Brand Development Services

Brand is one of the most important assets of business. MKMCreative’s brand development strategies dig deep to identify what makes your business stand apart. Our brand development services include strategic brand identity and positioning. It’s how we discover the brand’s purpose, value, offer, proposition and target constituency. Brand development services uncover how the brand wants to present itself to the world both visually and through tone.

What is Brand Development?

Brand development is the process of creating and maintaining a strong brand that effectively connects with the target constituency. This begins by identifying and honing in on the factors that make your brand unique, which is then translated into a visual identity and a strategic campaign. Brand development is crucial because it is the core upon which all marketing and messaging is built upon. A strong brand should evoke a visceral feeling and emotional response from its audience.

Our Brand Development Process | Positioning & Identity

For a brand to succeed, all stakeholders need to align on the mission, goals, focus, hierarchy of messaging, brand differentiators and service offerings. Clearly conveying what the brand stands for is the first step in developing the design system. These foundational pieces influence the look, feel and personality that holistically and cohesively reflects, instantly cuts through with intent and is sticky and emotionally resonates.

White Board Session

Glean insights from key stakeholders and decision makers

Clearly define brand objectives

Run free with ideation; discard judgement

Organize like-minded thoughts

Edit and remove superfluous and unwanted outliers

Output

Brand value, promise, proposition

Hierarchy of messaging

Look, feel, tone, language for a cohesive brand identity

Brand Messaging Map

During the messaging map crafting stage of the brand development process, all overarching campaign narratives are determined. Like-minded thoughts are grouped together, naturally eliminating any disconnection. This is a no-fail system that identifies any glaring inconsistencies and discrepancies. It ensures a firm structure and guardrail when each individual element comes together: nuances, brand identity, objectives, offering, target audience.

Create a relevant framework based on the brand development needs

Populate with key factors: target audience, offering, attributes

Confirm individual elements coalesce

Remove discrepancies

Get consensus by ensuring everyone agrees unanimously (both in public and private!)

Distribute internally to serve as a companywide marketing tool

Review quarterly and modify as needed

Ensure the messaging map always represents the most current state of the brand, resulting in a manifesto that acts as a brand advocate

Output

Fully fleshed out, impartial key brand asset that serves as the filter for all brand decisions

Consistent messaging across the organization

Design System

The first phase of design kicks off after brand positioning and brand identity have been clearly defined. The design direction is rooted in what the brand stands for, offers and how it wants to present itself. This is where the design system of the brand is developed to guide the next creative phases of the program: arsenal of assets, web design, style guide and more.

Use the brand research found in the previous steps as the framework for the creative

Research competitor’s logos, colors, fonts and look & feels to ensure there is no similarities in the new branding

Incorporate comments, tweaks, and redirect as applicable

Present 3 conceptual directions for the logo, fonts, color palette and look & feel

Follow cycle until all items are approved and put into production

Hold consistent creative reviews

Create design system that is simple, clear and easily accessible by all relevant parties

Output

Design System with use case: when and how to apply, comprehensive offerings of logo treatments and formats, typefaces and color palette

Consumer-facing ready

When all aspects of the brand development process are aligned and clearly defined, the aim of the output is achieved: an experience that emotionally resonates with the target audience, is sticky and leaves a lasting impression that generates awareness and accelerates adoption. With creative concepting, clear messaging, consistency, and execution, brand awareness is conveyed in a unique and everlasting way.

Clear call-to-action

Cut through to customer via every touch point to deliver on brand messaging and goals

Output

Brand awareness that leads to accelerated adoption

See our Brand Development services in action