Branding is often associated with businesses, but its principles are just as vital in educational settings. A school’s interior branding goes beyond mere aesthetics; it plays a crucial role in shaping the culture, identity, and overall experience of students, staff, and visitors. When thoughtfully executed, school branding can transform the physical space into a powerful tool that enhances learning, fosters community, and leaves a lasting impression.

1.)  Defining the School’s Identity

Before embarking on an interior branding project, it’s essential to define the school’s core identity. What are the values, mission, and vision that the school stands for? This foundational step ensures that the branding reflects the unique personality and goals of the institution. Whether the school prides itself on academic excellence, creativity, diversity, or community engagement, these attributes should be prominently displayed throughout the interior design.

2.) Incorporating School Colors and Logo

One of the most straightforward ways to reinforce the school’s brand is through the consistent use of school colors and logos. These elements should be thoughtfully integrated into the interior design—from wall paint and flooring to furniture and signage. When students and staff see these familiar colors and symbols, it creates a sense of unity and pride, reminding everyone of their shared identity.

Hallways and Common Areas: Paint walls in school colors, use logo decals, or incorporate the emblem in floor designs. Common areas like the cafeteria or library can feature large-scale murals or banners that highlight the school’s achievements, mascot, or motto.

Classrooms: Each classroom can have subtle nods to the school’s branding with color-coordinated furniture, bulletin boards, and storage units. This not only reinforces the brand but also creates a cohesive look throughout the school.

3.) Highlighting Achievements and History

Showcasing the school’s history, achievements, and notable alumni is a powerful way to build pride and inspiration. This can be done through dedicated display areas or “hall of fame” walls where trophies, awards, and significant milestones are prominently featured. Incorporating stories of successful graduates or notable events in the school’s history can motivate current students by showing them what’s possible.

Interactive Displays: Consider using digital screens to create interactive timelines or photo galleries that allow students and visitors to engage with the school’s history. This modern touch adds a dynamic element to the branding, making it more engaging.

4.)  Creating Inspirational Spaces

A well-branded school interior should include spaces that inspire creativity, collaboration, and learning. These can be special zones or themed areas that align with the school’s values and educational goals.

Creative Corners: Designate areas in the school where students can explore their creativity. This could be an art wall where students’ work is displayed or a reading nook with cozy, branded seating. The design of these spaces should reflect the school’s commitment to fostering imagination and innovation.

Collaborative Zones: Create open areas where students can work together on projects. Use branded furniture and design elements that encourage teamwork and communication. These spaces can serve as physical manifestations of the school’s emphasis on collaboration and community.

5.) Emphasizing Well-being and Inclusivity

Branding should also reflect the school’s commitment to the well-being and inclusivity of its students. The interior design can promote a welcoming atmosphere where everyone feels valued and supported.

Well-being Zones: Design spaces that focus on mental and physical health, such as quiet rooms for relaxation or wellness corners with plants and natural light. The branding here should emphasize calmness and support, perhaps using softer versions of the school colors or inspirational quotes that align with the school’s values.

Inclusive Design: Ensure that the interior branding is inclusive and accessible to all students. This includes considering the needs of students with disabilities in the design of spaces and making sure that the school’s branding promotes diversity and acceptance.

6.) Keeping the Environment Dynamic and Flexible

A school’s interior should not be static; it needs to evolve with the changing needs of students and staff. Incorporate flexible design elements that allow the space to adapt and grow while maintaining brand consistency.

Modular Furniture: Use modular furniture that can be easily rearranged to accommodate different activities or learning styles. This flexibility ensures that the branding can remain relevant even as the school’s needs change.

Seasonal Updates: Refresh the branding elements seasonally or during significant school events. This could be as simple as changing the artwork on display or updating the messaging in common areas to reflect current school themes or goals.

Branding a school’s interior is more than just decoration—it’s about creating an environment that embodies the school’s identity, inspires students, and fosters a sense of belonging. By thoughtfully integrating branding into the design of the school’s interior, educators can create a space that not only supports learning but also builds a strong, unified community. In doing so, the school becomes not just a place of education, but a place where students can truly thrive.

