Why You Should Keep Marketing During A Recession
The story of our long-awaited re-branding
We have under-gone a bit of a transformation in recent weeks, gradually morphing from ‘Boomerang Creative’ to Viva Digital™. I didn’t take the decision lightly to re-name and re-brand, but it was a move I felt I had to take to move the business forward. They say you should never change the name of your business unless you have really good reason to. I did had a good reason, I simply didn’t like the Boomerang name!
When I formed the business in 2009, I started getting clients pretty quickly. I had just left a long established position in the UK and had a good basis to start from, so projects came in thick and fast. I had to start invoicing jobs before I had a chance to even consider a business name, let alone a branding strategy. So in the space of a couple of hours, I came up with a name, designed a ‘temporary’ logo and invoiced my first clients. That ‘temporary’ logo remained for a further two years, neglected and a terrible advert for a design business. I just didn’t seem to have the time to commit to firming up the brand. A shoe mender leaves his shoes until last and all that.
At the start of 2012 I decided it was about time I got the brand sorted. Busy with other projects, I decided to dedicate every Saturday morning to developing a new brand and website. No matter how hard I worked on a new brand for Boomerang, logo after logo was consigned to the trash can. Something wasn’t right. I realised I didn’t actually like the name ‘Boomerang Creative’. It wasn’t cool, or edgey, it didn’t say anything about the direction I was going it. It was cliché. I had to drop it.
So I did what I should have done in 2009, I started to develop a brand. I do it every day for my clients, it was complete madness that I didn’t have a proper brand developed for my own business. Here are the factors I considered when I researched potential names and branding strategies:
- Firstly, is the name actually available? Can I register the name as a business in Australia and is there a suitable domain name?
- Did the name have a brand impact? Was it memorable and unique?
- Was the name timeless and not TOO trendy?
- Here are some names that came runner up; Design Gurus, Cartel Digital, Creative Media, Modo Design
So why Viva Digital?
The first part of the name is loosely based on the French word ‘vive’ which means ‘Long Live!’….so ‘Long Live Digital!’. As the whole world is going ‘digital’ in one way or another, I thought it was important that the word ‘digital’ was in there. It quickly illustrates what we do. I think the name has a certain edge to it, it’s memorable, short and easy to spell. It is everything my old name wasn’t. Above all it is a name that I like, a name I am confident with. It is actually surprisingly difficult to choose a name that hasn’t already been registered a business, or a name that has a suitable domain name available. You can spend months, even years researching names and coming up with strategies. Sometimes you just have to go with your gut instinct.
Developing a brand
So I was clear that Viva Digital was the name to run with. I had already started shaping the brand in my heads, you do this as you go through possible names. I wanted a brand that conveyed:
- Strength
- Experience
- Reliability
- Creativity
- Innovation
As well as the above, the brand had to be timeless, not trendy. I wanted the brand to look revolutionary, to suggest innovation. After several weeks of going over concepts and letting my thoughts mature, I came up with the idea of including a simple star icon in the logo. The star is an iconic symbol of revolution and success; think of Cuba and the USSR, the stars and stripes of the American flag, the stars on the Australian and Kiwi flags. The most powerful nation on Earth at the moment, China. They all use the star as a symbol of strength and unity.
Next up, the colour palette. Any logo and brand should ideally use two colours, colours that contrast and compliment each other, in a visual way and psychologically. I researched the effect certain colours have on the human mind, which helped me go for red and black. Red says passion, creativity and intensity. Black says professional, clean and simple (it has other meanings too, which we’ll ignore for this purpose!).
Logo design
After some initial sketching, I moved over to Adobe Illustrator (see the above screenshot). A note for any young graphic designer; you should ALWAYS design a logo using Adobe Illustrator or a similar vector based tool. Using Photoshop will produce a logo that is raster and won’t be suitable for a variety of larger media, such as signage and vehicle graphics. Using vector-based software will produce a logo that can be scaled up to any size without loss of quality. Some key points to consider when developing a logo:
- This may sound obvious, but make sure that the font you use is clearly readable, up close on a business card, or on the side of a vehicle.
- Consider how the logo looks in black and white, it may be seen on cost effective mono printing or a fax.
- Use unique fonts. Using a typeface that is freely available to every designer will give you a logo that doesn’t stand out.
- Follow the 5 rules of logo design and you won’t go far wrong, your logo should be;
Simple, Memorable, Timeless, Versatile and Appropriate.
Consistency
Your brand will never be fully developed, it is a something that continuously grows and adapts with time. That said, it is very important to establish a brand that is consistent, ensuring your logo is used correctly throughout all online and printed materials, making sure that your correct Pantone colours are used and your chosen header and body typefaces are utilised. A branding guide ensures that your brand remains consistent and there is no loss in the brand identity you have worked hard to build up.
Now over to you
Are you in the process of starting a new business? Perhaps you haven’t refreshed your branding since ‘the son of a friend’ designed a logo for you in 1998. Where ever you are with your brand, I’d love to help you establish an effective brand that leads to increased awareness and more money in your bank.
Call me direct on 0405 055 623 or drop me an email to say hi.
About the author
PAUL SMITH - For over 20 years I have worked with businesses, enterprises and brands in Australia, NZ, UK and US to drive digital marketing growth using organic and paid traffic strategies. No fluff or BS, just straight-forward return on investment.
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