“Brands are the essence of a business and a strong brand tells the story of a company or a product. What’s involved in the development of a brand and what are clients looking for?”

On February 7th I’m hosting a webinar with my friends from Creative Relay called: Branding Your Clients & Yourself.

What I’ve learned since graduating from art school is that, like most of my peers, I learned a lot of skills but had no idea how to apply them. I could design a logo or build a basic website, but I struggled with getting new clients and building working relationships that went longer than just a one-off project. The missing link for me was an understanding of branding. I wasn’t sure how to brand myself and I wasn’t thinking about long-term branding when I took to my client projects. The truth is, though, sometimes you don’t even know how much you know! As artists and designers, branding is something that comes naturally to us once we know what we’re looking for. After years of working with some of Boston’s best marketers and top ad agencies, I’ve learned a thing or two about what goes in to building great brands and I’m going to teach you how to tap into your inner brand planner. As they say on my favorite blog, PuttyLike, you know more thank you think.

Branding starts with a brand promise, a message that you can stand up to across all applications. For example, Apple owns Innovation – in their products, in their aesthetic, in their stores. But how do companies and ideas (or individuals like you and I) develop into a recognizable, respected brand? What makes a brand? I’ll teach you how I help clients uncover their brand promise by using research methods such as social listening, focus groups or surveys, and online databases. We’ll also explore ways to apply brand standards across multiple applications such as an identity system or product offering and I’ll share some basic tips for helping your brand stand out among the crowd on digital media. I’ll show you what my clients do and do not see during my creative process and some examples of what I actually deliver at the end of the project.

This is my first webinar and I am looking forward to sharing my experiences with you all. To reserve your seat visit the Creative Relay site and if you can’t join us on 2/7, tune in via Twitter – the hashtag for this webinar is #crbrand.

In the meantime, leave a comment if you have any questions and I’ll be sure to address them in my presentation!