CAREER PURSUIT 2021

EXPERT ADVICE - SELF-EMPLOYMENT 38 BUILDING A STRONG BRAND FOR YOUR BUSINESS ell done on taking your first steps to building a great new business! You have your product or service idea ready, and now you’re wondering how to get customers and clients. Firstly, you need to build a brand. And that is what I specialise in! Being super creative is my passion and my absolute happy place. Creativity wasn’t something I was willing to let go of when it came to my career − despite being informed by my careers advisers that it’s not seen as a good way to make a living. I have had a very varied design career so far, starting in advertising, designing events, and finally going freelance to fit in with my military family’s nomadic lifestyle. This variety means I have designed for global household brands such as Unilever, Bentley, and Costa Coffee, as well as very new start-up companies. Working on such varied brands has given me a breadth of commercial knowledge and honed my design skills to deliver the best branding I can. However, that’s enough about me; let’s get back to starting your business and launching your brand! A brand is far more than just a logo. I like to think of the logo as your face… whereas the brand is your personality, body, and soul. Here are my top four tips for building a strong brand that will resonate with your customers and ultimately grow your business: 1. GET TO KNOW YOUR TARGET MARKET Who is your ideal customer? Develop a customer profile; this can be as crazy as you like − a celebrity, imaginary person, or someone you know. Be ambitious. You want your brand to work as well in five years as it does today. Now, list five to ten words that you’d associate with your target client. Think about the images and feelings that go with all of these words. Think about where your customer currently lives, shops, eats out, the entertainment they enjoy, and so on. This really gives you a solid basis to think about Branding is an essential part of building your new business. Hannah Hubbleday, branddesigner, discusses how to build a strong brand that stands out and speaks to your target audience. W By Hannah Hubbleday