Branding is ‘Managing the Meaning of the Brand’

So what is a brand?  It would be useful to answer this question by clarifying what a brand is not.  Here goes, a brand is not:

·      a logo, which while a useful tool is simply a symbol

·      a product, which from the customer’s perspective fulfils a function

·      a promise, although it can end up acting as one

·      an impression, even though this is closest to what a brand is and usually is the starting place from which advertising and marketing creatives take their initiative.

So, again, what is a brand?  It is a result of the customer’s gut feeling about a product, service or company.  This ends up in their heads and their hearts, and to brand means ‘to stamp’, as this the customer does to you – and so you have innumerable ‘brands’.  In essence, a brand is your reputation, and you are aiming to shepherd all of these impressions into a consistent image.

Business owners and their creatives (in-house or commissioned agencies) tend to look at it like, “We’re creating a pitch.”  This may be the correct place from which to start your thinking, and yet a little nuance is further required: The brand is the result of that.  From a design perspective (and in the wider picture this includes videographers) we might be aiming to tick the checklist – eg., logo, tagline, ad campaign, etc. – but what is true is what happens in your clients’ heads.  Like, the reputation which has been forged through the design of your products and services?  And what has been experienced by your customers? 

It is a Gestalt – design, presentation, messaging, company culture, how your employees behave.  Everyone connected with your company affects your brand, either in a positive or negative way.

As experienced corporate filmmakers we are acutely aware that our task is to enhance your image by applying classic Storytelling techniques to convey your key brand values, combined with utilising high quality equipment to compound your clients’ positive perception of you, and distributing the final messaging – ie., the video – in all the right places for maximum impact.