Brand is the holy grail. So for us, brand planning and management is not only a core capability, but a kind of religion. That’s because we understand the power of the brand and the brand relationship: to create preference and loyalty…to transcend pricing wars and lean budgets… to enable product extensions… to survive and thrive in the midst of a bad economy or a public relations crisis. We know that great brands often reinvent the category and always manage to maintain their integrity and believability.
BRAND POSITIONING AND STRATEGY DEVELOPMENT
We’re so focused on the importance of the brand that we’ve developed a proprietary brand workshop. This two-part compression planning session is designed to identify positioning criteria, outline value platforms, explore brand tenets, characteristics and key messages, and achieve consensus on a brand position and brand promise. It offers the opportunity for key constituents and senior management to share their insight, and ultimately, reach agreement through facilitated discussion.
IDENTITY PROGRAMS AND BRAND USAGE GUIDELINES
Blame it on our strong design roots, but identity is something we’re passionate about. Our body of work includes comprehensive identity programs and usage guides for international and national brands as well as a number of regional companies.
BRAND MANAGEMENT
What’s the essence of brand management? Ensuring total integration and consistency of the brand promise at every brand encounter. Simply put, that means making sure we speak with one voice. It means the brand promise must be reflected and reinforced everywhere, all the time – from the counterman at the big box store, to the news release in the trade publication, to the online banner ad, to the cable television spot.
BRAND AWARENESS AND PREFERENCE RESEARCH
Our research capabilities include designing and implementing baseline and follow-up research to determine pre- and post-levels of brand awareness, preference, and attribute performance. Measurement is an invaluable tool in determining how well a campaign or program has performed, and it is essential in evaluating how successful we’ve been in meeting our branding goals.