Top Tips on Rebranding & How We Found Our IdentiTEA

To mark the sixth year in the marketing agency game we decided to turn some of our best brains inwards, taking a cold hard look at our own brand. We all know that dishing out advice is the easy bit, taking it and applying it to yourself is a touch harder.

The Methodology

We first started by looking at our business objectives over the next 12 months to 3 year period. This helped us to identify where we are right now and where we wanted to end up. It was clear from this planning session what we needed our brand to do for us.

Going meta is definitely one way to approach it, slipping into the skins of our clients and potential clients new to the brand. We instantly saw how our projected goals no longer aligned with the brand. We knew the brand needed a refresh to showcase our character beyond “corporate”, “sensible”, ”reliable”. When we began this journey, we wanted to be seen as ‘corporate’ but now this was outdated and no longer aligned. Part of the challenge is deciding what to keep and what to throw out. Our internal brief was to pause and begin by exploring our reason why we exist? How are we making the world a better place? We are here to inspire brand culture for companies with purpose. We Blow Minds, Win Hearts and Inspire Change.

Defining the TEA Brand Values

We wanted to really cement what we stood for and capture the very essence of TEA, which could be understood by everyone who came in contact with the brand. Values are the corporate conscience through which performance and culture can thrive. These values guide how an organisation behaves, they help focus on what matters most and provide a strategy for dealing with challenges. And so these six fiery fledglings were hatched:

Curious: Incurably Curious

Always dreaming, thinking, learning, creating fresh ideas that resonate. We embrace technology and data that enables us to get closer to the consumer’s ‘truth’.

Crafted: Obsessed With Craft

Priding ourselves on execution and continually fine-tuning the art of creativity. We’re always on-point, great, not good.

Connected: Consciously Influential

We know how to connect brands and consumers to build wholesome relationships not flash in the pan flings.

Generous: BIG Generous Thinkers With Heart

We are visionaries who lead with big ideas, we see the bigger picture and actively contribute to our client’s business decisions.

Balanced: Wellness Incubators

We promote fun, belly laughs, and overall wellbeing at work and through the work we do. It’s a catalyst for positive change amongst us all.

Brave: We Walk Straight Into the Fire

We trust in our abilities, we have no desire to stay still or fear change. we want to be ahead of the curve or even better, leading it.

Tackling the P’s of Marketing – Product, Pricing, Positioning, People, Promotion, Process and Performance

We then took a look at how to position the TEA brand for success. We considered the 7 P’s that mean the most for us.

Product: Reviewing our current product mix, added some and took away others that we were no longer passionate about.

Pricing: Revising our pricing structure to reflect the financial goals that would allow us to grow sustainably.

People: Devising a plan for the target audience we wanted to reach and identified what our current client base wanted.

Positioning: Identifying where we wanted to be in the market place considering quality and price, whilst placing the brand at the front of conscious consumers and ethical businesses.

Process: Mapping how we could improve the business and what processes we would need to take the brand to the next level through automation.

Performance: Creating clear KPI’s to measure what a successful rebrand should look like.

Promotion: Last but not least, we created a full promotion plan for the rebrand to last for the entire 12 months that would reverberate for years to come

The Creative Workout – Down the Rabbit Hole

Once we had mapped out the P’s we then went down the rabbit hole for design. Design plays a vital role in the positioning of these P’s. The creative challenge laid heavy on the Creative Director’s mind. So many exciting ways to visualise the brand, how would it look on a t-shirt, collateral or plastered on the office walls? His approach went something like this. Drawing on a wealth of concepts we have been inspired by over the years from the past and into the present, to create an identity that is future-proofed. It can be broken down to represent the different facets of the business as we continue to grow.

The design began as a piece of art, Matt our Creative Director, put together different elements to create a canvas. It was iconic yet familiar, it was chaotic whilst being organised, it was a perfect balance of elements which we all loved. This was then segmented into smaller components.

We were keen to continue our yellow signature colour whilst pairing it with other bold tones like the pink, earthy greens and maroon to transcend trends and stand out as a bold brand for years to come. The trick is how to showcase an array of colours without losing an iconic colour palette. This signifies a chameleon nature that is interchangeable and in tune with its environment. Very much how we are as an agency, we move with the times, embrace change, without fear.

The new brand design shows fluidity with the shapes and provides movement, whilst being still and grounded in other areas. The shapes, geometric styles, and formats then evolved into us creating our own type of artwork, showcasing our fascination with variety and our creative flair. Using leaves and plants throughout is an overt nod to sustainability and protecting nature that both TEA and its clients are passionate about. Bland and indifferent we are not, our colour palette is playful, fun, modern and leaves people feeling a little curious…

Leaving you now with final thoughts to consider. A recognisable brand isn’t enough. It must align with a human truth and move with the times otherwise it can lose relevance. The continual challenge is about exceeding every rising customer expectation whilst being one step ahead.

Considering refreshing your brand? Lucky for you, The Everyday Agency offers companies an introductory review with their core creative TEAm, highlighting the steps that can lift your brand to the next level.