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Junior Achievement of Central Upstate New York “is a nonprofit that inspires and prepares young people for success”. Junior Achievement has over 100 locations across the nation, all dedicated to the future of young people. They provide knowledge, skills, and support to help young citizens in their local areas learn to plan for a successful economic and academic future. The image to the right is an original concept design rendered by SWBR Architects, who designed the space.

Our Involvement

Apogee has had the privilege of working with Junior Achievement since 2018 when our President, Mark Taylor, took a trip to Atlanta to see what a local Discovery Center was doing for the youth of that area and what it could do for the youth of ours. Over the 7 years since then, Apogee has worked closely with local JA employees to help make the Paychex Discovery Center come to life. We have been involved from the early stages of construction all the way through to the ribbon cutting this past February.

The Paychex Discovery Center as of June 2023

Our team has been involved in several components of the building of the Discovery Center. Our designers were able to help with the design for 13 storefronts as well as the design for many of the branding seen throughout the centers’ entrance and main “lobby”. Our project managers helped these companies build and design their storefronts alongside our workshop team who helped turn the design into reality by installing the graphics and other elements.

Our Custom Shop worked on bringing immersive experience to life inside storefronts as well as fabricating custom and unique design components for each of the 13 sponsors. They constructed realistic signs for the storefronts in an effort to help bring authenticity to each workplace, store, or company a student might be visiting.

“Each employer was tasked with showcasing their brand, mission, values and careers to the next generation on four walls of a 250-500 sf “warm white shell”. Their designs needed to be engaging, creative, informative, flexible and durable. Apogee truly rose to the occasion for our partners, many of whom had not visited other Centers, and had only understood the concept through the pages of a power point presentation.”

Patricia Leva-President and CEO Junior Achievement of Central Upstate NY

We were able to work with each individual store front to ensure that their specific needs would be met. Ensuring that their brand would be portrayed in a way that felt meaningful to them and for the kids that would be immersing themselves into the environment. We are grateful to have learned so much about our brands during the construction of the center. Knowing that they care about the financial and economic literacy of future generations as much as we do was the cherry on top!

Our work included:

• 13 Storefronts
• Over 3,000 Square foot of printed fabric
• Over 8,000 square feet of printed wallpaper
• 3-D Signs
• Custom millwork
• Custom games and fixtures

Results

Throughout the many phases of construction, from conception to execution and beyond, we have been thrilled to be involved in such a meaningful process and look forward to continuing work on any new donor storefronts in the future. The Paychex Junior Achievement Discovery Center of Central Upstate New York has fulfilled us in ways we never imagined. We cannot thank everyone at JA enough for choosing us to assist in the creation of the Paychex Discovery Center. We hope to see many current and future generations benefit from the resources, education, and commitment Junior Achievement brings to the Greater Rochester community.

“I am so proud of our partnership and am convinced that this would not be the first-class project it is without Apogee’s involvement. Their collaborative spirit, entrepreneurial mindset, creativity, commitment to excellence and unwavering generosity, were critical components to opening the first Center of its kind in New York State.”

Patricia Leva, President and CEO Junior Achievement of Central Upstate New York

You can view more of our Interior Environments work at our portfolio here. Additionally our e-book about Branded Environments may provide some useful insights into why branding your interior spaces is so important.

Full image gallery of the space

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How do you want your customers (and your team) to feel when they enter your corporate spaces? One of the important things about your brand is that it is supposed to deliver an emotional conveyance of your promise. When you look at iconic brands how do they make you feel? Disney? Doesn’t that brand and logo emote a child-like sense of wonder? Of course it does, and that’s by design. Nike connects their users with their brand through inspiration and leadership. Your brand and your spaces can help communicate your brand promise as well.  You don’t have to be Disney, Nike or Starbucks to create the same feeling about your brand.

