Brands need to be nurtured and developed. This can involve a refresh or a complete renewal. Knowledge & understanding that ensures that you never sacrifice any of the brands positive values in the pursuit of addressing its visual challenges. Anyone can create a new look, but unless the underlying challenges are identified and addressed, this cosmetic change will not achieve the strategic goals for the brand, and could very well do long term damage.

With NextBigThing a strong brand is cornerstone of all our services, it dictates how and what we do. If projects do not drive brand benefit then they shouldn’t be done.

For us, brand development encompasses any project that requires an existing brand to be carefully considered as part of the creative process, these projects can include:

All too often strong brands can be weakened by short-term tactical marketing unless carefully managed. Because we appreciate the fundamental building blocks of brands we can craft creative solutions that achieve tactical goals (such as promotions/product launches/seasonal offers) without diluting or compromising the underlying brand values. A suitable example is the work we carried out for Crabtree & Evelyn’s Spring Collection. A new brand was required that could evolve over a 12-week period that had instant impact but complimented and strengthened the parent brand, rather than compete with it.

Once created, brands are under development and need to be maintained and managed throughout their life. A great example of this is the work we did for Land Securities and their  investment in the traditional industrial town of Corby, where the requirement was to enhance the brand of the town as much as the development within it. The result, Corblimey!, was an reintroduction covering both Corby’s past and it’s future. NextBigThing successfully repositioned the regeneration and evolution of the town to both visitors and locals alike.

We are often approached to help clients articulate their brand values clearly through key offerings or services. An excellent example of this is work we did with McKinsey & Company and their key offering of Merger Management. The subject of Mergers and Acquisitions can be a complex and confusing subject where it is difficult to differentiate the services you offer from your competitors. Our approach, after careful research, focused on the theme of Journey that CEO and their company’s go on when embarking on a merger. This concept allowed for the key services to be tailored or introduced as required through a range of materials that most closely reflected the users needs.