Design services
Whether you are corporate blue chip, central or local government, a Non-governmental organisation (NGO), charity, high street store or niche boutique, your brand defines your relationship with your customers. Every time a customer comes into contact with your brand you have an opportunity to change that relationship for the better. DarkeJones works with brands to make that change a positive one.
DarkeJones believes that an effective brand strategy has to balance the need to make an instant connection with the needs of a longer relationship. And to be effective, your brand strategy needs to be convincing, focused and practical. The team have worked on every facet of brand expression - such as packaging, environments, advertising, catalogues, websites - and convincingly, they can work together in a balanced and sustainable way.
Advertising
If you sell services or products and want to increase your sales or grow your business then you need to build the right message and put it in front of the best audience - those most likely to use your business. Educate them with:
- Who you are
- What you do
- Why you do it
Simply, if they don't know these then you are unlikely to have their business.
Advertising strategy
Choosing the right advertising medium is an important part of building a successful advertising strategy.
Each media type will determine your budget, the customers you will reach and the awareness you will generate for your brand. Each has its own unique strengths and weaknesses that should be considered before it is selected as part of a campaign. Media platforms:
Online
Advertise where prospects are searching for or reading about your business. With the right people driving your campaign, it can be cost-effective to run year-round, and can drive an immediate response through clicks and phone calls.
Television
Television has an incredibly high prestige factor and is great for brand awareness or direct response. Television is a longer term platform, but users can see an exponential growth in response the longer they run.
Newspapers
Easily reach prospects with offers and promotions.
Outdoor advertising
An engaging image and message can be seen over and over by a captive audience.
Radio
Audience targeting may be less defined but a large numbers of listeners can be reached.
Direct mail
Highly targeted, right down to the individual.
Magazines
Can have high-impact with defined targeting. Your ad' can be seen repeatedly in the same magazine for months.
Often the most effective brands will use a selected mix of media to ensure they reach their ideal customers as many times as possible in as many places as possible, thus remaining memorable.
Figuring out the right mix of media is important and may take some time but there are techniques: we can survey your customers and learn about their habits to make sure you are using media that reaches the customer; testing is key, and a good rule of thumb is to try three types of media.
The right media and message will yield the most contact from the customer.
Brand guidelines
A clearly defined brand identity can be used to drive alignment at every point of customer; supplier, employee and investor touch points.
Brand guidelines should allow any stakeholder to efficiently obtain relevant instructions on how to apply the brand across any media whilst also inspiring and instilling belief in the brand and motivating people to embrace a shared vision.
Brand identity
A strong visual brand identity can create a meaningful point of differentiation for any company or organisation. We have experience of handling, complex projects ranging from the evolution of retails brands, to the creation, management and implementation of global branding campaigns.
Corporate and social responsibility (CSR) reporting
Amongst the many challenges facing businesses today is the need to build a good reputation that's based on more than the financial bottom line. Companies that can demonstrate attainment of ethical business standards that are well above statutory requirements will improve their standing externally and their self-belief internally. Recognition of this fact has given rise to the CSR report as a means of communicating the positive impact a business can have on customers, employees, shareholders, communities and the environment. This can be a particular advantage when dealing with regulators, activists and other Non Governmental Organisations (NGOs).
Our aim is to produce CSR communications for our clients that achieve immediate goals, enhance their reputation and improve performance. Our CSR strategy and communication projects have ranged from conventional CSR reports to web 'microsites' targeting priority stakeholders, using whatever media is appropriate for the specific task.
Whether you want a better understanding of issues around CSR, creative ideas for bringing it to life or help on implementing an existing CSR strategy, we can help.
Corporate literature
A great brochure can create a big impact, but it's important to consider all marketing collateral as a system, with all pieces linked together to cement the trust in the brand. If a customer receives a well-produced brochure one week and a shoddy one the next, then the brand is undermined. The best literature systems recognise the journey that customers undertake when deciding between products and services, making use of the brand to win customer appreciation and loyalty. We aim to make our clients' literature work for them and to enable the brand to build the trust that is vital to a beneficial relationship.
