Brand implementation strategy should be integrated into all stages of the rebrand process, Tony Lorenz says

If I had a pound for every time a senior brand agency creative said “That’s my logo on that truck” or “I rebranded XYZ inc.,” I’d be considerably better off.

What’s wrong with that you may ask? Well here’s the thing, ask the creative in question how the logo came to be applied to the truck and they will probably reply something along the lines of “I think it was the client, in-house team. We just took the brand to guidelines with some indicative applications.”

So to get this completely straight: the creative director and his or her team at ABC Brand Consultants ‘created’ the brand logo but didn’t go any further than that. You see, the point I’m making is this: within the total brand development process, the design (while unquestionably vital) is but one element; it’s only in its physical experience, in terms of the things people see, feel and touch that a brand emotionally connects with its audience. To be more precise, good design is only deemed good because of the impact it creates in the market.

So much of what is referred to as branding is concentrated within the front end creation – the thinking and design of the brand – yet the application and physical realisation, in terms of touch points across the customer journey, is too often ill-defined and quite literally left to chance.During 16 years of working in highly regarded branding agencies, I can honestly say most branding programmes and their process went something like this: Strategy – Concept – Development – Production/Guidelines – Implementation: TBC.

There was little, if any, upfront planning for the rollout of the new brand and no real insight of where the brand in execution could create impact. In virtually all cases, the first consideration of this was during the ‘lead in’ to the development of guidelines. This is why we see so many brands fail to live up to their promise when they come to life in the real world.

Many organisations perceive that once the strategy and concept phase has been completed, they have gone some way to rebranding. But this is not the case. In fact it is just the start. It’s a little known fact that for every pound or dollar spent on design, 20 times more should be invested on the implementation. So knowing how the brand will be rolled out and where the optimum impact can be achieved, and from which brand assets, is an invaluable thing.

This is why before a brand change even begins, organisations should undertake an audit of their visual, organisational and financial dynamics to help them determine exactly how much a brand change would cost and enable them to assess their internal capabilities to successfully orchestrate a project of this nature. An audit will help them to identify exactly where the best impact can be realised from what touch points (prioritising ‘quick wins’ and creating detailed asset lists) and it will help to determine how best a brand should be rolled out around the world. Ultimately, it enables the organisation to put in place an implementation masterplan to successfully guide it through all the complexities of brand rollout.

With an implementation plan in place across the whole rebranding journey, organisations can then allocate their investment and resources with confidence across all brand creation, launch and implementation phases. What’s more, it ensures the CEO and CFO won’t get any nasty shocks later down the line