Branding is a pivotal element of your business. Your brand and it’s promise should be visible everywhere, especially in your corporate facilities where visitors and staff will gather. Branded interior design is a critical tool to enforce and strengthen your business, re-enforcing your customer bond, and improve the overall experience. A company’s brand communicates what makes them and their promise unique. A strong interior branding strategy helps them stand out against competition but it also re-enforces almost constantly the critical elements of their brand and why those pillars are important. Consider Starbucks. You may or may not like their coffee, as there are many companies who also sell coffee – yet no one can compare to Starbucks and how they deliver a brand experience. Since its founding days, in the early 1990’s Starbucks has strived to build its brand identity by offering customers a relaxing and enjoyable experience. From the beginning, the experiential aspect of the brand has been consistently and effectively implemented in all Starbucks stores across the globe. Each location is unique and shares attributes about the locality it serves. This is by design and it’s genius.

Next, think about the spaces and how traffic moves through them.  Is your brand re-enforced in common gathering areas?  These are area’s such as common meeting/conference rooms, break rooms, and other areas that people may spend more time.  Maximize messaging in these spaces.  The more time visitors spend in a space, the more targeted messaging.  You’ll want to note what spaces are most inspiring and impactful (key for branding!) and which are less so (or maybe more calming and quiet). When the tour starts to taper off because you may have reached an area of desks and workstations, then you can mark that as well as a good place for specific team messaging to go.

What are the messages from your brand promise that you want to showcase in your facilities?

Brand pillars are the promises that your brand delivers on every single day; culturally, physically and emotionally. These brand pillars not only describe your culture, but they can also help steer the art direction of your mood boards (more on those later). The entire brand foundation relies on these pillars to be steadfast through the lifetime of the brand. For example, is your business clean, minimal and modern or is it fun, colorful and energetic? You can already see these adjectives immediately brought about two completely different pictures in your mind.  Your branded environment should reflect these brand pillars throughout your organizations facilities.

Determine where messages should go and how they should be designed. Depending on the style of each space, the message should try and match in the way it’s designed and produced. Start with the higher priority pieces first and then layer in the mid-tier and lower priority ones, so you know you’ll find a home for the most important elements first.  Remember who will be frequenting these spaces and adapt your message to your audience.  If you have customers, prospects, and non-employee visitors the message should be a re-enforcement of your brands pillars or promises.

Loud, brand-centric communication should go in those high traffic areas like the entryway and collision zones, as those are where branding matters most. Quieter internal company mantras can live in more calming rooms and spaces. Team specific messaging can be more utilitarian, like on a TV screen near a pillar or central wall right next to or amidst a team, especially as it may need to communicate important day to day information.

Setup your Mood Board.

A mood board is a collection of images, words, fonts, and colors that, as a collection, are meant to evoke a feeling about your brand. Creating an interior space mood board will help better understand, gain cohesion and communicate your brand. You can then use this board to help you decide furniture choices, an accent wall, and lighting fixtures that are in line with your brand when you start exploring design options.  Your organizational brand style guide or brand guidelines should be employed and followed here.

Much like traditional marketing, it can also be helpful to incorporate experiential office design for certain spaces or common areas to really drive home a special feeling with which visitors can actually interact. Some bigger brands will have museum or gallery elements in their lobby and reception areas, as an example.  History timelines can be an important element in an organizations common areas as well.  Consider this element in an area with passers-by instead of common areas where meeting or collaboration may be happening.  Make good use of seldom used spaces and walls to communicate a message.  These can go a long way in helping provide a consistent brand image in your facilities.

As you map things out with your team and agency, do a physical walk-through of the open office space, passing by each area, to really get an idea of the look and feel you want to communicate. Focus on each individual thing and then how the branding all ties together and what the final takeaway is. Bring colleagues on a walk through who have a good handle on the brand and aren’t afraid to share their opinions. Consider bringing in an outside agency to provide feedback as well.  Try design ideas out on team mates to see how new visitors would react to the space .If you do it right, your office design will inspire employees to stay with and advocate for the company longer, work more creatively, and increase their measure of satisfaction with being a valuable part of your team.

