A Brand cannot live on Strategy alone.

When we first started DESK our projects commonly centred around designing entire brand suites including identity, guidelines, stationery and websites. But more often than not, we had very little involvement in our client’s wider brand strategy. Their vision, mission, values, and positioning that in our opinion, form the core purpose of their company, which ultimately impacts everything. Fast forward to today, where this is completely changed; we are now involved in all of the above and more, even the brand naming process.

The point in which this evolution began is difficult to pinpoint and it doesn’t feel like it happened overnight either. It’s as if there has been a slow steady movement toward a more holistic approach to branding over the last 5 years.In this time we’ve had the first social media wave (Facebook, Instagram, Twitter), mobile first, the COVID era, the second social media wave (Podcasts, LinkedIn, TiktTok) more digital and less print, the list goes on…To a be a relevant brand these days, there are 3 main ingredients to consider:

1. A considered brand vision, mission, values and positioning.

2. A well designed brand identity system that is consistently communicated (let’s add high quality copywriting, photography and film)

3. A carefully considered marketing strategy normally covers a 1-3, 3-6 and 6-12 month brand plan. This will consider strategy, content creation, marketing, targets, goals and more.

In order to keep this post ‘lite’ I will stick to focusing on Brand Strategy for now. This normally happens at 2 very different stages. The first is during the brand creation phase. The brand is new and a plan is formulated on how this new brand is going to launch to market. The second, is when the brand has been around for a while, say 3-4 years and has hit a plateau and needs an injection of fresh ideas or a re-alignment or re-visiting of the brand positioning and mission.

So to get to the point of the post, I’ll bring in brand consultant and co-founder of fashion brand P&Co, Adison Clark. We have had many a conversation about the parallel brand universes that we work in. To put it plainly, he is the ‘plan and ideas’, and we are the ‘design and production’ of those ideas (best approached in that order). One needs the other to bear fruit for the brand. Sounds pretty straight forward, however more often than not they are done in isolation or with little consideration to one or the other.

“When it comes to developing a brand or a marketing campaign I’ve always started with questions, to be more specific five W’s and one H. What, Why, Where, Who, When & How? When it comes to Brand Strategy the first 5 indicate and help a strategy and the ‘How’ details what is needed to ‘make it happen’. Working with the team at DESK has enabled the How to be dictated by a unified approach to what the ‘brand’ needs to look like, and this is what forms the foundation to truly successful brands. Brand is the STORY. Design is the STORYTELLING”

We’re always open to discuss projects that start at various places and are able to deliver a succinct approach through our team and network. If you are looking to discuss your next move, get in touch.