Yesterday I attended the Professional Beauty London. It’s an annual show where professionals within the health & beauty industry meet, exhibit and go to specialist talks on the latest trends within the industry for the year. Working for an agency who are specialists within health & beauty, I felt it was important for me to go along. Not only to network, but to make sure my clients are getting the most up to date information from me.
I was in beauty heaven. Various brands with stands for skincare, make-up, and hair (oh my!). So much to see, and so many different companies to talk to! But I have to say I was a little disappointed by one thing. One pretty big thing.
The lack of individuality and design from all the different brands. It was a sea of black and white – which is very trendy and fashionable sure, but how can they differentiate themselves from their competitors?
From a marketing strategy and design point of view, I was in disbelief. This was the event to showcase themselves to their peers and the majority left a lot to be desired.
Consumers make their minds up about you and your brand in no more than a few moments. Your brand needs to speak through your design and the way you present your company. You could have the best product in the world, but if your brand evokes memories of a market stall trader, you’re less than likely to get that market share you need to grow.
Don’t get me wrong, the brands at the event were phenomenal. OPI, Elemis, HD Brows, Guinot, IIAA, and St Tropez to name a few – all of these brands did it right. Beautiful branding, wonderful design, well laid out stands, and helpful staff in clearly branded uniform. They stood out from the crowd, they were not just noticeable - they were memorable.
But some of the other stands. Well, the other stands just blurred into one. A mass coating of high gloss where each stand blended in to the next. Where was their brand? Their design? Their company ethos? The lack of branding and design made me unsure of who they were and how good they were. I had no trust in them and no desire to find out about them or their products.
We live in such a visual world now that I find it shocking that people still don’t get how important branding and design is.
You want your design and brand to have punch, you need to! Especially in a super competitive market like this where there are so many brands selling such similar products for similar prices. In this type of market, your brand and your design - that’s your USP.
At events like this, or any time anyone is coming into contact with your brand, they should immediately be able to ‘get’ who you are. Are you trendy? Young? Mature? Professional? All elements of your brand such as your flyers, mail outs, website, emails, product packaging, staff etc - everything says who you are.
Design is so often over looked, and some people still think brand is nothing more than a logo, but it really is so much more. It’s the difference between success and failure.
It’s one of the main reasons we hold it to such a high standard here at Pull. It’s our starting point for every piece of work we do, because without working on your brand and your design, well, you’re just like everyone else.
Posted 1 March 2016 by