Branding, Design and Identity | My Soho Times

Whichever way you read it – ‘Design A New Brand Identity‘ or ‘A New Brand Design Identity‘ – we’ve called upon the expertise of 5 professions who’ve ‘been there, done that‘ to reflect on their journey and offer valuable insight – so you can sail by getting your creative business up and running!

Sam Lehane of M.Y.O – Make Your Own: Unleashing Creativity and Happiness with Arts & Crafts (@myolondon) recalls his humble begins…

A really important thing when launching a new brand is to have a good product or service – it doesn’t have to be perfect though – but also to be yourself and be open and honest on the journey. Despite not having a creative background, M.Y.O was launched by my partner Diana and I after we learned how to teach one creative class – a week before our first ever live one – we now do more than 14 and have hosted 10,000s.

We invited a bunch of friends around (I can still picture it vividly!) and we were open with them about winging it. We were clear about why we wanted to do it (we want every adult to explore their creative side) and we were committed to learning and improving what we did as we went along – it’s hard to figure out what people actually want without starting from somewhere. We charged from the start, too – no freebies, as it doesn’t lend itself to good constructive feedback, in our opinion.

People are people – they appreciate and understand when you are trying to give it a go and try something new. Everyone who attended the first session has been back to the studio many times since the start and they’re like ambassadors. We love them! We also made every single guest for the first 12 months of M.Y.O fill out a feedback form that we read and learned from. Makes it easy for friends to tell their friends, too. You’ll see that word of mouth quickly leads to sales growth. It’s magic. So, get started and begin small, involve friends or family and get them to refer you, charge them, always be learning, slowly make things better and grow from there. Whilst always being yourself, being open about why you are doing this and the stage you are at. You got this!

John Ingledew (@johningledew) is a visiting Professor of Design at The University of West London and the author of HOW TO HAVE GREAT IDEAS and THE A-Z OF VISUAL IDEAS, both published by Laurence King Publishing. John is also a long time Soho lover and photographer of the area. He shares his thoughts about branding past and present.

Indelibly marking cattle with a red-hot branding iron was for centuries the method used by farmers to identify the livestock they owned from those belonging to others. At a glance anyone could tell one brand from another. Branding today is just the same – clarity and instant recognition are vital. The secret of branding success is ensuring every visual aspect encountered by customers or potential customers embodies the unique personality of the business or company, perhaps also its history and ethos. Be clear about those things and then express them visually. I have always loved the London Underground branding, in particular the logo, the typography is friendly and municipal in a uniquely English way, the red circle echoes both the tunnel through which you travel and the Circle Line enclosing central London, while the blue bar is a train – it’s genius.

Top Tip: A very successful brand feels like one of your old friends, you really look forward to hearing their news, finding out what they’re up to and knowing what’s new. Your mission is to create this unique friendship.

“To me, digital marketing is all about storytelling, copywriting, and social psychology.” – Yohann Pavy

Yoann Pavy (@yoannpavy) is a marketing leader passionate about disruptive businesses. His focus is on growth, brand awareness and driving business results. Having worked at companies such as Deliveroo and Depop in their earlier days, he knows a thing or two about getting the right audience to pay attention.

1. Define your niche – not many things, just one thing. Particularly when you have expertise or insider perspective (but a passion works as well). This point relates very well with the notion of finding your 1000 fans, there are enough people on this planet for anyone to talk about anything and find their 1000 fans. You can be niche and specific enough, no need to reach millions of people. Only the ones in your niche will do.

2. Become a student – find, follow, and study to learn what to create.This is always true no matter your level of expertise or age, so be a student, learn from other people, engage and network.

3. Share your ideas in public – think out loud and do your work in public to attract the right people. This gets you in the conversation. Your audience also will be more interested in your journey and development than the outcome of what you are saying. Plus this creates engagement and brings people in on your journey.

4. Create the conversation by starting your own platform (on IGTV, blog, podcast, YouTube channel etc). This lets you switch from participant to creator. Find your medium –  if you are good with words, use that. If you are confident in front of the camera, go ahead. But if you are hesitant about video, I would still suggest you do try, as it’s the best way to get your message across on multiple social platforms and get people to discover you and your business. You could still opt for audio-only and go down the podcast route.

Ivo Belohoubek (@dogoodfilmsworldwide) is a humanitarian filmmaker working with NGOs, helping them document and promote their work. His company DoGoodFilms  is a leader in the field of philanthropic communications – and this is vastly down to getting the pitch right.

Whether it’s creative, sales or a product – it’s a numbers game. You lose many and win some. I have been pitching work for well over a decade and trust me, the only thing that has got easier is dealing with failure. If there is anything I have learnt from trying to win clients, it’s that it really is about them and not me.

A simple tip for anyone who is wondering why the phone is not ringing – despite you being the hottest thing on the market – is,  look at your proposal from the client’s perspective.  Is my experience relevant to their brief? It doesn’t matter that I can do it.  If I can’t show relevant examples, they will ditch my CV straight away. Is my price realistic and good value for money? If you come too cheap, they may not think you are considering it seriously enough and if you are too expensive… well you know the answer to that. Know your weaknesses and address them in your proposal rather than hoping that they won’t notice. They will. And last but not least, communicate with the client. Asking the right questions before you even submit your proposal will put you on their radar. Very best of luck.”

Dan Brain and Ian Houghton, co-founders of MAD//Fest London (@madfestlondon) – the UK’s most disruptive marketing and advertising tech festival, reflect on the ‘disruption’ of the year.

It’s hard to reflect on what we’ve learned as a business and about individuals without mentioning the experience of 2020, which has been challenging, exciting and certainly the steepest learning curve we’ve ever had. This year, words like ‘disruption’, ‘pivot’ and ‘agility’ stopped being business speak and became the fundamental challenges for businesses large and small. Never has the turn of phrase “the best laid plans” felt more appropriate! But you can rely on creative businesses for creative thinking. Ideas, developing distinctive products and differentiating from the competition have always been important, but this year they’ve been absolutely fundamental in re-evaluating what our business does and how it functions.

We genuinely think that the new digital experience and fast-paced product development will be huge assets going forward. On a personal level, the experience of launching and growing a start-up is highly rewarding, but not always a bed of roses. Getting the balance of hard work, accepting support from people you trust and making the time to switch off and do the things you love right will ultimately make you happier, healthier and better at solving daily challenges.

Written by Kai Lutterodt | @the.soho.girl

This article was previously published in the Winter 2020 issue of My Soho Times. CLICK HERE to view online.

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