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Understanding Your Brand With Mike Villiers-Stuart
On this episode of Build Better Brands, Danielle Clarke is joined by Mike Villiers-Stuart, course director at Birmingham City University. He has worked in the creative industry for over 30 years running digital marketing and creative teams for global brands, including the BBC and ITV.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
- Familiarity is really, really important for brands. If I had to refine it down to one other word it would be ownership. Those are two very powerful words, and that kind of sums it all up really. Literally branding is ownership, right from branding cattle so it couldn’t be stolen. Fundamental mark making is super important, like the red tab on the back of your Levi’s 501s.
- When you’re looking after a brand, or starting one from scratch, it’s important to know where it’s come from. You’ve got to know what your product is and what its purpose is. Is there something special in the market or are you competing with lots of other brands? When you identify these things, you start to locate your brand amongst other brands where people are looking. You’ve got to position yourself in that competing market, so you have to find something to mark yourself out with which sets you apart as different.
- After you’ve found the core of your brand, you then need to ask who’s interested in it? Who’s going to buy it? Who’s going to invest in your brand and believe you? Once you’ve identified your target market, you’ll have a pretty good idea of who you’re trying to reach and convert. Now you’ve got a brand and an audience that you understand and the next trick is to find the shared values between the two – what have I got that they want – and in the middle is the zone where you’re doing it right.
- Designers say you’re taking away the creativity when you say you want to protect the integrity of a shape/logo. But, it’s not. Your job is to find ways to creatively articulate that message. It’s about preserving the integrity of the shape and being creative around it. So, again, you need to understand the product, the market and how the product differentiates itself from other products in the market, that’s where you find the creativity and make the difference.
BEST MOMENTS
‘What’s the secret ingredient that you’ve got that makes you stand out? That secret ingredient is frequently called your “unique sales proposition”. Once you’ve identified it, that’s the very core of your brand.’
‘Emotionally charged moments between a customer and a product make superb pieces of content for marketing campaigns because it celebrates the values of the brand at the very core of the brand and it celebrates what’s important to the user at the heart of their own experience.’
‘The iconic shape of the 2 for BBC 2 and you own that as a brand guardian, it’s a beautiful thing to work with. I work with that shape to protect the integrity of that shape.’
‘You don’t need to put badges on it, you don’t need to put wheels on it, you don’t need to turn it into anything that it isn’t, just go with the integrity of the shape (logo) because that’s what people recognise and buy in to, that’s the shorthand that everybody recognises without even having to read it, they see it and they know what it means.’
ABOUT THE GUEST
Mike Villiers-Stuart: I'm a university lecturer in the Birmingham Institute of Creative Arts where I work with talented colleagues in teaching bright, hard-working students of design, advertising and digital marketing communications.
This follows 30 years in broadcasting where I worked with gifted and fun teams of professional creatives at the BBC, ITV, Al Jazeera and many more international TV, media and advertising agencies around the world to deliver fab briefs, get results and win awards.
Now I'm standing on the shoulders of giants and sharing the view... with inspirational colleagues and students at Birmingham City University.
Email: [email protected]
PODCAST DESCRIPTION
The Build Better Brands podcast is to inspire small business owners and help them realise that they don't have to be Nike to have a great brand, and the sooner they start to focus on making it better, the sooner they can improve their lives and the lives of others.
On the show I’ll be talking to business owners that have built brands from the ground up. Branding is how you present your best self to your audience consistently. And if they can do it, so can you!
ABOUT THE HOST - DANIELLE CLARKE
Danielle Clarke is a Brand and Marketing Consultant, University Lecturer and Business Owner. She spends her time consulting and working with business owners to help them attract and retain their best customers.
