Looking for brand development services in the Maryland, Washington, DC and Virginia area? Look no further – The Sutter Group offers exactly what you need! Out of all the branding firms in the area, we offer the most versatile brand development services. From naming to competitive analysis to logo design and visual brand identity, we handle it all. 

The Definition of Brand Development

Believe it or not, although the two terms are often thought to mean the same thing, there is a difference between “branding” and “brand development.” Let’s start with a couple of definitions:

• Branding: When we talk about branding, we’re usually referring to the common marketing practice of creating a name, symbol or design that identifies a product. Typically, people equate branding with developing a logo mark.

• Brand Development: Brand development is the process of learning what makes a brand truly unique and desirable to the target audience and then creating a way to communicate that distinction. 

You see, brand development goes MUCH deeper than just a simple graphic design exercise. Sure, a distinct logo or brand mark is an important way to help further that distinction, but it certainly doesn’t stop there! Often, once our brand developers have uncovered an important brand distinction, they will work to create a tagline, a character or mascot, graphics, headlines, typography, imagery, etc—everything that helps communicate the key brand messaging and remind the target audience what makes this brand so unique.

To illustrate our point, here are a few modern, everyday brands that you might know, along with their distinction and how it was communicated:

Brand: BMW
Distinction: Engages you in the process of driving more than other vehicles
How it was communicated: Tagline is, “The Ultimate Driving Machine”; headlines and messaging to match

Brand: Verizon
Distinction: Its network is stronger than its competitors
How it was communicated: Tagline is, “It’s the Network”; character that always asks, “Can you hear me now?”

Brand: Apple
Distinction: Simply beautiful products
How it was communicated: Simple/sleek brand mark (apple with a bite out of it); simplistic/crisp graphic design; store designs that mimic the feel of their technology products.

TSG is not a company that just creates brands – we’re brand developers. Being brand developers means we take the time to fully understand a product, company or organization so we can create branding that helps consumers easily understand what an organization represents.

Our Brand Development Process

At TSG, we have a tried and true formula for developing a strong brand, and that process is outlined in more detail below:

The Starting Point for Branding – Research & Discovery
Before any strategic or creative work begins with a brand, our brand developers formulate a thorough understanding of a brand’s history, challenges, competition, opportunities, etc. We do this through meetings, focus groups, interviews, surveys and a variety of secondary research to see what consumers think about your brand today and how it is positioned relative to your competitors. 

At TSG, we know the most critically important thing to do when developing a brand is to listen to the target audience. Ultimately they are the group you’re trying to influence, so their perspective is of paramount importance—it’s even more important than the perspective or opinions of the brand manager. After all, the brand managers are not the ones buying the product or service!

That’s why, when we are in the Research & Discovery phase of the brand development process, we work hard to speak directly with members of the target audience—either through phone interviews, surveys, one-on-one interviews or even focus groups. And we have to remember, too, that a brand’s target audience can be divided into multiple groups. Some of these groups might include employees, current clients, prospective clients, investors, influencers, etc. We’ll consider each target audience group and develop a brand and messaging that is meaningful to each.

Strategic Brand Development
With the necessary research and knowledge intact, we can begin to develop a strategy for the brand. This usually involves a great deal of internal collaboration in order to put together a creative branding brief – a formal document that outlines the target audiences and their motivations, a brand’s unique selling proposition (USP), support for that position, tone and any other input that is critical for developing the brand.

Creative Brand Design & Development
With the creative brief in place, our team uses it as reference as they develop all of the elements that comprise the brand: logo, tagline, typography, color palette, messaging and content, graphic themes, etc.

Brand Implementation & Stewardship 
Our work doesn’t stop when a brand is established. We constantly work to ensure a brand is properly implemented throughout all marketing materials without compromising its integrity. As we create marketing plans and campaigns we always make sure that brand distinction and messaging stays consistent and true.

Let TSG Develop Your Brand 

At TSG, we’re experts at creating meaningful brands that include EVERY aspect of brand development, not just logos and graphics. We understand that for a brand to be effective, it needs to convey a message, and if you hire us for your brand development, we make a promise to understand your brand and communicate it in a way that will best reach your organization’s goals and objectives.

Our team of brand developers works with clients and businesses of all shapes and sizes. We’ve developed brands for startup companies on a budget as well as multi-million dollar large businesses. To us, the size of the company doesn’t matter—the brand development process is still exactly the same!

We also work on brands in all different industries. Our core focus has always been on automotive, healthcare, government, technology and retail brands, but that doesn’t mean we can’t work for a professional services business or a company in the entertainment or hospitality industry—we’d welcome a branding challenge in any industry.

Wondering whether we can do brand development for you? Chances are the answer is unequivocally yes, but please feel free to contact our brand developers at anytime!

For More on TSG and Brand Development
Want some more information on branding? Check out some relevant posts from our blog:

Branding’s Effect on Employee Retention & Recruitment
Branding Breast Cancer- Has Pink Gone Too Far?
Corporate Guidelines- A Brand’s Instruction Manual
TSG Designs Winning MoDevDC Logo
Be Branded, but Be Responsible

Or perhaps you’re interested in seeing some of our specific branding work and case studies? Check out the following links:

Branding A Government Sales Consultant (Winvale)
Branding A Manufacturing Product (SKYLouver)
Developing a Brand for a Government Agency (Millennium Challenge Corporation)
Developing a Brand for an Association (FASEB)- Coming Soon!
 

Phone 301.459.5445

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