As fast as brands emerge, they disappear just as quickly. With market disruptions and choice overload for consumers, what do the successful brands have in common? To survive and thrive, we believe brands must focus their narrative by answering a few fundamental questions. [Read more…] about 5 Questions to Ask Before Branding
Rebranding is risky and resource-intensive. It’s also absolutely necessary if you’re not reaching people with a relevant message, standing out in the marketplace, or accurately communicating your value proposition. [Read more…] about How Rebranding Can Increase Sales
Names are a powerful component in branding. Strong names help brands stand out, make an emotional connection, and are the bedrock for creating compelling graphics for the brand identity and package design.
There’s a knack for brand naming. Not only do you need to come up with a unique name, it must have legs for a great brand story to accompany it. It really does pay to work with a top brand naming agency. Naming is a blend of art and science—a creative process with hundreds of clever considerations—it’s certainly not an easily conquerable feat.
When launching a new business, it’s essential to get brand naming right the first time. Our strategic approach helps us identify the most likely directions that will lead to finding the perfect solution. The meaning doesn’t have to be evident, but it should be easily told. A brand is more than a name, it’s a reputation. A name, like a logo, becomes a flag for your deeper story.
If you’re struggling to come up with a name, please drop us a note! zestybrands.ca/contact
Putting together your brand new product package design can be confusing. At our Vancouver Branding Agency, we help our clients get through the process as swiftly as possible using a helpful package worksheet and checklist.
Our package checklist includes labelling requirements about the nutrients in food (the Nutrition Facts table), claims about nutrients, the presence of food allergens, and how to register for your very own barcode.
If you’re planning on launching a product, please drop us a note and we would be happy to provide an estimate for your exciting new venture! zestybrands.ca/contact
—> Download ZESTYBRANDS-PackageChecklist
Dive deep into the heart of any successful brand and you’ll find one crucial element: a zest factor.
Think about why your brand matters. At our Vancouver branding agency, we take our clients through a unique process to discover what makes them the only. This “onliness” is what we call the zest factor Your zest factor is the heartbeat of your company—the thing that sets you apart from the others, and highlights the heart and soul of your brand.
When you’re bringing your business to market, it’s tempting to try and stand for everything and be everything to everyone. Unfortunately, though when you attempt to be everything to everyone, you end up appealing to no-one. Look at your competitors and ask yourself why customers should switch to you: The unique way your service might be superior. Your pricing structure might be unlike anyone else. Or perhaps you are offering something on an emotional level that appeals to your audience, such as ethically sourced materials.
Ask yourself what zest factor your competitors have. Learn as much as possible about them, from their advertising, social media, websites, and product/service descriptions, to the tone of voice they speak.
If you can’t say why your brand is both different and compelling in a few words, than you likely don’t have a killer idea, and there is no magic way to rise to the top—you’ll need to fix your company or product.
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Let’s chat about launching your new brand—drop us an email!
Your followers are hungry for new content and they expect your brand to deliver on a consistent basis. That’s why you need to have a stash of ideas in your back pocket.
I’ve put together a simple chart of social media ideas for brands to cherry pick from. These social media post ideas will help keep your feed fresh and give your users a variety of different content. Keep in mind that you always want to share posts that are authentic to you and your brand. If you chase after success solely for how it looks to others, obsess over followers, and equate your worth on likes, you’re missing the point. It’s about sharing something of value to the world.
Download the Social Media Content Ideas PDF
Are you a rising startup in search of the perfect brand name? Choosing a brand name requires strategic thinking and consideration of brand naming guidelines. Choose the wrong name, or even the wrong spelling could cause an incredible amount of headaches and missed opportunities.
If you want to create a brand name that sticks in the minds of your customers, and works for you to create brand recognition and awareness, then you’ll need to keep the following factors in mind:
A great name stands apart from the competition, as well as from other words in a sentence. If you want to own a unique position, you don’t want to be confused with another company or blend in with the rest of the market. From a legal standpoint, you want the rights to own and protect your name.