WORK WITH DANIELLE TO HELP BUILD THE BRANDING AND MARKETING STRATEGIES YOUR BUSINESS NEEDS TO GROW: https://calendly.com/hello-danielle-clarke-creative/free-15-min-discovery-call
CONNECT WITH DANIELLE ON LINKEDIN: https://www.linkedin.com/in/danielle-clarke-creative-brand-designer-marketing-consultant
SUPPORT THE SHOW: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/danielleclarke
This show was brought to you by Progressive Media
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
View all episodes
By Danielle ClarkeOn this episode of Build Better Brands, Danielle Clarke is joined by Mike Villiers-Stuart, course director at Birmingham City University. He has worked in the creative industry for over 30 years running digital marketing and creative teams for global brands, including the BBC and ITV.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
- Familiarity is really, really important for brands. If I had to refine it down to one other word it would be ownership. Those are two very powerful words, and that kind of sums it all up really. Literally branding is ownership, right from branding cattle so it couldn’t be stolen. Fundamental mark making is super important, like the red tab on the back of your Levi’s 501s.
- When you’re looking after a brand, or starting one from scratch, it’s important to know where it’s come from. You’ve got to know what your product is and what its purpose is. Is there something special in the market or are you competing with lots of other brands? When you identify these things, you start to locate your brand amongst other brands where people are looking. You’ve got to position yourself in that competing market, so you have to find something to mark yourself out with which sets you apart as different.
- After you’ve found the core of your brand, you then need to ask who’s interested in it? Who’s going to buy it? Who’s going to invest in your brand and believe you? Once you’ve identified your target market, you’ll have a pretty good idea of who you’re trying to reach and convert. Now you’ve got a brand and an audience that you understand and the next trick is to find the shared values between the two – what have I got that they want – and in the middle is the zone where you’re doing it right.
- Designers say you’re taking away the creativity when you say you want to protect the integrity of a shape/logo. But, it’s not. Your job is to find ways to creatively articulate that message. It’s about preserving the integrity of the shape and being creative around it. So, again, you need to understand the product, the market and how the product differentiates itself from other products in the market, that’s where you find the creativity and make the difference.
BEST MOMENTS
‘What’s the secret ingredient that you’ve got that makes you stand out? That secret ingredient is frequently called your “unique sales proposition”. Once you’ve identified it, that’s the very core of your brand.’
‘Emotionally charged moments between a customer and a product make superb pieces of content for marketing campaigns because it celebrates the values of the brand at the very core of the brand and it celebrates what’s important to the user at the heart of their own experience.’
‘The iconic shape of the 2 for BBC 2 and you own that as a brand guardian, it’s a beautiful thing to work with. I work with that shape to protect the integrity of that shape.’
‘You don’t need to put badges on it, you don’t need to put wheels on it, you don’t need to turn it into anything that it isn’t, just go with the integrity of the shape (logo) because that’s what people recognise and buy in to, that’s the shorthand that everybody recognises without even having to read it, they see it and they know what it means.’
ABOUT THE GUEST
Mike Villiers-Stuart: I'm a university lecturer in the Birmingham Institute of Creative Arts where I work with talented colleagues in teaching bright, hard-working students of design, advertising and digital marketing communications.
This follows 30 years in broadcasting where I worked with gifted and fun teams of professional creatives at the BBC, ITV, Al Jazeera and many more international TV, media and advertising agencies around the world to deliver fab briefs, get results and win awards.
Now I'm standing on the shoulders of giants and sharing the view... with inspirational colleagues and students at Birmingham City University.
Email: [email protected]
PODCAST DESCRIPTION
The Build Better Brands podcast is to inspire small business owners and help them realise that they don't have to be Nike to have a great brand, and the sooner they start to focus on making it better, the sooner they can improve their lives and the lives of others.
On the show I’ll be talking to business owners that have built brands from the ground up. Branding is how you present your best self to your audience consistently. And if they can do it, so can you!
ABOUT THE HOST - DANIELLE CLARKE
Danielle Clarke is a Brand and Marketing Consultant, University Lecturer and Business Owner. She spends her time consulting and working with business owners to help them attract and retain their best customers.
WORK WITH DANIELLE TO HELP BUILD THE BRANDING AND MARKETING STRATEGIES YOUR BUSINESS NEEDS TO GROW: https://calendly.com/hello-danielle-clarke-creative/free-15-min-discovery-call
CONNECT WITH DANIELLE ON LINKEDIN: https://www.linkedin.com/in/danielle-clarke-creative-brand-designer-marketing-consultant
SUPPORT THE SHOW: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/danielleclarke
This show was brought to you by Progressive Media
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.