For more resources about branding your facilities, check out our E-book: 

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The First Impression: For visitors and staff alike

The first brand impression your visitors and employees receive is when they walk through the door of your building.  For visitors it’s the reception or welcome area.  For your staff, it’s wherever they first enter the building when they come to work.  Both of these areas need to quickly and efficiently communicate your brand promise, or your value statement.  Your logo installed behind reception or on a main wall doesn’t sufficiently do it.  Is there a message being communicated?  Is there ample lighting, warm welcoming color tones, and messaging that delivers the information your visitor should have as they enter?

For an Employee entrance, does your area welcome your staff for their work day in a productive fashion?  Are there things you need to effectively communicate to your staff as they enter?  Are they readable in large format?  A bulletin board with notices on it rarely gets any notice at all.  Consider electronic digital signage monitors or kiosks that can communicate a message and be updated in real time.  Be sure you are re-enforcing your organizations culture and values statement.  Repeating these in your facilities can be beneficial.

The building and processes as a showroom

Some organizations focus on the benefits of their processes and integrated manufacturing.  These organizations can showcase their manufacturing capabilities by making their facility a showroom that allows them to highlight processes or equipment.  Demo rooms, product showcase areas, and even overhead facility signage in large manufacturing areas can help here.  A historical timeline wall can show a process from incubation to current day capabilities.  Consider a history timeline to showcase major innovations and product launches to tell a story.

Temporary or Permanent Design elements?

Many elements of a brand can be “baked in” to the facility if it was built specifically for that organization.  Some elements can be designed in afterwards, and even more elements can be made to be modular so they can move or evolve to fit an organizations plans.

Balancing permanence and flexibility in brand expression is key as we create spaces that are meant to last for many years. When mapping a brand identity to a physical space, we must determine the unchangeable pieces, such as those aspects reflecting core principles, as opposed to the adaptable components, such as graphic elements or wall finishes. This careful balance enables the brand to remain fresh and relevant throughout its life.

Are all the players involved?

A key factor in planning and implementing a strong branded environment is getting all the players on the same page and charting a course for what your branded interior should look like and more importantly communicate.

When determining how to brand the physical workplace, the first discussion between the organization and the design team needs to center on understanding the principles by which that organization works and lives. These principles will be used to guide how team members, clients and visitors experience the space and create the springboard for all aspects of design.

The success of integrating brand with interior environment lies in the early stages of design: discovery, information gathering, and implementation. Each space should tell a story, and the design team has a unique opportunity to mold the user experience in three dimensions. Successful environments are created when these teams are able to align a brand’s touch points with a matching quality of space.

Marketing often takes the lead on their company’s branded environment initiatives, as brand is seen as a responsibility of marketing. And yet, marketing is not always the lead, and even when they are, direction and collaboration need to have input from facilities management folks, engineering, and product marketing to ensure all aspects of construction can be accounted for.

Here are several other common scenarios:

• Facilities is intimately familiar with electric and HVAC mapping so that newly constructed elements don’t interfere with sprinklers for example.
• Facilities can also work with the design agency on material choices to match what’s in the building, as well as structural elements to be aware of that may interfere with installation.
• If there is an architectural design firm engaged they work with facilities and Marketing to ensure all brand colors and materials are consistent.
• The branded environment is sometimes focused to support only one or two departments, such as sales and marketing (Reception Areas, lobby and break room wall graphics) engineering and product marketing (Effective product display areas) or human resources (recruiting meeting room), so those departments need to have input.
• Product Marketing pros will have in put on how best to exhibit a product centric showcase, and how the product demos will work if they are being performed in the space.

Consider large-format art and signage

Every blank space in your facility is an open canvas for which to communicate your brand promise, dramatically in a large format manner.

