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Branding

Bringing your position and promise to life in a clear, meaningful, and memorable way.

The way you answer the phone. Your approach to correcting an error. The way you engage with and support your community. The steps you take to address or even anticipate your customers' needs... Your brand goes much deeper than your visual identity. It is the sum total of how your customers perceives you. (And, by the way, those "customers" include your employees, channel partners, shareholders, influencers, regulators, among others.)

Cowley can help you distill, define, articulate, and leverage the varied components that impact your brand - and supporting your business goals. Be they increased market share, deeper penetration of your customer base, geographic expansion, or countless others. At a high level, the steps we take are outlined below.
 

Step 1: Brand audit

Starting with the premise that you cannot influence a variable without first knowing that it exists, Cowley conducts a comprehensive brand audit. In simple terms, that means we work with you to identify the many ways you interact with the target audiences important to your success. (Let's call them 'touchpoints.') Noting that every business or organization is unique, the touchpoints for a fast-food chain might include:

  • brand ID (e.g., name, logo, slogan, corporate colors, sound trademark)
  • product (e.g., look, taste, naming, packaging)
  • facility (e.g., store design, external and internal signage, interior design)
  • myriad point-of-sale activities and communications (e.g., how your counter personnel behave, staff dress code, menu boards, order & POS technology)
  • digital presence (e.g., website, online ordering, mobile app, social media presence)
  • advertising (e.g., print, broadcast, sponsorships)
  • public relations (e.g., community support, sponsorships, events)
  • internal communications (e.g., onboarding, training, employee recognition)
  • among many others

By identifying and being intentional about these factors -- Cowley helps you move the needles that matter.
 

Step 2: Brand voice

Having indentified your brand touchpoints, we next help you develop your brand voice. (Think of this as the "DNA" that threads through and all across your touchpoints.) Most often, this means developing -- or if needed re-visiting and refining -- your logo, positioning tagline (aka: slogan), corporate colors, font choices, tone of the text and imagery in your communications program, and high-level articulation of your vision, mission, and key messages.
 

Step 3: Creative

Here's where the effort we put into your high-level audit and brand voice really come to fruition -- in the form of creative concepts for your corporate communications, sales support, channel communications, advertising, web presence, packaging, point-of-sale, and other critical contexts. In addition to being informed by the aforementioned preparatory work, our clients take comfort in the fact that Cowley creative benefits from four important guideposts:

  • Comprehensibility
    Are you being understood by the audiences important to your success?
  • Connection
    Are your messages crafted in a way that’s relevant and meaningful to your target?
  • Creativity
    Do your communications cut through the clutter? Are they compelling and memorable?
  • Consistency
    Are you being consistent across media, across your target audiences, and across the calendar?

We'll even show you how our creative concepts will be applied across key components of your communications spectrum in a unique-to-Cowley roadmap we call a 'brand tree.' (Ask us to see a sample!) Speaking of which, take a look at all the support we offer in the arena of MARKETING!

Client Work Samples

 
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Tell us about your company and what keeps you up at night. We’ll work with you to prioritize your marketing initiatives. We’ll keep your information confidential and respond within one business day. Thank you for considering Cowley Associates!

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