More than just stating a feature or function, a great name creates a feeling or shares a benefit. Choose words that evoke the positive associations you want customers to have with your brand.
The best names have creative “legs”—they readily lend themselves to great storytelling, graphics, PR, advertising, and other communications.
A great name doesn’t leave your customer tongue-tied. A great name feels good to say, therefore people like the way it sounds and are more willing to use it and remember it.
Branding is an opportunity to connect with the right audience in an unforgettable way, but without an understanding of the branding process, your business will be lost and your money will be wasted.
Here are four questions to get you thinking about brand strategy. Our Vancouver branding agency is passionate about working with you to build a brand infused with intelligence, meaning and imagination. We’re excited to help ambitious companies, so if that’s you then get in touch!
Your passion which motivates stakeholders forward—a common purpose beyond profitability.
A brand needs to resonate on a deep emotional level with its audience. Understanding who they are and connecting with them authentically will be what drives sales and loyalty.
Carving out a defendable and distinct position and personality is how you will make a notable impact.
If your strategy stops short at a logo, then your efforts are vain, meaningless and disconnected.
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Let’s chat about launching your new brand—drop us an email!
A value proposition is a clear statement of the results that the customer can expect to receive from your product or service. Because your marketing initiatives are organized around this value proposition, it’s critical to get it right.
A big idea around the brand is more important than a big idea behind your marketing. Without a value proposition, even the most creative and well-targeted advertising won’t increase brand’s value.
As brand designers, we develop many aspects of the brand, from the strategic thinking that creates the big idea, to the brand visual graphics, colour strategy, typography and imagery. But there’s an aspect that many startups and designers overlook, and that is a brand’s voice.
People often say, “we need branding work,” and then they begin the conversation talking about colour schemes and logos—That’s a mistake. Your logo, your tagline, your colour scheme, your graphics are just the outward facing articulations of your brand’s purpose, promise, voice and personality.
Engaging, relatable, and memorable brands are more than marketing tactic—they’re about telling a story and forming lasting connections. Are you the kind of company that people want to chat with over a few pints? Or are you the one who people are continually inspired by? Perhaps you’re the one they look to for expert advice. Defining your voice will give you a powerful tool for connecting with your customers, but only if you know how to do it.
Your audience is constantly inundated with marketing messages these days, but if you can learn how to give them something that truly surprises or intrigues them, they will pause and really consider what you have to say. They might smile, or laugh, or take a moment to think. Done right, that moment will stick with them, and they might even share it with someone else—because we all love a good story.
People buy from people they like, know, and trust based on a relationship cultivated over time, they don’t want a robotic, one-sided, copy-and-paste relationship.
Behavioural psychologist and Stanford professor Jennifer Aaker designed a framework that posits there are five dimensions to one’s personality, and each contains a set of facets. Each facet contains a set of traits.
To apply these to a brand, you rank the traits on a scale of one to five, with one being the least representative of your brand and five being the most. The Five Dimensions Framework can be used to compose the personality of a new brand or to articulate a brand’s current state (defined by customer perception and attitudes) and future state (defined by desired perception).
Another method is using Carl Jung’ 12 archetypes. His theory was that the identities are derived from our most primitive instincts and collective unconscious, forming the foundation of who we are and what stories we tell and surface in our culture. We tend to have one dominant personality, but often we’ll have a back-up as well.
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For brand strategy services, send a message to our Vancouver Branding Studio
The loudest and most compelling voice is always the voice of warning. It’s respected with little scrutiny and it’s often parlayed into the voice of wisdom in brand survival. However, the intention of survival isn’t actually survival, it’s stagnation. This voice of warning does not nurture growth.
A fear of failure runs deep within our society. And most of us feel a heavy shame within failure. What isn’t talked about enough is that failure can be (and often is) in the secret sauce for massive amounts of courage, confidence and success. In fact, almost every successful entrepreneur, accomplished athlete and thriving trailblazer is quite comfortable with failure.
