We’re in an age where every successful company wants to think about how they can differentiate themselves from others. What makes them unique? What is different about their tone of voice? What is their brand message, and what do they stand for, or how do they do things differently? We’re so excited to have collaborated with Studio KICO in this blog post (keep reading for the Q+A), another fantastic design company, who focus on creativity & strategy to help their clients reach the right consumers, whilst also ensuring a positive impact on people and the environment.

By having a brand strategy in place, a business is in a much better position to make better and more creative decisions, and therefore has a greater potential for growth. This then enables companies to create strategic websites, which are consistent with their brand, tone of voice and aesthetics.

But, what is a branding strategy?

A brand strategy is a long term plan which a company will develop, with the ultimate goal of having your ideal consumers easily recognise you, and connect with your brand on an emotional and deeper level. It's taking a look at the brand’s unique value proposition and tone of voice. 
It involves looking at the bigger picture; this being your brand’s core values, mission and company vision.

Core values

These are a company’s fundamental beliefs and principles on which the brand has been built. What guides you as a business? E.g. always making a positive impact on the earth, passionate about gender equality, etc.

Mission

A company’s purpose and what actions it will take to achieving this. For example, Apple’s mission is to ‘bring excellent user experience to its consumers through its various devices’.

Vision

This is what a company hopes to become and achieve in the long term, and gives the company a sense of purpose for existing. For example, Amazon’s vision is to be ‘the world’s most customer-centric company, where their customers can find anything they may want to buy online’.

Which strategies can best help a famous brand reach consumers?

Your brand strategy will consist of many different sub-components, but there are some crucial strategies which will significantly boost your business’s growth. These are fundamental aspects you want to cover, and without them it’s easy to get pretty lost.

Define your dream audience

Identify who your ideal customers are, and really get to know them. Who are these people? What are their interests? What makes them purchase your product or service, on an emotional level? It’s only once you know who your ideal customer is really well, that you can begin to address your brand message and tone of voice, to suit them, and their needs and challenges.

Value content & website SEO

Produce valuable content for your audience, this can be in a variety of ways, but the most effective are blog posts, educational and informative videos, podcasts, etc. By consistently giving and informing, you’re nourishing your ideal clients, and providing them with value.

Unique value proposition

Choose what makes you different from the competition. You and another company could be providing the same services, but there is something very unique about you which differentiates you from the rest. Once you nail down your unique niche and proposition, you can make this known throughout your brand message and website.

Interested in working with us? Get a free branding & custom website DESIGN consultation

Q+A session with Kirsty Denro

We spoke with our friend and business owner, Kirsty Denro, Founder & Director of Studio KICO, to get her expert opinion on how crucial it is to have a branding strategy in place, before finalizing a beautiful and strategic website design.

1. What is the story behind Studio KICO? 

I started Studio KICO after burning out at a London design agency. After working my way up the career ladder, I had reached my 'goal' of being a Design Director. But I'd been running at an ultimately unsustainable pace for years, and the result was I was feeling mentally exhausted, uninspired and unfulfilled.

So I left my 'dream job'. After some time off, I decided that I wanted to create an agency that was totally different to my experience of agency life, where clients and profit were always prioritized, days were long and stressful and creativity, wellbeing and purpose took a back seat.

 My vision for KICO was to create a design collective, full of vibrant, talented people. To work with clients we were passionate about supporting. Ensuring that the process was collaborative, creative and enjoyable for everyone involved.

2. What is your company mission and how does this positively impact your clients?

At Studio KICO we believe in the power of creativity to make a positive impact on people and planet.

We know that supporting businesses that have a purpose beyond profit to create, grow and evolve their brand will make the world a kinder, more conscious place.

We're on a mission to craft the future of conscious business, one beautiful brand at a time.

This positively impacts our clients because we have an aligned vision, to have a positive impact and to use business as a force for good. Their goals become our goals and we put our all into helping them achieve them.

3. In your opinion, how important is it to have a unique value proposition in place for a brand/business?

I think it's so important to have a unique proposition. Honestly there's some great tools out there to create nice looking design work for free these days! But to create a memorable, lasting brand you have to dig a little deeper than that.

Unique design, developed on a foundation of a strong strategy, authentically communicates the passion and purpose behind your brand. It is what makes the difference between forgettable and brilliant brands. It's the magic component that has people really connect with your brand.

4. What are some of the biggest challenges (or reservations) your brand strategy clients come to you with?

It's often that they are struggling to communicate their business to their target audience. When you are very close to a business, you can get lost in the detail and 'doing' that keeps everything moving. Strategy is taking a step back from that and looking at the bigger picture. It's a process of stripping back, and defining the core values, mission and vision of a business and creating from there.

5. In your opinion, how important is it to ensure you have worked through and completed a brand strategy, before designing a new, or overhauling your existing website?

It's really important, a great brand strategy is the guiding light for the design and development of a website. In my experience a clear and inspiring strategy always results in a more efficient build and more impactful design.

Attempting to redo your website without tackling issues with your brand often leads to re-working and ultimately extra expense.

Custom websites & branding

It’s more important now more than ever, to give your branding and custom website the attention and care that it deserves!

Get in touch, friend, and let’s get working on this together!