written on the card, to the deluge of ‘kunfetti’ (confetti) that would spill out not just from the greeting card for the recipient, but also for her customers when they purchased cards and opened the package she’d sent.
So I’m going to come back to you with another presentation deck that covers your brand identity in another 1-hour call with the following:
Recap of the Brand Strategy
The identity concept based on the Positioning from your Brand Strategy
Brand Purpose:Why your brand exists and sets out to do for its customers.
Brand Values:
Typically 3 pillar words or phrases that define what you value and can be shared values of what your customers value or expect from your brand.
Brand Personality:Traits that define the collective characteristics of your brand/team and the way you engage with customers and each other.
Brand Voice:The tone of voice and the style of how you communicate.
Additionally, this call is also going to cover your Brand Messaging. I’m going to give you a boiler plate starting point for how you can communicate a clear and consistent set of messages in your tone of voice and with your defined brand personality. This includes:
Tagline: A single phrase like ‘Just Do It’, ‘I’m Loving It’, ‘Good Different’, that captures the essence of that concept/theme of your brand.
Slogans: I give you a bunch of phrases that can be a useful starting for marketing campaigns to sell a specific offer or work a bit like a memorable jingle, eg. Snickers’ “You’re not you when you’re hungry” campaign.
Selling Proposition & Value Proposition: These are simple elevator pitch statements that define what you offer and what the benefit is to your customers. They might be unique to your industry, but that uniqueness is not a prerequisite.
Call-to-actions: Phrases that encourage the customer to take the next step in your marketing funnel - eg. for my own brand it’s “Say G’day Today”.
Brand Story: What some things is a story about you, is actually about your customer and how/why you’re there to help them - often used for the ‘About Us’ section of a brochure or website that can be expanded or reduced in length where needed.
Now between the internal identity and external messaging, these things are going to evolve over time. What feels natural now, might feel outdated or even done to death. That might be true and as time goes on your brand can and will evolve. The only caveat to keep in mind is that your branding, particularly the external parts of it, like your messaging, colours, logo, etc. These are made for your customer. To attract them, to help them find and recognise you, rather than for you, given you’re not the one buying.
Of course you want to be proud of and like your branding, but over time you might get sick of seeing the same thing or saying the same thing and want to change it. But the longer you can stick with these facets of your brand, especially if they’re working well, is to keep them. Because you’re going to see your brand 1000 times more than your customers ever will. So stay on course as long as you can and always look for an outsider's perspective before you go changing your branding first just because you’re over it. As it’s something I’ve experienced before and in many instances I’ve told clients to stick with what they have and if anything just tweak a few things that give it a bit more clarity or ease of use, if anything.
So before we proceed onto the next step, you have the opportunity to review the messaging, and provide any feedback and changes. If it’s then agreeable, we move onto Step 5.
Step 5: Brand Identity - Visual Identity (and possibly Sonic Identity)
This is the step most clients enquire about branding for. “We only need a logo and some colours” is often the phrase used. And yes, in some cases that’s all I might do to help a client as they have the other parts covered or the other parts are being done by someone else - this is something I often do when partnering with other branding or marketing agencies, strategists, copywriters and even other designers.
Yes, every brand needs a logo, colours, fonts and other visual elements to help stand out, captivate attention, make your brand easy to find, be recognised and be remembered. But hopefully, if you’ve read the steps before, you can see why I believe the others are just as important.
What makes those preceding steps even more important is that they help make the visual identity step much clearer and easier to develop a clear concept that can be visualised. As there is now meaning behind it, rather than ambiguous symbols and colour choices that are left open to interpretation.
It’s like looking at a red octagon shaped sign at a street corner, we know what that symbol represents, even if the word STOP isn’t there. So the same thing applies if we create a logo symbol, that if the name of your brand isn’t there, like the McDonald’s golden arches logo, we know that the symbol represents not just the name of your brand but what to expect from it. Using that McDonald’s logo example, we know it’s the McDonald’s brand but we know it’s a fast food restaurant that sells burgers and fries for a quick and easy meal on the go. This is why visuals (and sounds) are important for your brand, but so is the message, the meaning, and the strategy behind it so that the right customers know and understand what it represents when they see or hear it.
So as a result of establishing your Brand Strategy, Internal Identity and Messaging, this gives me a connection point to create and define the following visual look for your brand:
Logos: Not just one logo, but often 2-3 in different orientations so that it is flexible/adaptable for different situations, and typically has an icon/symbol and a wordmark version of your brand name.
Colours: Typically I choose 1-3 main brand colours that specifically aren’t the same as your competitors and that suit the tone of your brand.
Font Choice and Text Layout: Font choice again is typically selecting fonts that suit the tone of your brand, be it impactful or easy to read, luxurious or cute, this process can take some time in itself. Some can potentially cost you a licensing fee to use them - but efforts are made to find commercially free or affordable fonts as a first priority. Then text layout, also known as Typography, is how we use fonts and even colour to create a set visual hierarchy and alignment between headings, body text and other instances where text appears like website buttons, quotations and more.