If you’re a mountain biker you understand the space between what is and what could be. It’s a space filled with discomfort, darkness and doubt. Most would rather take the well-trodden path—what is—rather than veer right and face the big bold obstacle—what could be. However, what could be is where the magic lies. A successful brand is one who can tolerate the discomfort of uncertainty in challenging the status quo, because they’re able to envision remarkable success.
I recently attended a speech by outdoor legend and North Face founder, Hap Klopp. Hap ran The North Face for 25 years, is an avid supporter of disruption. From creating the first aircraft aluminum tent poles and pack frames to parachute materials for sleeping bags, The North Face was all about doing things differently. Hap understands the role of failure in success; in fact he is supports and encourages his staff to explore ideas and fail fast, because failure is a teacher that shows the path to success.
The tried and tested path doesn’t necessary lead to innovation. It’s those that go off the beaten track – making discoveries unnoticed by those too busy following the rules – that truly shake things up. Sir Richard Branson is a testament to this, saying “When we launched Virgin Atlantic everybody thought that we’d fall flat on our face, but we didn’t. Armed with the naivety to think we could make a real difference, we disrupted the state of play – and we were delighted to prove the naysayers wrong.”
Innovation isn’t for the faint of heart, it takes courage and sometimes a little sprinkling of naivety. This is why many young start-ups become so successful. Their approach takes a fresh perspective and thinks in ideals rather than marginal improvements.
If you’re a company looking to disrupt the industry and blaze your trail, I suggest you line up to the big bold obstacle and go for it. Because lukewarm attempts will produce uninspiring brands.
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Interesting in disrupting your market? Let our Vancouver Branding Agency take your brand to the next level.
With Canada’s federal government announcing it would be legalizing marijuana, we’re seeing a staggering increase of products coming on the cannabis market. This means you’ll be seeing a lot more Cannabis brands in the near future.
Gone are the days of buying weed on a dimly lit street corner. It’s no longer a shady exchange, it’s regulated, legal and it’s a legitimate business—a business opening up an exciting new territory.
At our boutique Vancouver branding studio, we develop brands for growers, investors, dispensary owners and inspired entrepreneurs. We help cannabis companies take an objective look at their brand, develop a strategy for how they want to be perceived and create design and communications to follow.
It’s becoming understood that an investment in strong branding is key to rising above the glut of companies trying to get a piece of the grassy pie. It’s more than just selling marijuana products, this is an entirely new business sector that requires everything from professional and captivating branding to chic package design and fully designed and branded retail spaces.
The sustainability of the cannabis industry is dependent upon strong brands and good design. Beyond just making the product more mainstream, strong branding helps the public feel safer and more well-informed about the use of cannabis. The public needs to see that the industry is legitimate, and branding and package design will be the first and most notable ambassador of change.
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The job of branding and package design is to reflect those values back to the customer. When it comes to adventure brands, we want the products to look and feel exciting and capable. Wellness brands should ooze a healthy and wholesome vibe. Luxury brands need to convey a sophisticated language and personality and their packaging should be high quality.
Many of the trends we will see this year are largely based on the buying power of Millennials. They’re influencing how brands respond to consumers shifting values. Consumers in the 18-34 age bracket are demanding higher standards of design and a consideration on environment and sustainability.
Brand these days need to be more honest and authentic than ever before. The traditional power dynamic where the brand has more power than the consumer is long gone. The Millennials are so well-connected that they know if a product is inferior, the service bad or if the brand is not being authentic. In today’s market, consumers can find an alternative almost instantly or publicly criticize a brand, using social media.
Consumers want a story. They want to know “why” you’re selling your product or service, not “what” you’re selling. Recent research supports the importance of good brand stories, finding that a brand, its zest-factor and even its font style and color scheme were accurately recalled in the context of an original story.
