Question

Topic: Branding

How Do I Use My Research Findings?

Posted by Anonymous on 4/14/2010 at 7:24 AM ET 250 Points
I'm in the middle of re-branding the marketing agency i work for. We're well established and well known in the UK and Europe.

Our current brand is very dated and doesn't reflect the services and products we offer, the wealth of knowledge within the business, our position within the marketplace or the personality and feel of the brand internally.

I've consulted with all the staff and some clients and have a lot of insight and feedback. I've looked into archetypes (and i think identified the one we align with) and started working up the creative ideas in terms of logo's, colour palette, photography, typeface, language etc etc. The MD seems to like some of our ideas but will not sign anything off.

The client (the MD) is very particular and challenges every decision.

The problem I'm having is justifying what I've done. What is the process from research to creative? Where are the milestones in this process? How do i use the findings from my sessions with the employees? What are the stages in the project plan to push this over the line?

I'd be extremely welcome of any input! Thanks.
To continue reading this question and the solution, sign up ... it's free!
SUBSCRIBE
Or, SIGN IN

RESPONSES

  • Posted on 4/14/2010 at 7:47 AM Accepted
    Your timing is perfect. I'm at exactly that stage in a client project and was just noticing my own process (and discussing it with a colleague). I've been doing this sort of thing my entire career.

    The challenge is usually to construct the logic linkage from the research findings and conclusions to your creative solution. In the ideal situation, you've anticipated this need BEFORE you report the research findings and can identify/extract the key elements even before you come up with the creative solution.

    It helps, of course, if you work with a very experienced market research professional who has been through the drill before. (I'm lucky to have that person on the team with me.)

    Second choice is to see if you can describe your creative solution in terms of its essential components -- those characteristics without which it would be a different idea. Then you can link each of THOSE components to one of the research findings and explain that your solution is simply the "sum of the parts."

    Finally, you can come up with two or three legitimate alternatives, then evaluate each of them against the criteria suggested by the research using an objective "scoring" system.

    As you are discovering, the brand identity issue is still very much an art. If it's any comfort, though, I can tell you it gets much easier after you've done this several dozen times.

    Many clients want to be very sure they're doing the right thing, so they don't accept a creative solution without careful scrutiny and a tight rationale. They know this is a big decision, and it's uncomfortable to entrust it to a "creative type" who isn't steeped in research and analysis (like they are).

    And I guess I can't blame them. It IS a big decision, and they SHOULD understand the rationale and implications of the decision before making that final decision.

    Good luck. Hope this helps.
  • Posted on 4/14/2010 at 9:39 AM Author
    Thanks mgoodman, very insightful, I'll certainly take this into account.

    NuCoPro - If you saw our current brand, website PPT slides etc you'd understand why. We've lost business on account of how bad they are. I've spoke to several of our clients and discussed our thinking towards the new brand and had some very favorable feedback.

    What I'm keen to understand is what this process looks like, what are the key steps in the process and how is the delivery of it managed, rationalised and delivered.
  • Posted on 4/14/2010 at 12:19 PM Moderator
    Graphics, logos and the materials that utilize them can themselves be researched in a fairly straightforward way to get an objective measure of likely response from the target audience.

    Is it a perfect predictor of success? No, but it may be (a) better than doing nothing to get a feel for likely reactions, and (b) the best way to get the MD's buy-in. Just be sure the research is designed and conducted by someone who has done this before and is really skilled ... or you could draw exactly the wrong conclusions from flawed research.
  • Posted by incitrio on 4/14/2010 at 6:50 PM Member
    Here's a quick and easy tool that I use with my clients and my design students:

    First, establish your three core personality attributes. For example: innovative, fresh and experienced. Make sure you get 100% buy off from your MD before moving forward. Then, present the logo designs in terms of how each aspect (color, font, icon, etc.) demonstrates that personality attribute.

    If your MD doesn't like a particular font, color or icon, then you can discuss two things: 1. you have defined the wrong personality attributes to define the company or 2. the font, color or icon is wrong because it is not the best example of that personality attribute.

    This is a really great tool because it takes the conversation from subjective to objective and demonstrates that there truly is a scientific process to the creative that you generate. Good luck!
  • Posted by Jay Hamilton-Roth on 4/14/2010 at 8:10 PM Member
    Change is hard, especially when there's a lot of history and emotion already invested. A radical change is doubly hard, since the familiar is gone in (what feels like) an instant. Perhaps the client would feel more comfortable doing things in stages (that will take longer and cost more), just to gradually morph their old image into their new. If the new change backfires, then you can undo just that update and proceed with other changes. Less risky, less dramatic, but easier to measure effectiveness.
  • Posted on 4/15/2010 at 4:15 AM Author
    drsc - we're predominantly online marketing so not really on the brand side of the fence. We get involved in terms of online brand management of existing brands, not really creating them from scratch - and it's always much harder to work on your own brand!

    mgoodman - We've tried this a couple of times, but as we don't really have that research resource in house it always comes down to subjectivity - what one person like, the next hates.

    incitrio - we've done exactly that and have a rough draft of our brand values, personality etc etc - it's just getting these into the creative phase and rationalizing them that's the bottle-neck.

    Jay Hamilton-Roth - i agree but a full re-brand is the way forward - there's very little of our existing brand we would want to save.
  • Posted on 4/17/2010 at 5:20 PM Accepted
    If you are working on this without a tight Creative Brief from the ultimate client, then you deserve the very difficulty you're describing -- subjective evaluation of creative work.

    If you can get the MD to agree explicitly to the "job specs" before you show your work, you'll remove a lot of the subjectivity and force the submission to be compared to the agreed objectives and job specs.

    That's one of the great (and numerous) benefits of a Creative Brief.
BACK TO TOP

Post a Comment

Related Discussions

Community Info

Top 25 Experts
(Branding)