Consider these following areas to create big bold graphics to help tell your story:

• Elevator doors
• Conference rooms
• Common break areas
• Employee entrances
• Parking Garages
• Exterior building walls

 Are all the players involved?

It is easy to overlook the importance of branding internally as well as externally as we mentioned above.  However incorporating a brand language in innovative and strategic ways is highly effective in impacting employee wellbeing. Having all stake holders involved in planning and execution is key.  For example, consistent brand thinking through material choices, thoughtful moments, and one-of-a-kind experiences cultivate a sense of surprise and resonate with one’s values and mission (they do hear me, mean what they say, etc.). This can result in a deeper staff engagement and connection to a company’s brand.  Successfully branded environments can express the values and the character of a brand through a unique and sensory combination of materiality, light, color, shape, programming, art, graphic design, and more.

To get started on your next project, contact Apogee today.

The post Branding Your Office: Elements and approaches to enhance your brand appeared first on Apogee Exhibits.

Brand Elements used strategically in your buildings

Your brand consists of elements that include a logo, a key visual design direction, colors, deliverables, and more.

Typically, businesses use a combination of these items in various formats to market their physical products and services. Most companies consider their brand letterhead, website, brochures and give away items, vehicles, etc. However, one very often overlooked area of branding that can have an intense impact on your customers is your interior space, better known as environmental branding.

Just as you can brand physical or visual things, you can also brand your space and create an experience for customers.  Branded Environments are an often overlooked, but useful element in a facility that can help keep your brand and it’s promise relevant.

A “halo lit” 3-D logo used here in a clients facility highlights their corporate colors as well as their logo

Creating “Mini-experiences” within your facilities

Your facility gives you many options to create a brand experience for visitors, or re-enforce your mission, vision, and brand promise to your team that comes to work each day.

If you have a solid brand direction in place, you have the ability to design with multiple brand assets. A strong brand direction can, and should, extend into your spaces. So, whether you’re a corporate office, a manufacturing floor, or a cool restaurant with a branded vibe; clients, customers, and employees should experience your brand through interior design and well-planned experiences anywhere they meet, walk, or sit in your buildings.

Branding your space gives you more opportunities to connect with your customers. Mini-experiences allow this to happen at multiple levels. In turn, this creates a deeper connection from the customer to the brand.

Your facility can be your “Tour guide”

A properly branded facility with planned-out stops to educate visitors can also help communicate your brand promise and highlight what you do.  For example an interactive display that can be accessed while someone is viewing your manufacturing area may be an effective way for a “self-guided” tour.

This large touchscreen wall allows visitors to see functions done in each area of this organizations campus. Product videos and image galleries also allow them to learn more through this interaction.

Other areas with large viewable walls can be converted into graphic murals that showcase or re-enforce your brand and or your product offerings.  These large graphic elements can quickly convert your bland spaces into billboards that highlight your organization’s strengths.

Client Hospitality area before/after

Also, consider the relationship every area has with every other space. Seamless transitions keep the customer engaged as they journey throughout your space. This is a key factor in creating a brand that is not disjointed in the eyes of your customer.  In a recent project Apogee was able to help IEC Electronics brand their new state-of-the-art manufacturing facility to highlight their capabilities.  This ongoing project will transform their facilities in two locations into “experience centers” so prospective clients can easily learn about their core competencies and manufacturing capabilities.  Take a virtual tour and learn more about this project here:  https://apogeeexhibits.com/portfolio/corporate-interior-design/

For more insights, check out our E-book “Express your brand the moment they walk in the door” we explore even more effective ways to highlight your corporate branding in your facilities.  Get in touch if you’d like a free consultation.

Express Your Brand From the Moment They Walk in the Door

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Sanitizer stands:
Stand or wall mounted, branded hand sanitizer stands can be placed in multiple locations and include customizable messaging that reflects your brand’s personality while conveying important health information. Depending on your needs, mobile and weatherproof handwashing kiosks can be installed for both indoor and outdoor uses if you need more than sanitizing stands.

