Build the BRAND

I want to start a company! I want to sell candles, soaps, sausage rolls, whatever you like. The process starts the same... What. Is. Your. Brand.

Companies take this so far that they end up with huge manuals with words they like to use, colours they stand by, audiences they love and others they ignore.

But how do we get to this point? Where do we start? Well if this is the situation you're in, have a read below because we have you covered...

Ok lets pretend were a new soap company!

Step 1. Who is your Audience?

Well obviously, Adam (that's me!), It's someone who likes soap!

Correct! but what else?  Many people like soap and any one of those people could be a customer but who is your perfect customer?  Try and picture this person and pick out the traits that they have.  For instance:

I imagine that my customer is a young woman, maybe she's mid 20's to early 30's. She works and has a decent amount of disposable income but isn't rich.  Maybe she's a mother or will be at some point in the near future.  She wants ingredients that are good for her skin but doesn't seem pretentious. Ingredients that she understands...like Oats! Coffee! Eucalyptus...

Ok great - that makes sense.  So now based on this lets move to step 2.

Step 2. Position your BRAND!

Now its time to position our soap company in the big wide marketplaces of all soaps.  It might help here to do some research online, to find out how many different types of soap companies we can find.  You will probably find that they fit into categories like this:

Cheap soaps - mass produced overseas, probably sold in supermarkets

Mid range soaps - maybe these have active ingredients that you actually understand, like goats milk for sensitive skin or oats for exfoliation.

High end soaps - You might find that these come from huge French fashion houses, and smell of complex perfumes or come in beautiful boxes.

Other categories could also be: Novelty soaps, Vegan soaps, Children's soaps, Adult(if you know what I mean..) shaped soaps and many more.

But the point is which one does your perfect customer buy from?  I'd say in this case it would be the Mid range category.  Perfect so lets stop worrying about all the other categories and focus on the one we've chosen.

Step 3. Find your passion, Find your voice!

When it comes to a brand, there is one thing customers like. CONSISTENCY!

Consistency in your products, in your message and just as importantly, in the way you say it.  So lets say we are a brand that sells soaps with cucumber in them.

How can I talk about my cucumber soap? 

I could be very serious about my cucumber soap and list the benefits of it like a science experiment.

I could talk about it in overly sensual language, poetically describing the silk smooth skin it will nourish (think about a Magnum ice cream advert)

I could be funny and make cucumber innuendo jokes...

Your message and your voice both speak about your brand.  Serious and sensual evoke an idea of opulence and extravagance that you would need to match with your product.

Our mid range soap would probably benefit with a very honest, friendly and open approach.  With taglines like:

We use what nature provides to make your skin feel great!

What goes on your skin matters!  That's why we only use natural ingredients.

Step 4. Choose your colours, name and logo

Please take a second and notice that this was not step 1. 

How could it be?  Imagine the difficulty of condensing your entire brand identity into a name and logo before you'd even worked out what your brand was!

Your name, logo, colours and message should all mix together like a well baked cookie. Nobody wants a delicious gooey cookie with chocolate bites, caramel, little nuts...

and then BAM - a giant carrot in the middle!

we want it to all work together.

Luxury brands often use very simple colour pallets of white on black, black on white, gold on black etc.

but how would this feel if you weren't trying to sell luxury, distinguished product.  It would feel cold and unwelcoming.

Font, Colour and Language all play a part in your branding.  Which of the below suits our brand best?

Prestige Soap Company

Vallentiago's

Sunshine Soapery

My Little Soap Boutique

Based on what we've been putting together so far the answers you should have come up with are the last two. 

It doesn't matter if you absolutely love the name Vallentiago's, It doesn't fit with the message of the brand.

So based on what we've learnt what did we end up with:

Brand Name: Sunshine Soapery

Colours:  hmm something light and happy and welcoming...Pink!

Logo: something simple and easy to understand just like our brand message.

Sunshine Soapery is born! Tada!

I hope you enjoyed this tutorial on branding and it helps you with your own projects.  Good Luck and have fun!