What is Branding?
Branding is often misconceived as being largely visual. For example, creating a logo, picking the core company colours and making a website, but the process of defining a brand’s identity is so much more than that. Many businesses make the mistake of moving forward too quickly, without establishing a brand identity first, which can be counterproductive. A brand is a business’ personality; a way for a company to communicate who they are, the background that they come from, and what they believe in – their raison d’être.
Take Lululemon and Nike, for example. Both sell activewear but target very different communities. Lululemon’s brand is built around the idea of living a well balanced, nutritious, and carefree lifestyle, where Nike focuses on athletes whose incentives are created by the need to push their limits. These are two different brands, both centred around living healthy lifestyles, but they each have very different personalities.
Think about it this way: If your business were a person, what kind of person would it be?
Things to Consider:
Likes/dislikes, food taste, music taste, morning person or night owl, perhaps a serial napper, exercise routine (or not), age, education, location, languages, introvert or extrovert (just kidding, your business should probably love people), etc.
Then Who is Pivot & Pilot, and What is Our Brand About?
Imagine cute, young, and honest design nerds who love art, reading, hiking and puppies. We wake up early to exercise and stay up late reading design blogs, looking at memes, and watching Netflix. We spend a lot our time on self-improvement, both professionally and personally, by doing industry research, but don’t worry, we have friends, too! We attend events like Eco Fashion Week because we love keeping it green and meeting cool people from other local industries. We love the grind and working hard, but we also love having fun – a day in the office isn’t complete without gathering for a dance break or a funny YouTube video. Most importantly, we love our work. We like to get to know our clients on a professional and personal level because giving businesses what they need whether it be branding, logo and website design, or just a friendly face to talk to, is what we’re about.
You’ll find us at:
- Pop-up art events
- Shopping at Frank + Oak or Oak + Fort (anything with a + sign, really)
- Having coffee and tea at Buro on Water Street
- Brunching, lunching, dining, drinking, and dancing in trendy new spots or the best kept hipster secrets of Vancouver
- Exploring, whether it be the culturally rich neighbourhoods of Vancouver or exciting cities of the world, we love to travel.
So, What's the Takeaway?
Branding is not just about how pretty, or eye-catching your logo is and how your company looks from the outside; it’s the core culture and personality that you build around your business. It’s difficult for companies to market themselves if they don’t know who they are (almost like being in your teens again). If you’re planning to start a business, or already have, the first thing to consider is who you are and what makes you different because the answer to that will:
Be fundamental to the type of audience you attract. Be embedded in your company’s culture. Affect the paths that you take.
