Tool Box
Issue No. 12 - August/September 2003
Looking as Good as you are
Why Strong Brand Identity Adds to the Bottomline
by Michelle LeCornu
As long as you’re good at what you do, it doesn’t matter what you look like…
or does it?
As a marketing consultant and someone who has worked in marketing for nearly a decade, I’m often asked about the importance of appearance.
There seems to be a common perception amongst business people that they need to spend a lot of money to create a strong corporate identify and a favourable image.
Their other perception is money spent on branding does not create any tangible results for their business, let alone sales outcomes.
Wrong!
Hayes Knight was recently commissioned by a Keith—based irrigation company, South East Irrigation Supplies (known formally as Caldecott Irrigation Service) to develop its corporate identity and most importantly, to help the business grow its bottom—line.
Business owner, Michael Whitford, purchased the business in July 2002. Like most new business owners, Michael wanted to make a fresh start and create a business identity of his own.
His first step was to select a name, which he had already selected before commencing the project with Hayes Knight.
The next step was to develop a creative brief and invite three Adelaide design companies to offer their ideas and quotes for the job.
In any branding project, the creative brief is a critical component. It is important for the creative team to have a good understanding of:
- Your business goal — what are you trying to achieve? Do you want sales, an appealing image, to create impact, or all three?
- Background about your company — your existing branding and communication materials. What are the outstanding characteristics about your business that make it instantly recognisable?
- The audience — who do you want to communicate with and create a favourable impression?
- The media – what type of media will your corporate identity be used on? Consider paper—based media, signage, ve...
