BRAND & DESIGN STRATEGY E-BOOK
It aint nothing but an “S” thing, baby…
What happens when you add brand and design strategy together.
A Collaboration between Erica Bonser & Jennifer Morgan of Fan Club Brands
INTRO
“It just doesn’t feel right”
Building a brand that means something
Picture the Apple logo changing into an orange.
Amazon’s website looking and functioning like a government site stuck in the 90’s.
Or Liquid Death using Cosmic Sans in all of their advertising.
Feels a bit uncomfortable, doesn’t it?
Like something just isn’t right.
How we perceive a company, product, or service is directly tied to its meaning. Meaning that is conceived through the intermixing of brand and design strategy. When done right, the consumer will adopt the brand as an extension of themselves. When done wrong, the consumer will push it away like boiled unsalted Brussel sprouts.
To your consumer, when they choose to support a brand, it means something about them — their personality, interests, what they stand for, and if they belong.
And if you need proof, think about the bumper stickers you see as you sit in traffic — those small badges that speak to who the driver is in the car — small tokens of solidarity for the individual, brand, or idea tied to it.
It’s the reason why a rainbow flag is either loved or hated. Or seeing an AK47 sticker on the back of a truck evokes such intense emotion.
Companies who invest in brand and design strategy see results that far surpass increased revenue.
They see that their short-term sales and marketing efforts actually work — increased MQLs, SQLs, and decreased CAC and churn. They also get the added benefit of predictable, sustainable long-term growth.
Growth that is tied to shared meaning and relationships.
Because people want to connect. And brands were built to connect mission-led companies to value-based humans.
Meaning can’t be bought, it has to be designed.
SEPARATION OF BRAND & DESIGN
The PB&J Debacle
What happens if you dissociate brand from design?
Picture Picasso describing his painting through text without ever having the opportunity to see it. Imagine going into a record store where every record was wrapped in the same beige package — no art, no oomph. Or, on the reverse, think about seeing an advert for a Lamborghini where the text talks about discounted beaters.
It just doesn’t work.
Brand strategy is the blueprint of a company. A blueprint that dictates how the company looks, feels, sounds, and smells. Why it matters and what it means to be in relationship with its audience.
Design strategy takes that blueprint and activates it. Bringing the brand to life in a way that begs your audience to engage and interact with it. It’s the piece that ties it all together and makes your brain exhale in relief because “ahhhh — now I get it!”
It’s like PB&J — you can’t have one without the other.
You can try, but you’ll be woefully disappointed.
ONE INFORMS THE OTHER
Brand strategy informs design strategy
This isn’t a chicken and egg conversation.
Without brand strategy design is just the act of making pretty things. And pretty things don’t pay your bills — informed user experiences do.
A lot of companies fall victim to subjective preference.
Projects pile on, lofty revenue targets are set, and the expectation to wear multiple hats at once to “get it done” causes companies to underinvest in activation. In other words, life gets busy, strategy goes out the window, and you’re left with the good ol’ fashion “gut feeling” of what you feel is best in the moment.
You have to zoom out to zoom in.
What happens when you take a loved brand and disconnect brand strategy from design strategy?
Brace yourselves — this will be uncomfortable.
*Hover over the images to reveal life in an alternate, Midjourney-generated branding universe…
Freddie Mercury as a MAGA bro
(BLASPHEMY)
A fresh meal delivery service looking not-so-fresh… 🤮
A plastic ROLEX for kids??
But for real- we kinda want these.
BRAND STRATEGY W/ ERICA BONSER
Excuse me — where are you going?
The art of differentiation
Everyone wants to be different. To be the only one who sells the one product everyone wants, to be the first mover in a category, and to create a bulletproof business strategy that allows you to sit in your castle fat and happy without threat.
But we can’t all be Elon Musk. The ship has sailed to be the first to privatize space travel. And everyone else is just rowing around applying thick layers of duct tape, hoping they won’t sink.