Signage:
Removable floor and wall graphics for social distancing guidelines, traffic flow control, and wayfinding are perhaps the easiest way to welcome people into your space through messaging that matches your offering and brand voice. A mixture of imagery, word choices, and colors will convey your brand and important health messages everywhere your visitors look.

Office safety dividers:
Reconfiguring existing spaces and adding dividers as needed is much easier and economical than costly remodels. Consider custom branding for employee’s spaces to help them personalize and help visitors identify with whom they’re interacting.

To find out how to deploy these solutions in your business give us a call at 315.986.4600. You can also learn more about how to tell your company’s story with a Branded Environment or Maximize Exhibit Opportunities in a Socially Distanced World.

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It’s definitely not a “one size fits all” type of process!

Defining the branded environments project goals and scope

Many times our clients are not able to tell us their budget at our initial meeting. And not because the client is hiding the budget – it’s because the client truly doesn’t know yet how much to spend or what to include in the project.

Defining the project is usually an iterative process. In our first meetings there is a lot of discovery of goals, desired outcomes, and which management areas are driving the project.

In subsequent meetings we discuss design possibilities and best practices. While some clients have a clear understanding of what they want, many clients rely on us to educate them on new workspace design trends.

As our clients gain a firmer understanding of how they can better attract talent, increase productivity and cultural buy-in, and boost innovation with branded environments, they then feel more comfortable setting a budget to invest in achieving these goals.

Reactive versus proactive budgeting for branded environments

A key factor in budgeting for your branded environment is whether your project is reactive or proactive.

We often get called in to help address an urgent need in response to an acute demand from upper management. These reactive projects tend to have smaller potential budgets – there simply isn’t enough discretionary funds left over after the company’s strategic budgeting cycle is done.

But when a project is planned for in advance, there is more opportunity for stakeholders to make their case for more substantial investments, and to tap capital budgets or budgets from one or more departments.  Being proactive in this regard is often helpful, as it allows you to properly plan for your branded environments initiatatives long-term, instead of reacting to short-term needs.

Budgeting for branded environments over two or more years

Sometimes our clients want to build out all of the design elements that we proposed to meet the business objectives they shared with us, but they simply can’t afford to do the entire project at one time.

When the project investment is too big for one year’s budget, we prioritize the planned elements and divide the project into two phases of implementation (usually between different architectural spaces, such as lobby versus showroom). Then the project is paid for over two consecutive fiscal years.

However, for some larger, contiguous spaces, corporations can divide the project between two years by adding in the more expensive stand-alone and “nice to have” elements later. For example, we may begin Year One by installing the “need to have” millwork and graphic elements, and then return Year Two to install higher end AV elements, such as custom programmed touch screens or a multi-touch wall.  Recently we engaged with a client to plan out a projected environment over  course of several phases in a 3-year build out.   Year one was an initial “Face lift” with rather minimal treatments upgraded furniture, and corporate branding elements. Year-two (or Phase II) was a gradual progression of continued branded materials and surfaces such as wayfinding and production area call-outs, and the final phase, in year 3 was an overall build out of an enhanced training center, complete with integrated technology to help guided tours of a facility, product displays, and other elements to help their facility “tell the story”.  This proactive budgeting allowed for the client to effectively plan for costs and have the ability to front-load expenses if necessary if there was a budget surplus in that given year.

And budgeting can go farther than two or three years. Far-sighted executives plan for future changes in their branded environments, and include line items in their future years’ budgets for swapping in new graphics to keep their spaces fresh, for tech enhancements, or other future needs as mentioned above.

Which departments pay for branded environments?

Branded environments funding is often, but not always, driven by the department leading the project.

Marketing often takes the lead on their company’s branded environment initiatives, as brand is seen as a responsibility of marketing. And yet, marketing is not always the lead, and even when they are, funding sometimes comes from other departments.

