Rebranding An Advertising Agency
By Amy Phillips, Creative Director
When I joined PeakBiety branding + advertising, about 3.5 years ago, it was as if the agency adopted me into a family (and I had adopted an agency). My new digs had a different name on the door and a foreign brand identity everywhere. An identity I had not been involved in creating. It was like wearing someone else’s shoes that didn’t quite fit but I began to get used to them. Or so I thought…
During my first month on the job, a project was opened for a “New Agency Brochure.” What started out as a straightforward concept involving optical illusions and “The Power of Perception,” evolved into much more than a mere brochure. You know the concept is on target when the title of the brochure begins to be considered as a new brand promise.
By the time the creative group had the collective epiphany that we were looking at much more than a new agency brochure, senior management saw the writing on the wall. Literally, the creative team started plastering the walls of the agency with our new iconography and colorful identity. New logo, brand promise, letterhead package, signage, website—you name it—it followed. And the evolution and extension was quite natural as it usually is when the “big idea” is so strategic.
Normally, it’s not easy for an advertising agency to rebrand itself. Brand building for a company, particularly an advertising agency, is an incredibly arduous task even with an in-house design team. Not only is finding time to work on it a problem—when we are busy with paying clients—but feeling satisfied with the work is another. Why do the cobbler’s children have no shoes? Because working on your own stuff can be paralyzing. The self-conscious process is more than intimidating. The work not only needs to be effective at capturing the essence of our company. It needs to be a model of the best of the best. We hold our own branding up as an example of the quality and attention to detail our clients should and could give to their own brands.
The story here is about how branding, or rebranding, can be a journey over time. What starts out as a simple idea gets sharpened, fine-tuned, polished and extended. It becomes embraced and loved by those who have created it and stand by it. More important, it can convey what an entire company stands for. It’s the essence of collaboration and the fruition of consensus. Then, when the right style and design are applied, it sings loud and clear.
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