When the makers of a line of fashion-forward women's rain coats came to us for branding help, we were flattered and excited to be a part of it.
As is the case with so many clients, this one couldn't wait to get going, and so branding became a consideration that came after many creative decisions had already been made -- decisions that should have been made seeing each one as an opportunity to express the brand essence.
As it so often happens, these decisions were made prior to undertaking a deep understanding of the brand and what it should stand for; and while that's never ideal, it's also never a cause for despair. If the brand essence identified is strong enough, it can shine its light on all prior creative decisions. (Naturally we prefer putting the horse of branding in front of the cart of brand expression, even though we don't always get to work that way.)
In this case, the client had already decided on a name, a logo, and a tag line. Though none of them really expressed what we later came to understand as the brand essence, none of them were bad at all. They also already had a website up and running.
The name and the logo:
We brought a good category insight to the job:
And used it to set up their positioning:
And their brand essence:
We created a mood board to show the kinds of imagery that we felt best expressed the brand:
We wrote a swell brand manifesto:
And gently inserted a tag line that expressed the brand essence:
Each of their coats is named after one of the women in their company; we wrote some product descriptions that showed how even the simplest copy could be worked to express the brand essence:
And we even re-wrote their "about us" page.
That's the She Reigns story at Woodstock Organic Concepts. The company has since put all their operations on hold as they re-tool and re-assess, but it's been great fun working with them and we're proud of the work we did. We look forward to helping them out in the future, no matter where their path leads . . .
