Barber Jackson
Barber Jackson
 

Brand Consultancy

Britain has long been a leader in the business of brand communications and marketing. As both consumers and in business, we are all familiar with hundreds of global brands and with the sophisticated methods of visual communication used to promote them.

Consequently, our expectations of quality and standards in the way organisations present themselves are very high. So much so that companies and organisations that fall short of those expectations can lose out, however good their products or services may be.

To distinguish and differentiate themselves from the rest of the pack companies build strong brand identities for themselves and their products.

Brand identities are partly an instant method of visual identification, but they can also convey more subtle messages about what the brand or company stands for: its values and attributes as an organisation.

This is particularly important in service brands where the product is intangible and needs to be supported by the behaviour and philosophy of the people who work in the business.

Brands are part of the everyday fabric of life and people are very adept at distinguishing which brands they wish to be associated with.

Consumers will buy particular brands such as Nike or Adidas, for example, not just because they play sports or like the products, but because they also wish to associate themselves with the image and characteristics that the brand represents.

As a result they are willing to display the companies logos not just when they are playing sport but on their every day wear, bags, shoes, hats and so on.

To a greater or lesser degree this applies across hundreds if not thousands of global brands, where the brand's identity, it's logo, is an moment visual cue that conveys a great deal about that product to customers the instant they see it. Whether it is cheap, expensive, high quality, tasty, serious, fun, cool, trendy and so on.

The same applies to hundreds of other brands around the world. Many of the most famous are retail brands, but they occur in every sector of commerce and industry. They provide familiarity and reassurance so that customers know what to expect and any risk is removed from the buying decision.

Of course, this trust and familiarity does not happen overnight and many companies spend huge amounts of time, effort and money building and maintaining their brands to ensure continued customer loyalty. These companies know that it is essential to understand what customers want and endeavour to continually fulfil and even exceed their expectations

For brand you can read reputation.

In a less obvious way these principles apply to business to business communications, as well. Customers expect high standards in the methods and ways in which you communicate with them and in how you present your offer to them. Your brand or corporate identity and your marketing communications materials need to be of sufficient quality to give you the credibility you need to even be considered by potential customers.

Being the cheapest is not enough. Only one company in any particular market place can be the cheapest, the rest must find other ways to compete. And many buyers in many sectors do not just buy on price. Potential customers will expect you to be competitive but they will not wish to compromise on quality. So, if they are going to consider buying from you they may expect you to be able to match or improve on the price they are paying or on the quality of their current supplier's product. They may also be willing to consider paying more for better quality. But assuming quality and price are on a par with your competitors, what other factors will potential customers be considering before they take the risk of switching to a new supplier?

To gain the confidence of potential customers you need to build your credibility and your reputation with them.

The quality of your marketing and communications materials will be an important factor in building credibility. You may be able to compete on price. Your products may be of good quality. You may be professional, reliable and honest...

But if your first communication with a potential client looks amateurish, disorganised or is of poor quality you may find it hard to win any business, because your marketing communications materials: literature, website and so on do not reflect the professional dynamic organisation your customers wish to deal with.

Your brand identity and marketing communications materials should reflect your attributes as a business. Getting this part of the marketing process right will quickly build credibility amongst your target market.

However, marketing communications should only reflect what is already there in the organisation. If you make claims about your products or services that you cannot fulfil and you fail to live up to customer expectations, you are unlikely to succeed. It may sound obvious but it is amazing how many businesses make this mistake. Your marketing strategy and activity is there to support what you are realistically able to deliver, not create an image or impression of your business that cannot be substantiated.

 

  
   
 
Brands raise profiles

St Nicholas Hospice Care.

A hospice is a place where ill people go to die!

This is a common mis-conception of these organisations.

But does a hospice have a brand?

Of course it does! but is it distinctive? Or are all hospices considered in the same way by the public? Are hospices in competition? What do they have to say? How do people relate to their local hospice?

These were all questions we needed to find answers to when we were commissioned by St Nicholas Hospice in Bury St Edmunds to re-present the organisation. Our brief was to find out what people understood about a hospice, what and who it was for and to then create a brand identity that would convey the true values and activities of St Nicholas Hospice and if necessary alter the public's perceptions.

The process
We conducted workshops so that we could gather as much real information as possible from real people, families of patients, staff, volunteers, stakeholders and the wider public. This gave us an invaluable insight, not only into the workings of the hospice but also into peoples views of the place. By being privy to the future development plans for services we were able to develop a brand image able to communicate at a moments notice what the hospice had to say, what it was doing, and where it was going.

Our research concluded that, to many people a hospice was a place where people go to die, that many people were fearful of the place and wished to keep it at arms length hoping never to need its services, and not really understanding the services that are on offer. However among those who knew the organisation there was tremendous admiration for the work it does.

The project
Having got to know the hospice our research generally was at odds with our evidence of a warm, welcoming place, full of life, joy and yes, humour. The patients, staff and volunteers had amazing stories to tell and our proposal was based on giving the hospice a voice with which to tell these stories by talking to the community with a proud clear voice.

This manifested itself through the voice icon that became central to the brand identity. In brand terms rather than having a strapline, the content of the voice icon changed each time the public came into contact with it providing a very real personality for the brand. Colour, typestyle and presentation of information were all carefuly considered to ensure the tone of voice is engaging and conversational but also sensitive.

To provide flexibility for future developments we added 'Care' to the name to encourage the community to consider the activity of the organisation rather than the place as a great deal of the care provided by staff occurs in the community at a patient's home or in other care establishments.

The guidelines we created for this brand identity have ensured a consistency of tone, style and presentation across all their communications and the nature of the identity has raised the profile of the organization within the community.

 
 
Brand grows businesses

TES



Investment in design pays dividends

TES are providers of safety critical staff for the rail industry. In essence when, a construction or maintenance contractor works on the railway lines they have to ensure that their personnel are safe. To accomplish this they employ the services of a third party company such as TES.

When we first met Tony Evans, MD of Tony Evans Services (TES) he was to say the least sceptical about the benefits of design and saw it as a cost rather than an investment. We assessed his business, his ambitions and the market he worked in and were convinced that we could make a huge difference in the way TES was perceived.

We were overwhelmed by the jargon, red tape and structure of the industry. Everything appeared a lot more complicated than we felt it should be and bearing in mind the importance of the services provided, very few of Tony's peers presented their businesses in a professional manner.

Our solution
To simplify the company's offer, communicate concisely and create a recognisable brand identity - all of which when combined would differentiate TES.

Changing the name from Tony Evans Services Limited to TES took the onus off the man and conveyed a larger company image.

Removing the jargon and summing up what they did as "Creating safe railway working environments" clearly communicated the company's offer.

The neat use of a vanishing railway track in the "E" of TES positioned the company in its workplace.

Finally the use of fluorescent orange across the company's presentation materials took ownership of a colour associated with workmen's hi-visibility clothing, ubiquitous on the railways.

The result
A transformation in the way the company presented itself. Tremendous growth. Opportunities to tender for work that previously would have been beyond the company's scope and a huge change in the attitude of staff towards the company from within.

In all our time we have never witnessed such a change in attitude from an individual who now describes himself as a design convert.

This work resulted in TES being awarded the European design Management award at a presentation in Eindhoven.