Other Graphic Assets: This can include patterns, textures, shapes as visual assets that can further create a visual look of the brand. It can also include the design of a character/mascot for the brand. Or even an animated logo video file.
Other Visual Looks: We might even define a look for your team clothing or uniform, and office decor. We could define a photography/videography style for any photo and film shoots you do.
Sonic Identity: If a jingle, sounds or music has been developed at this step, then those audio files will also be presented.
Mockups:
To bring to life all parts of your brand’s identity, I then create a series of real-world mockup images that bridge the gap between concept and reality to bring to life a representation of what your visual identity and messaging will look like on things like your stationery, website, packaging, signage, brochures, clothing, social media content, merchandise, advertising and more. So rather than looking at a logo and colours on a page, you see your branding applied to the likely touchpoints you’ll end up deploying your branding on, or may even give you some inspiration for touchpoints you had not yet considered.
Once again and for the final time, I take you through each of these facets in another presentation and get your first impressions.
One thing do I say before taking you through the slides, especially if this is a rebranding project, is that a lot of us can be adverse to change, and what you expect visually (maybe even subconsciously if you didn’t have any expectations to begin with) might not be exactly what you had pictured. So my suggestion is always to take in what you see and measure it against the setting in which it will present itself and how you think it will help catch your customers eye, or help them recognise and remember your brand. Seeing it through an objective lens is what I’m getting at here. But also, give it some time. Come back to it from time to time and check your reaction each time. What might have been an adverse reaction initially, may turn out to be a look that grows on you over time and of course, you do need to be confident in it, and hopefully be proud of it too. But like I said in the Messaging step, this is made for your customers, rather than it being made for you.
Another part of this process to make you aware of is that I also only produce one visual look for your branding. As my interpretation of what your brand is, is what you’ve come to me for. Some branding professionals may opt to produce and present two or more concepts for their client’s consideration. I find this to not only take more time to develop different concepts, but often the result of multiple concepts causes confusion or decision paralysis. So if there are multiple concepts you like and can’t part with either of them, the end request can be to smoosh them together, which might not be the best choice of outcome. As such producing multiple concepts is not part of my Frank Branding Process™.
You then have the opportunity to review the visual identity, and provide any feedback and changes. If it’s then agreeable, we move onto the final Step 6.
Step 6: Final Deliverables
“What do I get at the end of all this?”, is right up there with “I just need a logo” of the most heard things I’ve had potential clients say in our initial consult. And in all honesty, I’ve got the impression in that first consult conversation I’ve had with clients over the years that it may not feel like much that you get at the end, especially as the only tangible things are often your logo files and brand guidelines. As opposed to a finished packaging design, or a billboard, or stationery you can physically hold or see out in the open.
But think of what you get at the end of this process as the metaphoric architectural blueprint plans for your brand. Without them, your brand house can’t be built or falls down. You’re walking away with what is necessary for establishing the foundations of your brand with this outcome.
So what you get is the culmination of each step in this Frank Branding Process™ plus a few key deliverables. These final deliverables included a packaged online folder are:
Recordings of every meeting we have
Presentation deck PDFs from each meeting we have had
Brand Guidelines document: This is a comprehensive PDF (and Canva) document for you to easily refer back to your brand strategy, internal brand identity, messaging, visual identity and any other brand assets created that need reference guidelines and instruct usage of the brand assets. This document is often 30+ pages and acts as your ‘Brand Bible’ to refer back to when developing any branding or marketing materials.
Brand Guidelines cheat sheet: Sometimes you just need a quick reference sheet instead of flipping through several pages to find what you’re looking for. So I create a 1-2 page cheat sheet that will compress most of what is needed into a succinct reference sheet - one that’s often good to stick in your office drawer and pull out quickly when needed, like your colour codes, font names or messaging.
Logo files: Your logo files will be packaged into a folder of various file types and formats. This includes the different logo variants I design, saved with different colour schemes for specific applications (eg. a white logo version for use over a dark background), then saved as well in different file formats (eg. png, eps, svg) and saved for both print use (CMYK colour + Pantone colour if required) and digital use (RGB colour).
Font files: Depending on the fonts that are selected, you will either be provided with the font files if they are commercially free for use. Or if they require a paid license, you will be instructed where to purchase and download them. One things to note with font licensing is that depending on the fonts chosen, they may have different licenses for different uses (eg. print and/or website usage) and even for the amount of users that will use these licenses. This information will be made available to you before you decide to proceed with the visual identity in Step 5.
Graphic files: In instances where graphic patterns, icons, shapes, etc or mascots are designed, these files will also be included in a similar manner to the logo files (colour variants, print and digital colours and various file types).
Sonic Identity:
If a jingle, sounds or music has been developed at this step, then those audio files will also be provided in the final deliverables.
