There are three main groups of clients/brands that we work for – I will start a mini-series of three to explain what we have to offer to each category:

Our favourite brands (1/3)

Once in a while, if we’re lucky, a startup gets in touch with us – through contacts, through Spring or IE Singapore, through the website. And if it’s Christmas and Easter on the same day, they are not just a startup but also have a great product or service plus venture capital funding.

We love working for startups, because ideally that means we start from a clean slate, an empty page. We then try to understand the product or service and do a Brand Audit, in order to determine who else it out there. Based on the insights, we develop a positioning that we know is relevant to the intended target audience and differentiated from other suppliers. The positioning gets translated into the logo, corporate identity (with our design partners) and touchpoints – to make sure the new brand comes across as professional and consistent.

Let’s take ThoughtBuzz:

Two friends approached me through a faculty colleague, looking for a positioning for their online software that can find out what’s the ‘buzz’ in online social media. So every time someone says something about your brand in a blog or forum – they can find it. Not only can they find it, but the sophisticated software filters apply some analytical tools to help you understand which websites to pay attention to and which to disregard. Wouldn’t you want to know what people are saying about your brand? This intelligence can serve as an early-warning-system, enabling you to handle any challenges your brand may face.

For ThoughtBuzz, we made sure – working with Leap as design partners – that logo, business cards, letterheads, powerpoint-presentations and website were consistent, true to the brand, interesting, professional and engaging. See for yourself: http://www.thoughtbuzz.net.

It’s a rare opportunity when a great idea comes together with professional and friendly clients and gives a brand consultant the opportunity to help build a brand from scratch.

Jörg

(If you want to explore how design can help in differentiating your brand, come and attend my talk on “The Design Gap”, part of the Singapore Design Festival, on 26 November at SMU. It’s free and I promise to make it fun! For more info go to http://singaporedesignfestival.com/designfest09/events.aspx?id=328)