all the
branding
questions.
you wished
you asked at the
last meeting but
were too shy to.
contents
01 what is branding?
02 what makes a brand ‘good’?
03 isn’t branding advertising or marketing?
04 what kind of ‘branding’ do you do?
05 when is a good time for branding?
06 what makes you qualified to help us?
07 what is unique about your approach?
08 i’ve rebranded. can you still help me?
09 how to choose a branding partner?
10 can i get funding support for branding?
01
what is branding?
Branding is a conscious act to define and reinforce what your business stands for, so that it can attract an audience and keep them engaged. This involves creating a ‘brand foundation’ - a cohesive set of brand ingredients - that help a business project its desired image through the way it communicates and engages with its customers. These ingredients include:
Verbal identity assets
The brand’s name, story and core messages.
Possibly a 2 - 3 word phrase (hopefully memorable) - called a tagline - that expresses what your brand is about.
The way your brand sounds when it writes and communicates.
Visual identity assets
The logo, colour palette, photography style, fonts and other creative elements that work together to bring your brand’s story to life throughout its marketing, communications, physical spaces, products and internal organisation.
Brand identity applications
The composition and design of a range of ‘brand touch-points’ to visualise how the brand will be presented across a business or organisation. These may cover corporate materials, communications (print and digital), physical spaces (retail store, offices, facilities, exhibitions) and product packaging.
Brand guidelines
This documents all of the above, serving as a valuable reference and guide for managing the brand’s image faithfully and consistently over time.
The process or journey of creating these components that make up the brand’s foundation is informed by insights often drawn from engagement with business owners or stakeholders as well as research.
So you can see that branding - especially the creation of the brand’s foundation - is an intentional act. This gives you the power to define your brand instead of letting it be defined by others.
02
what makes a brand ‘good’?
Meaningful.
A good brand has an engaging story that is clear, compelling and relatable.
Distinctive.
A distinctive ‘look and feel’ that packages and brings the engaging story to life.
Cohesive.
A engaging story and distinctive identity that is delivered in an orchestrated manner across a business, product or organisation. It is this cohesion that builds brand recognition, engagement and effectiveness.
In addition, good brands become great brands by going further - earning credbility and advocacy by reinforcing their projected image with behaviours, actions and deeds through the customer experience. They walk the talk,
03
isn’t branding advertising, marketing?
Yes and no.
Brand foundation creation, advertising and marketing are essential components in brand-building. You could say there are 2 aspects of branding: upstream and downstream.
Upstream.
Is where the brand foundation is developed.
Unless the business undergoes dramatic change and needs to be re-defined, this foundation should remain relevant over a period of 5 to 10 years. It’s a long-term investment and asset.
Downstream.
Is where the brand actively builds engagement - promoting its causes, services or products.
The term ‘brand activation’ is used to describe this, encompassing a range of activities carried out internally or with the help of external specialists - advertising, digital marketing, public relations. The client and its brand activation partners look to the the brand’s foundation to provide direction for the generation of ideas and content.
Brand activation activities are more short-term in nature, but are essential in building presence and engagement.
04
what kind of ‘branding’ do you do?
Upstream brand-building.
We are ‘upstream’ branding specialists, focused on building the brand foundation that supports its business strategy and growth ambitions. We are passionate about defining and designing the brand DNA for businesses, products or causes, so they can build a magnetic and memorable presence in the market.
If initiated and put in place well-ahead of a planned activation campaign, a solid brand foundation can help the campaign communicate with longer-lasting meaning and a well-thought out identity. By reinforcing a focused and consistent long-term message, the money you spend just goes further.
Being the author of a brand foundation enables us to help our clients ensure that content created for activation activities are aligned with the brand - either as an on-going advisor, ideation partner, creative director, designer or writer.
05
when is the right time for a branding project?
If we think of a branding project as an exercise in painting a magnetic and memorable story for your business, there are 3 scenarios where a branding project can add value and position (or re-position) your business for growth.
01
Your business looks dated, becoming less competitive against more progressive players.
02
Your business is transforming and there is potential to signal a new, better, bigger story to the market.
03
You are creating a new business or offering that needs a compelling story and identity to stand out.
