Ever had the sinking feeling of being lost, that there’s something not quite right with the identity of the business you work in – or worse, that you own or run? You’re not alone. At some point, most small businesses find themselves in a position where they have experienced unexpected growth and before they know it, they’re competing with their peers with a visual identity and market presence that doesn’t match the quality of products or services they offer.
In a lot of cases, the go-to solution is that a business thinks they need a new website or an updated logo. At Cross Origin we dig deeper – most of the time we can boil down a client’s instinctive need for change to a wider unease about who the company is and what they want to say.
When we’re approached with a new challenge from a business owner or communications director, we explore the need to move forward by asking some fundamental branding questions. Whether your business has years of heritage or is emerging in an established market, these simple questions can help give your business a clear direction.
Internal brand and positioning
- Apart from commercial gain, why does the business exist?
- What is the vision of the company, where does it aspire to be and what does it want to be known for?
- Who is the audience and where else do they get the service/products from?
- How good or bad are those companies that provide them?
- Where does that leave your business? What is your point of difference and how do you go about finding that?
External Brand Expression
- If your brand had a character what would it be?
- What is the brand’s history and how do you talk about it?
- How do you talk about the business? What are your key messages and promises?
- Does your verbal messaging brand match the internal aspirations?
- Is this information represented well in your visual identity and market presence?
A well thought out brand creates focus, perspective and personality in a business, which can carry you forward into the market.
When do you get creatives involved?
We like to peel back the layers of an organisation to truly understand what it needs to portray and how it wants to be perceived. As creative thinkers, we can only apply a different perspective to business communications if we’re involved from an early stage.
Good design is a given at Cross Origin but hitting the right design can only come from tangible background research. There are a lot of designers out there that can make things look good but at Cross Origin we focus on design that feels and sounds right for your business, that will help propel your business forward and help you achieve your ambitions.
To chat to us about your business, book yourself onto a discovery call below.