Many new and established businesses engage in a process known as ‘brand creation’ when looking to launch something new into the marketplace. This process usually starts when a business has identified the need to fill a consumer or audience need, then embarks on a mission to fulfil that need.
This might take the form of an ‘organisational’ brand such as a new company, division or sub-brand with the intention of that new entity living within an existing business hierarchy. Other, more common, examples of new brand creation are with the definition and design of new products and services. As with organisational brand creation, new product and service brands will either need to fit into the context of an existing business model and offering or alternatively create a new model in which it can thrive.
In its simplest form, brand creation is about defining and addressing the specific needs identified during a strategic audit or appropriate market research. This plan will then help to create the proposed new brand’s name, visual identity, values, messaging and other branded content so that it can successfully communicate with customers in a way that makes them want to engage.
Recent examples of brand creation include new product development for Georgina Day, the definition and creation of Heritage for People for Edinburgh World Heritage and the Halley Stevensons development of EverWax.
There are many reasons that business owners engage in brand creation. Primarily, brand creation is undertaken as a response to an opportunity identified during strategic market research.
The hope in this process is that the brand will resonate with its target audience and offer them something new or different from what they already have access to. The brand should be able to attract customers by appealing to their needs and offering solutions through either product, service or brand features. When brand creation is successful, it will help the company to create a competitive advantage in their market and grow over time.
Brand creation is a great way for new businesses to enter a market, or for existing businesses to diversify their offering, whether directly or indirectly. From small online retailers looking to sell specific product lines on the Amazon Marketplace right through to specific geographical releases of existing products, brand creation is a powerful and measured way of entering new spaces.
A common example that we are seeing more and more of is the emergence of the e-commerce brand. These are brands that have been created with the specific purpose of selling on platforms such as eBay, Amazon and Google. When compared to traditional brands, the price-points of e-commerce brand products are generally lower and are aimed at low-budget consumers looking to make a fast purchase. The potential quantities, however, are much higher. As this caters for a very specific need, this method of selling does not often fit into existing small business models, therefore requiring a new answer to fulfil this. Brand creation can play a role here to create a new brand to quickly and easily answer the user needs while retaining a degree of separation from other existing businesses.
One reason for keeping an e-commerce brand isolated from existing businesses as it will not dilute an existing product offering — or its value!
We offer e-commerce brand and website design. For more information, please get in touch directly at hello@lbd.studio.
The design and development of portfolio brand ‘assets’ is a long-established method of creating a broad product range. While many organisations achieve this organically through innovation and new product development, there is often a need to fill a gap in a market more quickly. This might lead to the acquisition of existing brands in this space or a decision to purpose a brand creation strategy.
For example, the alcohol and beverage industry does a fantastic job of creating portfolio brands to satisfy and drive market demand. Successful alcohol brands such as Beam Suntory, Diageo, Pernod Ricard and Proximo have diverse portfolios that look to satisfy consumer expectations. When specific types of alcohol are identified as being high growth, they will act to bring their own product to compete for market share.
We offer a specialist insight into portfolio architecture and the creation of new brands to fulfil a specific need within a portfolio. For more information, please get in touch directly at hello@lbd.studio.
International brands are not always appropriate for specific regions or locations. This may be due to sensitive political or cultural reasons out of your control. This is when new brand creation can play a role in bringing an existing product or service offering to a new area under a different umbrella. This may operate as part of a group or in isolation. Technology brands employ brand creation in this way for various products. Successful brand strategies for local brand creation are built around four key principles:
Product or service value: Does the brand offer something that no other brand in the area does? This could be a design, function, process or customer experience advantage. It is important to understand what makes your product different.
Local market knowledge: A brand needs to understand the market and its customers. What are their wants, needs, desires? Doing this will help with defining a brand strategy that is more likely to succeed in gaining traction.
Distribution channels: The local distribution channel for your product or service is critical as it can determine how far you go, how quickly, and for what price.
Communication: It is essential that this is sensitive to the local area and does not create conflict with cultural or religious beliefs. If there is a conflict that cannot be overcome, then it is likely the brand is not a good fit and should not be pursued.
There are many other types of new brand creation. For more information or to discuss a potential project, feel free to get in touch and we will be happy to guide you from there.
If your business would benefit from a new approach to strategic development, please get in touch and we will be happy to advise on the best route forward. We recommend that a strategic audit is undertaken before starting new strategic work to ensure it uses a solid evidence base.
We partner with ambitious businesses to breathe new life into their brands, products and services. If you have a vision for your business, we’d love to hear from you.
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