There is a fourth scenario. Your business looks disorganised and messy, potentially undermining customers’ confidence in your capabilities - a credibility issue. We call this the ‘get your house in order’ scenario. However, in our experience, many clients tend to display inertia or avoidance, preferring to live with their ‘mess’. To us, this is a missed ‘quick-win’ opportunity to do some spring-cleaning that can help sharpen up a brand and make it look more confidence-inspiring.
06
what makes you qualified to help with our brand?
20+ years of branding experience across diverse industry sectors.
The ability to weave together management consulting, story-telling, writing and creative disciplines.
That means we’re good at doing the ‘connect the dots’ work that is essential to understanding a business and translating that into a unique expression as a brand.
07
anything unique about your approach to branding?
We don’t have a secret weapon.
We’re only driven by the ideal of building an authentic brand for our clients.
Authenticity starts with our Back To The Farm workshops - here we immerse ourselves with our clients to map their business and brand aspirations, ensuring we capture the brand we create captures a slice of their DNA.
Authenticity means we bring more art and craft into the brand we create. The goal: create a custom-tailored suit or dress that is yours to own. Our design services - illustration, mascot creation, sonic branding, animation - add a layer of character and magnetism to your brand, helping it stand out in a sea of ‘me-toos’.
08
i’ve rebranded. can you still help me?
Of course.
Assuming you weren’t shortchanged in a recent re-branding project (we’re quite happy to plug the gaps too), we have a range of services that can take the brand foundation you’ve built and make it better. We can equip you with more brand-building tools to support your growing and evolving business. Here are some services to consider:
Strategy services
Brand portfolio management, brand architecture, product development.
Writing services
Naming, copywriting.
Design services
Illustration, mascot design, animation, sonic branding, communications materials, packaging, branded spaces.
Organisation-building services
Brand identity guidelines, staff brand book, internal brand culture building.
09
how do i choose a branding partner to work with?
First, determine what is your motive for branding.
Are you genuinely interested in building a solid brand foundation first?
Or is quickly rolling out a perception-changing communications campaign more of a priority?
This helps you focus your search for the right partner: brand creation specialists like us or communications-led agencies.
Second, go with your gut - if the work resonates with you, it’s a good start.
Some clients filter branding companies based on the body of work they’ve done - like ‘have you done B2B branding’. It’s good due diligence, but it risks excluding those who can bring a refreshing perspective to branding your business.
Third, look for chemistry.
It’s people who make it happen. So you better like who you are working with - branding engagements can run anywhere from 3 months to a year! Don’t be easily impressed by slick presenters or fancy frameworks (many flash these to look smart but whether they are useful or not is a different story). Who will you be working with and who is actually doing the work? If you like them, it’s a good sign.
Fourth, check expectations.
Are you really keen to explore the new and less obvious in your branding project?
Or do you already have a pre-conceived idea of what you want? (nothing wrong with this. we’re not judging.)
Some branding companies will give you greater mileage when gifted with the freedom to explore.
Others are good at checking-off your…err… checklist. (nothing wrong with this either. we’re not judging.)
Finally, the attitude to time.
If you’re building a brand to serve your business in the long-run, surely it deserves some care and time to get it just right. As they say, slow is sometimes the fastest way to get there.
But if you’re in a rush - we know ‘business can’t wait’ - then choose a partner that can match your speed. Just make sure quality is not compromised where it really matters.
We fall into the ‘give it time’ camp. We just know we won’t be able to deliver full value when rushed. That’s why we appreciate clients who plan well-ahead for a branding project. With good planning, brand deliverables can be drip-fed progressively throughout the project’s duration for the client to use. Everyone’s happy.
10
can i get funding support for branding?
Yes. If you are a company registered and operating in Singapore, with at least 30% local shareholding and can afford to complete the project (because you only get reimbursed at the end).
The Singapore Enterprise Development Grant programme, administered by EnterpriseSG, provides grant support for up to 50% of eligible costs for eligible SMEs to carry out a brand development exercise - one that can include brand strategy development, visual identity design, market research and brand guidelines creation.
Spinach is registered and qualified to work on branding projects that receive grant support. For more details visit www.enterprisesg.gov.sg/financial-support and do reach out to a representative so you can confirm your company and project’s eligibility for funding support.