In business there is always another storm ahead threatening to sink you. Launching without a plan will keep you close to shore (we’ve all seen Cast Away). You have to be intentional.
Marty Neumeier said it best when he said that “a brand is a person's gut feeling about a service, product, or company.” In other words, it’s not what you say it is, it’s what they say it is. Your audience. The people who cast a vote with every dollar they spend.
How do you make sure that they spend it with you? And how do you properly create a brand that is in alignment with how you would like to be seen?
With intention.
Let’s talk about water. Over 2/3rds of the planet is covered in water. And as humans, we need water to live. How great is it that it falls from the sky?! And exists in rivers, lakes, and streams?! And the best yet — it’s free.
Until we package it.
A 1L bottle of Smartwater on Amazon costs $1.78 making a gallon of Smartwater a total of $6.74. Today, the average cost of gas in LA is $5.43 per gallon. How does a “free” resource like water cost more per gallon than a non-renewable and finite resource like fossil fuels?
Branding influences your perception of the quality of an item, service, or company. The story it tells says something about the individual who buys it. It’s what turns a commodity into a premium. It’s what turns something from a hell no to a hell yes.
Brand strategy is the blueprint of your company. It is your business strategy because it informs every aspect of your business — how it functions, who works there, what it sells, and who it serves. With enough consumer insights, market analysis, and a healthy dose of divergent thought you have the ability to create the next SpaceX.
You just have to be willing to see things differently.
According to a Mckinsey & Company report, brands that attune their audience grow 40% more year over year than brands that act on self interest. Self-interest being uninformed decisions based on personal preference.
PSA — no one wants your casserole. I know it’s a family recipe, but it’s outdated.
Read the room.
DESIGN STRATEGY W/ JENNIFER MORGAN
Design without strategy is just arts & crafts
The Art of Experience
Companies that invest in strategic design grow revenues and shareholder returns at nearly twice the rate than their industry peers. This user-centric approach to business validates the brand in the minds of customers while building experiences — virtual or in person — that enforce the ever sought after feeling of belonging.
Design is a funny thing. When done right, no one notices, but when done wrong it evokes a visceral reaction that’s somewhere between disgust and wanting to pull your hair out.
Design strategy is as functional as it is provocative.
It dictates how you move around a website — did you click that CTA? It evokes emotion in partnership with the messaging and strategic positioning through imagery, colors, typography, and textures. More importantly, it sears itself in the minds of your audience so that when they are in a time of need or go to make their next purchase, you come to mind — visually.
Great design puts the human experience at the center of problem solving. With ever shifting landscapes, design can remain fluid and meet your consumer where they’re at — helping organizations rebound from economic downturns while improving performance over the long term.
During the Great Recession of 2008, customer-centric companies outperformed their competition by 10%, experienced a quicker recovery, and sustained that growth over the years that followed seeing 30% more return.
And it wasn’t just the design that created these outcomes.
It was design that was informed by the brand's strategy. They weren’t focused on making pretty things, they were focused on creating belonging in a time of need. They leveraged design within their brand strategy to create an invitation for their audience to “come and hang” a while.
They created a ‘FAN CLUB’ of people who stick with them through thick and thin; singing their praises along the way.
WHERE TO EVEN BEGIN
ZOOM OUT
TO ZOOM IN
Where do you even begin?
Things will look a bit different depending on where you’re at in your business.
If you’re just getting started, it will feel like starting the long, treacherous trek up Everest without the added benefit of a sherpa. If you’ve been doing this for a while, It will feel like going into granny’s house, who was a hoarder, to get ready for an Estate Sale — digging into dust covered boxes and opening drawers filled with memories that make you swoon and embarrassed simultaneously.
In short — works ahead. No matter how you shake it.
Brand and design strategy impact the very foundation of your business. It’s where you start and where you return to as you, your audience, and your brand grows.
But you don’t (and shouldn’t) have to do it alone.
For Established Brands
A lot of people may say “why fix what isn’t broken?” and for a lot of situations they would be right. However, when it comes to determining if your brand needs help, the problems can be a little more nuanced.