How I can help your brand after the Frank Branding Process™
At this stage it is now up to you to now be the custodians of your brand. Copyright has been assigned to you and you have the responsibility to deploy the brand in the way you see fit. But at the end of this process we’ll discuss if there’s anything further I can help you with to deploy your brand.
With your Brand Strategy in mind, there will be an outline of tactical things you can tackle as a result of your Brand Identity being developed. And as a result of the visual identity step, the visual real-world mockups I create for you, may have given extra inspiration for other things you could do and how they could look.
So within my own capabilities of service beyond the brand development process I can help you:
Design stationery (business cards, folders, notebooks, with comps, letterhead, etc)
Design signage (car decals, billboards, posters, banners, office facades, etc)
Design packaging (FMCG and other product packs, gifting, etc)
Design websites (the visual look/layout and messaging throughout. Does not include development, SEO, hosting or domain management)
Design merch (hats, clothing, mugs, keychains, umbrellas, beer coolers, etc)
Design for social media (profile images, profile banners, content templates, etc. Does not include ongoing content creation)
Design of sales material (presentation templates, brochures, flyers, physical/digital ads, etc)
These services can be done bespoke and priced individually, or bundled as a package.
Alternatively, I can offer my services as a fractional brand manager that can include all of the following for an ongoing set monthly fee within the limits of 1-2 days per week of remote engagement in your brand:
All of the design capabilities listed above whenever needed.
Team culture training and check-ins to maintain consistency and confidence - which can be done in partnership with your HR or Business Development managers.
Half yearly brand strategy check-ins.
Yearly brand strategy reviews, either calendar year or financial year.
This is perfect for businesses that need someone to help guide the ship of their brand and help manage the rollout of the brand until much of the branding has been applied to all your touchpoints. Especially in the first year or two of a new brand direction, without the full-time cost of an employee.
Additionally, you’re likely going to need the help of other suppliers to get your brand out there. I have several within my network and depending on the business industry you’re in, I can either bring on a specialist to engage in producing deliverables outside my own capabilities, or refer you on to others that you can engage with directly. This can include:
Printers for stationery, signage, merch, and sales material.
Web developers
SEO specialist copywriters
Marketing managers for digital ads and content marketing
Advertising and content campaign agencies
Photographers & Videographers for product, real estate, team, lifestyle photography
To Summarise the Frank Branding Process™
If you happened to read all of that, I’m impressed. As it’s the most comprehensive outline of my process that I’ve ever documented to give a proper detailed look at what you can expect from working with me when developing your Brand Strategy and Brand Identity.
As I say all throughout my website and in my content, this is about better branding. Better branding for business success. And to be ‘Frank’, as I often am by nature and not just name, branding in general can and should be a simple process, even though this article was SUPER LONG. But it’s one that many businesses, especially small businesses, overlook. Many just want to get something on the shelf, or up on a website or on paper for a business meeting and that anything will likely do. This is one reason I believe why many businesses fail. They don’t give their customers (and their team) something more than the product or service they offer, to buy in to. A reason to choose them over others and see greater value in. Because without that, you don’t have a brand.
And look, I get it as well. It can be a steep investment, not just financially but also time and commitment of resources needed to drive the brand forward, getting it out there and connecting with customers consistently - it can be a slog. Especially if this is something you may not have considered or believe you need.
However, I always come back to this point, that every big, successful, memorable brand you know and buy from, they've all done and do this stuff, religiously. They have a Brand Strategy that gives them clear direction. They have Brand Guidelines to maintain consistency. They have simple and repetitive Messaging. They use their Internal Brand Identities to help guide company culture and customer experiences led by their team. They have this foundation at their feet and the compass, map and wheel to help steer them in the right direction, with blue ocean around them.
Metaphors aside as I think I’ve laboured that ocean/ship one to death, I hope this process demonstrates not only what you get, but also the time, analysis, thinking, and creativity that is needed to develop a brand with you. Especially to produce something that is more than a logo. Which I hope you can appreciate that a logo alone isn’t going to be the catch-all solution to whatever problems you are facing to grow your business. It takes small steps that, when combined and compounded over time, you don’t just start looking like a bigger brand, you end up becoming one in time as you keep at it.
And having people, like myself in your corner, to help you develop your brand and get it out there is what is going to help you succeed rather than just leaving you to figure it all out and it be a complete waste. As I genuinely love helping others bring their brand to life in front of them and with them and seeing it succeed, because your success is my success and many creatives do it for the craft and like a mad scientist to see what works best and find new breakthroughs. It's also not about the money either because we know the impact it can make not just financially, but psychologically within your team. Making your team confident and proud in what they are doing to make an impact themselves rather than just being a job. Or making that impact on your customer's lives. That gives your purpose meaning and justification.
It might all sound a bit “woo-woo!” But better branding can be done in simple steps, without needing to be flashy, to effectively reach your goals and create better business success. So if this proved to help get you across the line and you want to give your brand a shot by working with me and putting your brand through the Frank Branding Process™, then say g’day today and book a call with me to get this ball rolling!
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