Branding can feel like this — just as you think you’ve hit the problem on the head — it changes… the trick is to realise one thing — It’s ALWAYS changing…

You know the brand needs to move on — the old one isn’t working as it should. It needs to be more customer-centric, more agile, more conversational… Or just embrace new challenges.

It needs to change…

You know you can make it look good.
One of your old pals runs a graphic design company.

But… how do you make change effective, make it last and make it happen?

Make it quick enough to seize the moment, but with enough rigor behind the process to make it stand up to scrutiny?

At SomeOne, we’re finding that more and more products, organisations and services are looking to us to rebrand them but are baffled as to how they can develop lasting systems that keep on working hard when the agency has left the room.

Let’s clear that up.

To make change pay — a product, organisation or service needs to do three things well…

Branding is a huge, daunting term now. It used to refer to logos and their application. But it’s expanded to cover all parts of any branded experience. From what it looks like to how it sounds and who might promote it.

That’s already a baffling set of choices to start with. After over a decade in this game, we’re good at calming these things down and making them clear.

We make a plan.

Call it strategy if you like, but whatever you do, make it immediately useful, actionable that day and something that the business can use to steer its future activities towards its goals.

Like the way we helped WorldPay describe itself. Moving away from the functional description of ‘online payment processor’ to ‘Leaders in Modern Money’ enabled the brand to work within thought leadership circles and demonstrate why they should be chosen over increasing competition.

 

We make a system.

Often the brief issued in January, bears little relation to the work that’s ready in May, and clashes with the business environment surrounding roll out from July.

For example: Madame Tussauds shows are always changing — so we made a design system that could change as fast as a celebrity in a limousine.

It’s smarter to develop a system that can carry any kind of communications — strategically driven, but hyper-flexible. Internal as well as external.

We develop ‘BrandWorlds’, a brand operating system designed for every eventuality. They work everywhere, all the time. Even for the biggest show on earth, The Olympic & Paralympic Games.

We make it happen.

Experiences.
Another all encompassing word — but the best way to embrace the challenge ahead. Internal comms & HR — external ad campaigns & PR.

Brochures in story sites in websites… the packaging the thing comes in — the words on the return envelope… it’s all experienced by someone (and regularly, designed by SomeOne).

With a plan and a BrandWorld, you can make sure you don’t just let brand experiences happen to your audiences — you can design them, for them.

This approach of developing more — rather than just a recommended logo, typeface and colour — used to be out of reach for all but the biggest brands with their legion of brand managers.

So we’ve developed a digital platform enabling any brand to profit from the benefits of more emotive and adaptive BrandWorld thinking. Now, we bring all branding tools to one secure cloud hosted location, with integrated analytics to show what’s working hardest and where.

Then, as someone in control of making the experience great, you can improve your approach daily…