Retail spaces are becoming brand experience spaces. How you behave is as important as what you say and smart brands will reinvent their spaces for people to connect and interact with the brand in person, versus just online through social media and web.
Here at Zesty Brands, our Vancouver branding agency has a heartfelt passion for uncovering your greatness.
Main Squeeze and creative director, Rachelle Hynes inspires you to push the boundaries and make bold decisions. In her experience, it’s in this uncomfortable territory that extraordinary brands are born and radically better businesses are formed.
Everyone wants to have a memorable brand, but very few carve out a relevant difference in the market. Most businesses focus solely on the design, the look and the marketing—branding is SO much more than that. It’s your story, your personality, your purpose and vision, it’s all the tiny nuances that make you unique. Rachelle finds it frustrating to see many companies waste thousands of dollars playing it safe on “me-too” ideas; they miss the point of working with a strategic branding company.
Being brave means making investment in your brand a priority. Memorable brands possess a laser-focused relentlessness and determination to champion the things they believe in, and make a difference to their lives and the world they live in.
It takes bravery to be unabashedly true to your brand. Courage means breaking away from the kinds of communications that you see from your peers and doing something creatively different. Rachelle believes if you’re not afraid of your business decisions, it probably means the work does not have enough zest! Breaking new ground is scary, but moving towards fear is the only way to realize incredible growth and remarkable success.
Rachelle holds a Design + Illustration degree from Capilano University and her work has achieved accolades from several publications including; DesignEdge Magazine, Thedieline, Kitwatch, Awwwards and Men’s Fitness Magazine.
Rachelle has spent over a decade working with an amplitude of companies such as; Hitcase, Paladin Security, Bean Around the World, Rescue Project and Lucky iron Fish. Rachelle’s multidisciplinary background in graphic design, branding and illustration combined with a fierce love of outdoor adventure inspired her decision to create ZESTY BRANDS—a branding agency that is hyper-focused on helping emerging brands with big plans.
If you’re a startup or small brand looking to breakout, you’ve gotta think about micro-specialization. What do your customers need and how can you narrow your offering down to something you can become known for. If your brand were a cyclist, would you only fight for the yellow jersey when you have the opportunity to change gears and competently grab the polka dot?
This is a question potential customers think about when making purchase decisions. Imagine for example, you crashed your bike and you need surgery on your left shoulder. Are you going to head to the nearest surgeon, or would you rather visit the one who specializes in left-shoulder surgeries?
By concentrating on a niche, you can stand out amongst the competition, give your prospects the confidence to listen to your pitch and seriously consider your offering. Eventually they’ll decide to purchase from you instead of the more generally-focused competitors. The expertise your brand offers makes it the first and often only stop for your customers.
Let’s take a look at the boutique bike brand Franco for example. This sleek and elegant roadbike brand based in SoCal is one I hadn’t heard of until recently, and it begs the question, how can a boutique brand imagine competing against the big brands like Specialized and Giant?
Nevertheless, Franco is gaining traction and popularity. Franco’s strategy? A hyper-focus on customer service. Franco pride’s itself on making no compromises when it comes to personal service, tailored builds and top notch performance. When you order a Franco, everything is custom. Each bike is built from the ground up according to each customer’s specific requests regarding all components, from custom colour to drivetrain, saddle, stem and handlebars.
So rather than buy a bike off the shelf and drop an additional wad of cash on upgrades, with Franco you get the bike exactly the way you want it, out of the box. Plus they’ve dialed their consumer-direct business model so you are knocking out the middle man to save you some moola for maintenance and cafe’ stops.
By narrowing your focus on a niche, you can get you closer to your customers. From this closer vantage point, your brand can become indispensable and a pacesetter for a specific offering.
When your brand can offer a unique product or service to a niche audience, you have the benefit of setting prices to increase profitability. The price reflects the exclusivity of the offering, and there’s no argument because you’re in a position to be sought after for your expertise.
