Rebranding agency
Almost all agencies say they can do anything. The truth is we can’t. We’ve done some wicked interiors, mostly because our client liked what we did with everything else. It was magic fun, but we are not interior experts.
What we are (Navig8 that is) is an agency that does a few things, not only well, but to a world-class standard. This includes:
So what does a rebranding agency do? And what is the point anyway?
Navig8 is based in London, although that means nothing these days. We are lucky enough to have clients in America, Spain, Italy and East Dulwich.
They come to us when they see the need to rebrand. The relationship starts with a proposal. Once commissioned, and depending on the size of the project, this is how we tackle the work.
By questioning and consulting we work with the client to create a detailed brief.
We engage with the stakeholders, seek buy-in and explain the benefits and process.
The first round of creative is an internal process – everybody in the studio is involved.
Development of first-round creative – in-house.
Presentation of a least three concepts, this is what we aim to deliver as a minimum; what the client asked for, what they hadn’t thought of and something they have never dreamed of. All the solutions will be relevant and on brief.
Client feedback. We listen and advise. This stage is a collaborative stage process.
Development stage. Assuming our client has chosen a solution from the first round of creative, we listen to our client’s comments and develop the solution to a more finished mark.
This stage is important and often overlooked by a client and often seen as unnecessary. It is an important stage and can - if missed – can cause embarrassment or worst legal challenges. The new mark needs to be tested. There is a range of issues to be addressed, these include breach of copyright, plagiarism, inappropriate international connotations. There is too much to detail here, but don’t underestimate the importance of this stage to ensure your new mark is ready to be released into the world.
We are getting to a stage now that the mark is coming to approval and we make sure the mark is approved in writing before tackling the wider rollout.
Application to all assets and all channels. Application to all outputs needs to be tested, flexed and experimented with to ensure the new identity works.
It’s wrong to assume that a styleguide is delivered before the new brand has successfully been applied to the range of assets an organisation typically produces. Once that is in the bag, and they work, then we begin producing the styleguide.
This last stage is all about communication. A client needs to communicate with their in-house team, staff, stakeholders and the clients. In the same way we sought buy-in at the beginning of the process it needs to be explained to the audience why the solution works and what it means to them and the organisation. ‘Them’ is the important (and hard) bit.
It goes without saying, this is an overview. If you want a deeper understanding of corporate identity design and rebranding, this book might help.