Category: Creative

Once upon a time, all you had to do to have a great brand was have a great product. If you made the product well, then you were all set.

Competition was potentially less fierce in those days, but still, quality was king. Needless to say, the times have changed. In order to have a great brand today, you need to put as much effort (if not more) into the brand as you do into your product. In fact, these days sometimes you can move product JUST by putting effort into your brand.

Some brands have the resources to make themselves something bigger than their product. They not only find their voice, but they also project it. However, not everyone is lucky enough to have those resources. That doesn’t mean you’re out of luck, though. There are simple ways to give your brand the voice you know it has. Which brings me to my point: Typography is the king of branding.

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Typography is how people read your brand. It’s the bridge from your brain to the people. Putting some love and attention into type is probably the biggest little thing you can do for your brand. You can use type in a handful of different ways to hone your voice. From a fully custom logotype to hand rendered social media posts, well-designed and tasteful typography is a great way to turn something your brand is saying into something only your brand can say.

You don’t need to go crazy with it. Standing out doesn’t have to entail super wild custom type. In fact, one of the most effective custom types can be very clean and defining. Think of the hand painted signs and windows that lived in the “quality is king” era. However you read it, there is character.

Simply put, good typography is an easy way to help you craft your voice as a brand. Typography is a necessary element in what you do, so why not take the time and effort to transform it into the strength of your brand? If you don’t know where to start, that’s fine. STIR would love to help you leverage typography and turn your brand into your brand.

When is it time to rebrand? Companies look at a multitude of factors, such as market research, market share trends and changing demographics, to determine if it’s time to reposition. But what many don’t realize is that a rebrand is more than just a new name and logo. It’s an opportunity to redefine and improve every aspect of your brand: messaging, how you talk about your company internally and externally, design, social media pages, customer engagement and more.

Each rebrand situation is different, but follows a similar process. Here are STIR’s eight steps to rebranding:

1. Brand/Company audit: Look at what you’ve done in the past, what you’re currently doing and what your challenges have been. What problems can a rebrand solve for your company?
2. Marketing plan review: Analyze past and current marketing plans, messaging and consumer touch points to have historical context for your business’ growth and evolution. What are the challenges? Where is your equity?
3. Messaging audit/evaluation: Evaluate internal and external messaging, personas targeted and engagement with consumers. How has the conversation evolved, and where should it go? Why?
4. Market research: Market research can help you find new insights about your competition and your current and prospective customers. There are two categories of market research that can give you different types of insights:
   • Quantitative – close-ended questions that allow you to reach a large sample group to identify overarching trends
   • Qualitative – open-ended questions to help you determine behaviors and reasoning behind current and prospective customer decisions
5. Executive meetings: Meet with key individuals who drive the company’s direction to learn more about their priorities and what they believe should be accomplished. They often have valuable insights but don’t always know how to leverage them in a strategy.
6. Strategic direction: Summarize your findings in a directional strategic planning document that includes:
   • Positioning statement
   • Marketing and messaging objectives
   • Broad strategic objectives (and investment levels)
   • Creative brief
   • Segmented audience personas
7. Workshop: After we present our findings, we like to work with a group of key stakeholders to gain a consensus in the vision and key steps in the process.
8. Develop an integrated marketing plan: After achieving strategic agreement among stakeholders, outline specific plans for executing the objectives in detail. These plans often include recommendations for:
   • Media (traditional and digital)
   • Public relations
   • Social media
   • Creative refresh
   • Inbound marketing efforts
   • Digital updates

The notion of Disruptive Creative is quite simple – how can a brand be special if it’s not different? To stand out in the world of clutter, there must be something different, something unique and special to attract the consumer’s attention.

To get noticed, you must stand out; to stand out you must disrupt.

Disruption doesn’t have to be negative. In fact, if done properly, it’s quite positive. Let’s not confuse the word “disruptive” with “destructive.” The fact is, it’s quite the contrary.

Disruption can take many forms: it can be silence in a wall of sound; it can be a white dot in a field of black; laughter in a sea of sadness; beauty in a world of ugliness. It can be radical or somewhat subtle. But it must have the power to engage people, to have them take notice. It’s so incredibly good, that it stops you in your tracks and makes you want to take a picture of it to share with your friends. It can defy a single execution, and even have the power to make the news.

Disruptive Creative gives people credit for being smart. It taps into insights and intelligence. We, as humans, strive to understand the “why” factor. Disruptive Creativity poses a problem to solve. What’s different? What’s New? What’s attractive? Why do I care?

It entertains us and makes the mundane magical. It triggers emotion.

It’s creative that makes us think.

Relevant Disruptive Creative can pay dividends for any brand (relevant being the key word) when it comes to awareness. I’m not suggesting frivolous disruption – that wouldn’t make sense – but disrupting to make a point, as part of your messaging strategy, is powerful.

Take for instance Whopper Detour campaign, which recently won at Cannes. The idea was to get people to download and use their app. In return, you’d get a whopper for a penny. The kicker was you had to go to a McDonald’s to download the app (they literally geo-fenced 600 locations). The idea was so strong and the execution was flawlessly integrated that (all awards aside) the campaign made the news.

Disruptive Creative is simply one way to do it – a powerful way to do it. For us, we use that creative power to help organizations like The United Performing Arts Fund raise (record) fund year-over-year. Our solution to get people to donate was to remind them that the arts don’t happen without contributions. We showcased iconic theatrical characters with no bodies to fill in the costume. Our message was simple and clear – Without you, its just an empty stage.

Gauge your own messaging accordingly. Trust your gut. Create work that moves the needle. Make your client and agency proud. It should excite and have the legs to extend for you.