Look for low hanging fruit. What do your customers want that other companies don’t currently offer? Are there common services or products you can put a creative spin on? Some examples could be:
Many small business owners I meet think they need a “logo” for their business and very few understand the nitty gritty of what a brand is, why it’s important and that their financial investment is wasted if they’ve only thought as far as logo.
Branding and healthy business go hand in hand, but for most small business owners it’s hard to implement successfully because they just don’t see how developing a brand can apply to a small business such as a physiotherapist, cafe or veterinary clinic.
Your company name, the way you answer the phone, the clarity and consistency in communication, the vibe in your office or shop, what your customers are saying about you; all of these things create an impression of your company and what it’s like to do business with you—that’s your brand.
The process of branding formalizes how you conduct and present yourself and your business on a day to day basis and it involves creating a set of standards for decision making and communication. The creation of graphics are certainly part of this process, but they have a purpose, which is to signal the reputation you wish to convey.
A logo in its basic form is a distinctive typeface or graphic style used to represent a brand name.
Think if your logo like a suit or outfit you wear. Its purpose is to support your personality, values, character and all of the things that can’t readily be touched or seen. It draws people in to learn more…but as we know, unless there’s more behind a mans good looks, most ladies will keep on walking.
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For more info on how Zesty Brands can help your small business, drop us a note
In an era where brands are increasingly pressured into short-term thinking, careless reactions to trends, features frenzy and non-existent visions, it’s worth considering how mindfulness can help brands filter out the noise and create space for what matters.
Mindfulness encourages more intentional and purposeful action in our personal lives, but it goes for business too. From brand development to design and deciding how and when your brand will communicate, mindfulness can be applied to every area of business. Taking a zen approach to branding offers a space to breathe—to evaluate what’s in front of you and make conscious decisions.
Elegance and simplicity, two of the hardest attributes to accomplish are key to achieving a Zenful brand.
Sometimes catching the best wave is not what makes you successful, it’s what you do on the wave you’re riding that makes the difference.
You can frantically paddle into whatever comes your way, but it’s a waste of energy and resources. To really get the epic payoff you’ve gotta play to your strengths with strategy, patience and poise.
At our Vancouver branding studio we teach brands how to maintain rhythm and purpose, observe the landscape and immerse themselves in the culture, before deciding to drop in.
In today’s crowded market, it’s hard to find ways to stand out from the rest. Although temping to follow other brands into their wave, the world doesn’t need more of the same. If you don’t stand out, you’ll end up drowning in the sea of me-too brands.
Branding is about learning to keep your focus in a state of flux. The proverbial waters of consumerism are unpredictable and changing at all times and in order to rise to the top you must stay true to your vision.
The best brands are simple in both idea and look and they cut through the clutter by delivering a simple and consistent message. When the message is simple, it’s easy for people to understand, share and relate. Achieving simplicity is not easy, but brands who learn to harness its power will find their business just, flows.
Branding deals with the fundamental, not the superficial and it focuses on the root problem, not the symptoms. By understanding and defining the core of your brand, we can bring you closer to your customers and further apart from the competition.
Branding is an effort to reach deep inside your audience and evoke feelings about your company. To do this, you start exploring the center of your company with Why then you move outward through the How and you end up on the outside with What.
Great brands understand risk often leads to reward. Brands who are brave enough to take the wave less traveled, choose a tactic no brand has taken before and develop a purpose that is wholly their own, will have a more competitive presence, a stronger organization and seriously radical brand.
Regardless of what we’re working on for you, our approach has a potent focus on consistent brand experience—That’s how you build an authentic brand that people desire.
When you’re getting to know a person, you start to feel more and more comfortable. You learn about their positive traits, personality and how they make you feel. Effective branding is exactly the same. Branding is not just about looking good and getting your name out there. It’s about helping customers get to know your brand on a personal level.
