Ep 13 Branding - Consistency and Tone for Your Website with Jeremy Cox, McGarrah Jessee

Creatives Meet Business

Hi there folks!

Creatives Meet Business is an event and podcast series based out of Austin, Texas for creatives of ALL disciplines to get from zero to one in thinking of themselves as business owners (in the creative sector).

This episode features Jeremy Cox, Digital Director at McGarrah Jessee. He shares so so much about branding - brand positioning, brand personality, branding elements, what makes a brand unique and distinctive, pitfalls and more. Because there's so so much that's exciting about this episode - let's hop in and hear what Jeremy has to say!

• 0:00 to 1:55 - Ashland Opening Remarks and Intro of Jeremy Cox
  • Examples of McGarrah Jessee client work: Whataburger, Frost Bank, Shiner Beers, Yeti Coolers
• 2:00 to 3:58 - Branding Your Site - Consistency in Tone and Appearance
  • Branding is vastly important
  • Branding - what does it mean. Jeremy's definition:
    • It's not - just a name, logo or a couple of colors
    • It is - the public facing manifestation of who you are
      • Also includes people's perception of what you've put out there
• 3:59 to 4:40 - What is a Well-Architected Brand
  • Unique - therefore own-able
  • Easily recognizable
  • Consistent - everywhere
• 4:41 to 6:45 - Brand Positioning and Brand Personality
  • Brand Positioning: A statement - a single sentence - that says what you do and do well that the competition can't do and can't touch and that people actually want
  • Brand Personality: A layer / filter to brand positioning - how do you do what you do? Is it serious? Whimsical?
• 6:46 to - 12:41 Branding Elements
  • Name - one of the first things people experience
  • Logo - visual counterpart to your or company's name
    • Do these fit through filter of brand positioning and brand personality?
    • Visual anchors
  • Copy - great opportunity for you to exercise your brand through words
    • Ex - Choice of tense - 1st person is conversational, personal; 3rd person expresses size, it's bigger than just me
  • Micro-level interactions on your site - confirmation page as a place to add personality through a purchase made through website
  • Color - apply with thought to user experience
  • Typography - More choices available now online
    • Use caution - use legible copy in the body text but one that's a compliment to the personality of your main typeface
  • Visuals - don't say things with words when an image would be much better, don't say things with an image when a video would be much better
  • Structure of a site - are you allowing the user to digest it the right way?
  • Interactions and Animations within site
• 12:42 to 14:57 - Pitfalls
  • Just like your brand shouldn't be all things to all people, your website shouldn't be. Don't be afraid to make decisions that focus you towards your audience and the purpose of what your business is meant to do
  • Don't get too intricate / too fancy. Take it one step at a time when building up your brand online
  • Don't think of your brand as static, it's not a static brand
  • Be cautious with templates (WordPress, Wix, Squarespace) - put the time in to craft it and make it your own. They have customizable ways to personalize it
  • Be careful not to lean too heavily on trends and assume that's what your brand is. Trends change more frequently than your brand should
• 15:02 to 16:20 - Ashland Closing Remarks

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We'll be sticking around the world of websites for a few weeks and have some pros that we can't wait to introduce you to. Stay tuned for more!

Thanks!

Ashland, Creatives Meet Business