Just like people, as we get older the more we grow and the more we change. Your brand is no exception. Even if you are selling the same products and have the same team in place grinding it out 15 years later, your audience and the times have evolved. You have to be able to meet it and if done right, propel everyone forward into the next chapter of our collective life.
Take stock of what was, get curious about what is, so you can create what will be.
You’ll know if your brand and design strategy needs help if:
You’re in a saturated market with a million others claiming to offer the same thing as you.
You are competing with your competition based on price or features.
You’re pouring money into marketing with no return.
You have outgrown your initial brand strategy and are having a hard time leveling up.
There is a misalignment and inconsistency in messaging, EX, and CX
For New Brands
Starting a new venture is not for the weak. It takes grit and a healthy dose of chutzpah to even take the first step. But here you are. You did it. Welcome.
Getting started for you is going to be a lot easier than an established brand who has years of brand equity built — you can be more agile and nimble. However, it’s going to be harder to gain traction because in order to build brand awareness and loyalty you’re going to have to do something different (like really different) and build trust — which takes time.
You’ll WANT TO FOCUS ON:
Finding unique needs states within an industry, service, group of individuals, etc. that are not being filled and create a solution.
Identify your audience, talk to them, and get really clear on what it means to be in relationship with them.
Understand who you are, what you do beyond making money, and why it matters? Why should anyone care?
Create the blueprint for how your brand shows up in the world — for your team and for people at large.
Develop a visual brand identity that embodies everything above and develop rules for engagement — how your design will be used and brought to life within all mediums. And then execute it.
THE RIGHT PEOPLE
The right butts in the right seats
Who you need on your team to help get you there?
Let’s talk about Snoop Dogg.
How does the creator of “Gin and Juice '' go on to making cereal, ice cream, a children's show, and a collaboration with Martha Stewart? You think divergently.
Snoop is a divergent thinker. He’s someone who is able to leverage both left and right brain superpowers simultaneously to create multiple, unique ideas and solutions to problems. He blends the analytical brain with the creative brain and dominates his market every time.
That’s the kind of people you need in your corner to help you do this work.
Divergent thinkers. Gray thinkers.
The people who are able to see a problem and challenge it, uncovering the surface level pain point that it is. The people who are able to create new realities for individuals, organizations, and humanity at large.
Snoop was able to expand into other categories because he challenged what it meant to be a brand and a business.
Most brands are built to serve one audience, one category, and with products that fit to serve that specific audience. Branding 101 tells us that these are the rules and to step outside of the boxes we create would be confusing to your audience and disintegrate your brand on site.
The equivalent of drenching it in gasoline and lighting a match — dropped like it’s hot.
But Snoop chose to see his brand differently.
The original — Snoop is the brand and his music is his offering.
The reimagined — Snoop is the brand and the offering.
See the difference? Music is now an extension of his brand rather than what his brand does. This shift allows Snoop to play in any park or playground that he wants, because whatever category he sets out to conquer, his brand (his personality) gets baked into it.
This way of thinking has transformed the now CEO of Death Row Records net worth to over $165Million — and counting.
Don’t hire surface level thinkers when you are looking for Snoop Dogg level results. Hire the brand strategists, brand architects, design strategists, and other creatives that can help you color outside the lines.
Hire us.
Hi — I’m Erica.
Co-owner of Fan Club Brands, brand architect, and marketing strategist who has worked with brands like Liquid Death, MillerKnoll, Lululemon, Johnson&Johnson, and Level C to create brands worth raving about. From brand to demand and everything in between — I’ve got you.
Hi — I’m Jenny,
Owner and operator of Fan Club Brands. I’m a design strategist, visual brand identity specialist and web designer that turns your dream clients into loyal brand fans! Fan Club is your design advocate shop that helps you build a brand that exists outside the margins.
76% of your customers expect you to personalize your business to them — are you listening?
Brand and design strategy. It just makes sense.