Is Arc’teryx hands-down better than every other outdoor apparel brand in the world? Probably not. Regardless, it has countless diehard fans who search far and wide for their perfect Arc’teryx technical shell—even if they see a similar brand with essentially the same features, quality and warranty.
We are surrounded by a multitude of these similar brands every day, whether we realize it or not. So why do we choose one brand over the other? Consistency is one critical component. It’s the way the brand makes us feel over and over again. A brand is a person’s gut feeling about a product, service, or company and this gut feeling determines our likes, dislikes, and most importantly, our brand loyalty.
This is where the importance of brand consistency comes into play.
Ultimately, what you are trying to do with your brand is create trust between you and your customers so they don’t have to think too hard about their choices. They automatically pick yours. Trust is a result of your reliability and the delight you deliver. The more choices people have the more you need to work on the delight portion of the formula. We make our decisions very intuitively even though we try to be rational, the human brain is not powerful enough to make complex decisions rationally. So in the end we rely on trust.
The Trust Formula: T = R + D (Trust = Reliability + Delight)
Great branding makes customers feel like they know your brand and that your brand can be trusted. Arc’teryx does this very well. Their purpose is to create apparel and gear that gives users the confidence to perform at the point of extreme need and their goal is to create equipment that enables a person to be immersed in the moment of doing, regardless of external conditions. They evoke emotions with customers over and over again in their brand communications, marketing, events, graphics and brand touchpoints.
In contrast, Mountain Hardwear has similar quality products, but they simply aren’t as good at telling a story or evoking emotions in customers. Good quality can only carry you so far, and so they become just another brand that pales in comparison to Arc’teryx.
The zest factor is when customers feel like they know you and can trust you and when they identify with your purpose. Only then will they become loyal brand advocates who recommend you to their peers.
I’ve heard many clients say if they could just get customers to try their product or service they’re sure they would like it. It doesn’t work that way. You must start by putting a consistent brand message in front of consumers.
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Often people think of attracting customers by finding a large group of possible targets, make shiny things to attract them followed by sending a bursts of messages. This is a fools errand. You need to start by designing a world they will wish to inhabit. You need to cultivate meaning in order to captivate an audience—Branding.
Everything people buy adds to their identity. As such, customers make decisions based on emotion or gut feelings. They see themselves and who they want to be in the brand.
Branding is why
Marketing is how
Branding is long-term
Marketing is short-term
Branding is macro
Marketing is micro
Branding is strategic
Marketing is tactical
Branding is a pull tactic
Marketing is a push tactic
Branding drives enduring reputation
Marketing drives periodic sales
Branding is the reason someone buys
Marketing is the reason someone thought to buy
Branding builds loyalty
Marketing generates response
Branding creates value
Marketing extracts value
Branding is the being
Marketing is the doing
If it can’t be said simply, how can you expect customers to quickly connect with the heart and value of your brand?
It’s common to want to list every bell and whistle on your brochure or package design, but your customers will be overwhelmed. In a world of increasing complexity, a clever bunch of organizations have found that embracing simplicity can deliver far-reaching results.
At our Vancouver branding studio we teach clients to simplify. Our client HITCASE for example could say all of the reasons why their product is great for surfing; waterproof, durable, comes with flotation attachments, has a super cool variety of lenses to snap on, etc etc. Instead they say one thing “Made for this”. In taking this strategy they achieve everything they want and evoke emotion—with only three simple words!
Branding is a way of clearly highlighting what makes you different, and more desirable than the competition. Effective branding elevates a product or organization from being just one commodity amongst many identical commodities, to be something with where there is no substitute.
You don’t need to have an exciting product or service, you just need to have courage and imagination. Even though every brand wants to lead, unfortunately most end up doing things that are very similar to their competitors…blast everyone and anyone with confusing and complex messages.
A great strategy to start simplifying your brand is customer journey maps. When you understand each and every point of interaction with your brand, you can more easily maintain a seamless experience. The more you know, the better able you’ll be at striking a chord. And the less value you’ll see in a shotgun approach.