Here are several other common scenarios:

• Facilities pays for much of the branded environment project, because even though marketing is leading, the work is done on the company’s buildings, which facilities manages.
• Facilities can also pay the cost of a branded environment when the work is integrated into a planned facility redesign.
• There is no set budget for a branded environment, yet the executive team wants it, so the funding comes from the general administrative, operations, or administration budget – or even the human resources or manufacturing budget.
• The branded environment is focused to support only one or two departments, such as sales and marketing (Reception Areas, lobby and break room wall graphics) engineering and product marketing (Effective product display areas) or human resources (recruiting meeting room), so those departments furnish the budget.
• The branded environment is broken down into its parts, and the budget is split according to the physical elements (facilities pays for wall graphics and custom millwork as building improvements, departments pay for furniture, and IT pays for technology and digital displays).
• The branded environment is seen as a long-term, depreciable investment, so it comes out of the capital budget.
• The budget comes from multiple department and functional budget buckets, for a blend of reasons listed above.

There is no best way to fund branded environments

What is the conclusion here? That there is no right way to budget for a branded environment, except what works for your company.

You may want to engage a designer upfront, design to where the solution meets your needs, and then seek budget approval to build it. Or, you can set your budget first, then engage a designer to fashion your vision, then build it out all at once or in multiple phases. Each project is so unique, there is no one path that fits everyone.

If your company is considering branded environments to help advance your key business goals, we’re ready to help you bring your story to life (whether you have a budget set already or not). To get started, contact Apogee today.

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Let’s look at 8 reasons why it is important that you develop a strong brand strategy on a global scale…

1. Branding Promotes Recognition

The marketing “rule of seven” states that a prospect must notice a brand or message seven times before they will take action. Consistent branding will help your potential guests recognize your brand.

2. Branding Sets You Apart

It is critical to stand apart and be recognized through your brand. Iconic brands in history have been known by their visible logo or icon. You can look at a Pepsi logo without the word Pepsi and know exactly who the brand is. The same should be true in your industry if you want your brand to be recognized and able to set you apart.

Your brand icon is important as your prospects and clients will recall it and recognize it. Famous brand icons like Apple, Starbucks, Disney all are highly recognizable without even listing their name

3. Your Brand Creates Connection

A strong brand connects with people at an emotional level, leading to positive feelings and a stronger remembrance of why they interact with your brand in the first place. This can be felt by your visitors, your clients, and even your team. Your employees who
promote your brand are key to this. This is why a strong shared value statement associated with your brand by your employees is also important.

4. Branding Delivers On A Promise

What is your brands promise? Effective and consistent branding need to communicate the “promise” and the differentiator about you and your brand and organization.

5. Your Brand Communicates Your Core Values

Your brand experience illustrates your core values to your members, visitors, and community. Is the interaction with your company telling the right story about who you are and who you aren’t?

Your brand color is important as it conveys feelings, emotions, and experiences. Think of John Deere, Kodak, Target and what colors come to mind?

6. Your Brand Provides Motivation & Direction

Your brand strategy provides the clarity that your staff and clients need to be successful in reaching collective goals. This needs to be communicated effectively everywhere!

A lobby welcome sign like the one shown here can help introduce or re-enforce your brand

7. A Strong Brand Leads To More Referrals and mentions

People love to tell others about the brands they like. A strong brand will make people more inclined to wear and share your brand, meaning greater awareness and more opportunities to refer business and identify and market successes and case studies that show why your company is important to do business with.

8. Branding Creates Clarity & Focus

It’s very easy to get sidetracked from your original goals or plans. A clear brand strategy helps you stay focused on your church’s mission and vision. Your brand can help you be strategic and will guide your efforts saving time and money

Common areas in your building can passively promote and reinforce your brand

In closing, your brand must be an active part of your culture, your sales and marketing efforts, and continuously promote and reflect your organizations value.  As former Nike and Starbuck executive Scott Bedbury put it:  “A brand is a story always being told”.

Need help building your brand?  See some of our work and inspiration on our Pinterest site, and our website!  Or simply Contact us for a consultation.

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