Brand Consultancy mumbo jumbo

We mixed NPD with a GR8* USP using web 2.0 (and a dash of 3.0) with remarkable SEO …and the ROI?** – OMG!***

This may be true (it comes from a real project) but not very helpful. Every profession has its own terminology, acronyms, abbreviations, text speak and gibberish. The brand & marketing professions are littered with words that are either created (for some of us that’s what we do) or appropriated – some are useful, some are utter nonsense.

Even decent words get devalued with overuse and misuse – just think how the term designer was pasted onto everything many years ago.  Designer shoes and handbags (they are all designed, love) to designer babies! This dilution saddens me because at heart I am still a designer, a problem solver, and believe in the power and effectiveness of good design – and I can prove that it works.

The big idea has been bandied about for years in marketing as being critical for success – I have been very guilty of this. I actually think even a small idea done well can change the perception of a brand.  There are many other terms in wide use now that will get neutered through over use – social media, integrated communications, even branding itself has many critics.

I recently described myself as a brand consultant to a potential new client who seemed perfectly satisfied with the term, and it is indeed what we do – consult with businesses who either want to start, refresh or build brands. However it doesn’t adequately describe our particular approach because the term now has such widespread application from ad agencies through to research companies and a whole lot more.

At BrandVoice we do believe in plain speaking. I really dislike a trend that agencies started in the 90s of trying to brand their own services as though they had some unique process or magic ingredient that made them different.

Take a workshop, for example, the perfect place to start with any branding project of any kind – gathering the right group of people together in the right environment to define the brief, develop a working proposition, review the competition, define the target consumer, etc.  However, beware the agency that claims its particular version of this service with the addition of unique concept visualisation (mood boards – thank you Getty), astroturf, bean bags and other toys with enhanced or added value is special just because it has been branded “Blue Sky-diation” TM – or some other such nonsense.

In my experience people work with you in this business if they like the you and your approach, not because of the methodologies – it is about chemistry not process. It is really pretentious to try and brand and claim these processes as unique tools.

We like the term brand voice because it actually says what it is – how does a brand communicate effectively with a consistent tone of voice across media? The right voice is so important and has so many different aspects from a whisper to a shout – from something overheard and passed on to an engaging conversation. Hence this is the name for our company rather than Bradford, Wallsgrove, Morphy & Harrison (a firm of solicitors? A 90s ad agency?) or Azure Blossom and the like – that is so over.

We like to keep the consultancy process clear and simple. We like to talk to businesses about what they want their brand, or brands, to achieve. If it is the creation of a new brand there is a logical route from idea generation right through to launch using many of the capabilities of our team, our partners and collaborators. For an existing brand that wants to either grow, reach a new audience or change direction we do apply a health check (no TM). In our terms this is simply a rigorous audit, including research, on how the current brand communication works both on and off line.

For instance, does your in-store experience match your online shopping offer?  Does your on trade offer work effectively alongside your off trade presence – is the brand consistent in different outlets and across media? Often we find there are gaps and missed opportunities because these fall between the traditional services of advertising, design, direct marketing (“shopper marketing” is the new term here) and digital. Although we design a broad range of the solutions that helps link effective brand communication whether it be on pack, in store or online – we are not a design company.

So back to the original question – are we a brand consultancy? To some extent yes – but also quite a lot more – I will explain in more detail when we meet. It really does all start with a good conversation… L8rs

* This really grates!

** Return on Investment – “Return on Ideas”, is also appearing everywhere now

*** Oh My God! – not the Object Management Group responsible for CORBA

Image borrowed from the very amusing – http://www.tomfishburne.com/