Resetting your brand for the new normal.
Have we all just woken up from a bad dream? Unfortunately not, the reality of the world post lockdown is scary, it may take years to see the final effects of the pandemic but there are things that we can all do now to ensure that our businesses have evolved to compete and win in ‘the new normal’. Change is inevitable but this rapid rate of change is unprecedented, it’s time to revisit your brand, re-energise it and re-connect with your audience, brands need to evolve to thrive in ‘the new normal’.
What do we mean by this? We can’t just assume that nothing has changed, we see a world that is less confident but more caring, a world that has had to cut too many workforces yet companies still need to produce outstanding products, a world that has had to become more insular but at the same time has been connected through similar challenges and a common human cause. If we are bold but at the same time very human, opportunities will arise that can guide us through these worrying times.
In terms of your brand, you may have to evolve your proposition, revisit you values, look at your identity and sharpen your communication to connect emotionally and rationally with your customers and target audience. It’s a time of change, we all need to be prepared for new challenges for business and the health of our brands.
If you don’t do this then your competitors surely will.
TBC, the brand connective, partnering new brand journeys.
Founding partners, Tracy Ball and Paul Castledine set up the brand connective two years ago with a mission to help SME’s, organisations and Midland’s companies to build better brands that grow business. Their name says it…connecting brands to their audience through defining who they are, what they stand for and why they exist, translating this through standout design and communication.
Managing partner, Tracy Ball says,
“We look at branding as organisation for your organisation, as important internally as it is externally. Brands have transformative powers, they can reset the past into creating opportunities now and the future. We use future first thinking, if you like, gazing into a crystal ball to ensure longer term success, Coronavirus has thrown a huge curve ball, we are here to help clients re-connect with their audiences as quickly as possible, if done right this can also create new opportunities and restore confidence with your workforce and your customers.
When we formed TBC we wanted to change the traditional agency relationship with clients by offering a more flexible agency model… a strategic brand creative consultancy that provides help and direction AND/OR ideas and design implementation into communications, it’s simple really, you only pay for what you need and we pick the right talent with the right experience to work on your brief, adding value to the final work. Our ethos is to go on this brand journey together with our clients, it’s about building relationships based on mutual trust and understanding.”
Our wealth of brand experience is very broad, having worked across many sectors and varying types of briefs, internationally and globally. Sharing our know-how for the benefit of local and national clients is something that we relish, experience counts when it comes to helping to solve the brand challenges our clients face.”
Brand thinking, connected through humanised design.
Your brand has to stand out against its competition, which is why the brand connective have Paul Castledine as its Creative Partner. Paul has worked with Tracy for 20 years and they have built a well balanced working relationship,with Tracy looking after the business, marketing, client relationship and fuelling the ideation process. Paul takes on creative leadership, strategic creative direction, brand thinking, ideas, inspiration and content. Paul is TBC’s brand guru, knowing how to create, re-imagine and connect brands in a changing world.
Paul says… “Branding needs to be relatable, it’s a bond with your customers. It’s not just your logo, it’s the way that you act, the way that you talk, the way that you look and the way that you feel. Good branding is good customer experience, it’s good communication, it’s opportunity, it’s delivering on your ambition , it’s your future! Brands need charisma, they need to connect emotionally with their audience. It’s important that the brand story is told in a compelling way, exciting and motivating action to purchase as well as building a rewarding relationship. We always seek to humanise brands so they are both understood and loved, we find that this, in a fast moving world, connects and grounds our brand thinking.”
You’re in good company.
Tracy and Paul are proud to have made a difference with a diverse range of clients and projects, first working on Vodafone together, then Tesco, creating the F&F brand of clothing, city branding for Birmingham and then Town Hall & Symphony Hall Birmingham, brand projects for Fort Dunlop, Whole Foods Market, Britvic, Weber Barbecues, PZ Cussons, NEC group, GSK, Unilever, Mondelez, CocaCola and award winning work for McDonald’s globally, defining the brand, creating the Happy Meal brand and global packaging.
So how is this relevant to our region? All of this collective knowledge could and should be used for the benefit of building a stronger region, Tracy and Paul are passionate about sharing their know-how, they want to see their region not just survive, but thrive commercially and culturally, coming out of this testing time for us all.