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Searchbooster is a digital communication agency that provides branding services for its clients upstream or downstream of the definition of an efficient and robust digital strategy.
Branding is the substance and form of a company’s identity and it is a strategic and long-lasting investment in the short, medium, and long term.
A successful branding allows the company to have an intangible asset of great value and that conditions the consumers’ perception of the company and thus the emotional connection that potentially creates attachment to the brand.
It is this connection that potentially leads the consumer to prefer your company based on sometimes unconscious and subjective criteria beyond the rational elements of evaluating the ability of your offers to meet their needs.
Creating a company, we all know how it works: it starts with an idea and then formalizes it in several steps until launching its activity.
Taking over a company is a bet on the future and on our ability to at least maintain it as it is, but often especially to develop or awaken a sleeping beauty.
But to go from the beginning of the creation or takeover project to its success, there is a fundamental step not to be missed: its branding strategy.
It is an essential element too often neglected, particularly in SMEs that are rightly focused on short-term operational issues and sometimes forget the emotional charge associated with branding and the fact that successful branding can be a strong operational facilitator.
Did you know that the word originally referred in English to the action of marking livestock with a distinctive sign using a hot iron to identify the owner?
Branding is therefore first and foremost a question of identity. It is about making the company and its brand known and recognizable to the public, especially for its distinctive differences that align with the expectations of consumers/clients.
On a market that is often highly competitive, offering quality products or services is not enough; you also need to know how to communicate about yourself, and not just any way.
Branding is the art of showing who you are, what you offer, and reaching potential customers by leaving a mark on them, while differentiating yourself from the competition.
This involves developing a real brand strategy that tells a story, showcases a visual identity, including a graphic identity, and expresses values.
The goal is to create an impact, including an emotional one, on the public and to forge a unique and easily recognizable image.
The tools of a branding strategy are numerous and varied: logo, slogan, communication language, website, packaging, advertising campaigns, etc. But before talking about tools, it is important to understand the field of branding and the role of a branding agency.
An agency specialized in branding such as SearchBooster offers its expertise to companies to help them build their brand and thus their reputation in the long term.
The approach of a branding agency goes through several successive phases in which the client is strongly involved.
Any serious Branding agency must proceed with the study of the company’s communication media (brochures, logos, websites, statements, social networks), and this involves a phase of interviews with the company’s leaders, which allows to understand and transcribe:
In a second step, the branding agency must conduct a competitive analysis to understand the market and define the brand’s position in relation to the competition:
Next, a semantic audit is important to understand:
Then, the branding agency conducts an analysis to confront the brand identity of the company and its competitors, with the perception and expectations of customers.
In some cases, it may be good to break away from customer expectations, especially if offering an innovative approach that does not yet exist and meets unexpressed customer needs. However, in this case, it is pertinent to think about the problems that the company solves for customers and prospects.
To create a coherent communication, the branding agency establishes a brand platform bringing together all the elements that will give its identity to the brand, which must include:
At this stage, the branding agency will propose one or more brand signatures if it believes it is necessary to anchor a differentiating element of the brand’s branding, and also write a Manifesto (brand manifesto) which is the written proclamation of the commitment and values, notably the brand’s value proposition in a few lines.
It is important to validate the originality of the brand signature, to ensure that it does not infringe on the rights of another company using it already, with the INPI database.
It is also at this stage that the brand’s storytelling is defined and enriches and completes the brand platform.
In the case of the existence of a parent brand and subsidiary brands, it is also in this phase that the brand architecture is validated and the strategic choices in this regard are made.
Then, a graphic charter is important to define all the elements that allow for the emotional expression of your brand platform in your graphic territory, including at a minimum:
Then the Editorial Guidelines are defined to ensure the consistency of language elements with the defined brand platform, and especially to ensure that all communications are consistent with the image that the brand wants to convey, including:
Once the brand platform is defined, the final graphic identity is established and the editorial guidelines are endorsed, the agency will propose a communication platform that should include:
Possibly, it is at this moment that the agency will propose an editorial strategy, based on the results of the semantic audit, in order to preempt the field of content presenting a strong interest for consumers (search volume) and on which the brand wants to communicate its added value and key differentiation factors. Generally, the editorial strategy includes a schedule of topics covered with:
In the end, the role of a branding agency is essential: its mission is to create a brand territory, that is to say, a real universe around the brand: its history, its values, the unique character of its identity and its commercial offer.
All of this communication work will ensure the legitimacy and notoriety of a brand in the long term and, if the branding approach is well executed, will strongly accelerate its development by making a lasting impression on consumers and creating brand attachment and preference.
Being accompanied by a global communication agency such as Searchbooster is the guarantee of having a coherent and structured approach on all the key items that contribute to the success of your branding approach.