Editorial design
Whether it's a commercial or in-house magazine, newspaper or supplement, we have combined style, structure and readability with the pacing and dynamism of a consistent contemporary editorial to achieve goals such as:
- Develop and reinforce brand values and positioning
- Promote customer loyalty and retention
- Encourage measurable customer feedback and interaction
- Inform customers of product developments
- Communicate with staff internally
- Generate sales and sales leads
- Help build and maintain customer databases
- Provide customers with added-value benefits
Employee branding
An employer brand is another face of a corporate brand. The face your employees and prospective employees see.
A strong employer brand can serve as a tool to increase productivity by helping employees align with a shared set of values and views. It promotes and defines benchmarks for performance and encourages employees to take on leadership roles and share their ideas.
But perhaps the most compelling reason to consider developing an employer brand is this:
Your employees are your company's ambassadors, the front line that interacts with consumers and the general public. Why miss an opportunity to make them champions of your brand?
By drilling down to the core of your companies' personality, we will be able to uncover the heart of what drives your organisation.
This is the essence that does not change, whether you are targeting consumers, employees, shareholders, the media, or all of the above.
These are the insights we will use to craft messages that are meaningful to the people within your company - or to those considering joining it.
There's a big difference between a strategically grounded, compelling employer brand and a crate of unused coffee mugs with motivational slogans.
Exhibition design
Exhibition design is best treated as part of a holistic, integrated brand strategy. Only once you have established your overall objectives can you consider the role an exhibition might play in marketing what you have to offer.
We have developed and implemented exhibition strategies for a variety of clients across a range of sectors including such factors as ambient media, graphic and pop-ups stands, PowerPoint and multi-media presentations, literature, press packs, data capture and follow up digital campaigns.
Internal marketing
Your corporate brand is an internal asset.
It's important to be sure that the staff across the whole business understand their contribution in helping to build the brand. Key to delivering a consistent brand is understanding and managing stakeholder relationships. Our consulting skills and creative talents have contributed to the success of global clients in achieving this.
We can use several techniques to deliver the brand message: this might be using familiar internal communications channels or planning one-off events or launches.
Brand re-positioning is unlikely to happen overnight but, applied consistently, can start the ball rolling in changing the relationship within a company.
Packaging design
Successful brand packaging (structural and graphical design) strikes the balance between creating impact and relating effective information.
Our experience in brand packaging design ranges from Fast Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG) packs, through financial services and high-tech gizmos to pharmaceutical packaging.
Awareness of sustainable production and greater corporate responsibility has become part of consumer focus, striking an appropriate balance between ethics, practicality and affordability.
Whether we're providing one-off packages or developing entire systems of package design, we strive to deliver on all of these levels.
Retail environments
Where else do you see so many expressions of a retail brand in once place? Customers interact with your staff, your products, your promotions and even interactive tools. Ultimately, you want to create an emotional impact that differentiates your brand and is valued by the customer.
Branded stores are the ideal flagships for any retail brand. Combining 'inspirational brand showcase' with 'potent revenue generator' is our ultimate goal because the store exists to sell and we have made a habit of creating stores that sell more and perform better. We think our success lies in looking at things from the customer's perspective. That way we can focus on the messages to which they will be receptive and ensure that they are delivered at the right moment of the shopping experience.
Of course, this isn't just true of branded stores: we know you have to work even harder in-store where your brand is directly up against its competitors. Which is why we put just as much effort per square metre into in-store projects.
Shareholder communications
Companies face constant regulations surrounding financial, corporate social responsibility (CSR) and narrative reporting, expanding competition and increased delivery options to diverse audiences.
To deal effectively with these changes, clients rely on DarkeJones for our strategic insight and regulatory understanding; coupled with creative design skills, project planning and production management.
Here is a summary of what we do:
- Financial reporting
- CSR reporting
- Narrative reporting
- Online reporting