Rochelle's Branding Masterclass: How To Build A Brand People Obsess Over

0:00Rochelle: I wanted to bring you something different this week. I get so many messages because you all know I am branding obsessed and I know that's something that I'm good at and I would say that is my skill set. So I wanted to bring you a 15 to 20 minute branding masterclass.

0:26Rochelle: I constantly get asked and I know in life my strong suit is definitely my eye for brand and bringing a new brand to life and it's something I'm so passionate about and I often get asked so many questions about it but I just thought I want to put them all in one place and give you just, I suppose, my approach and how I approach things when I'm launching something new. My favourite part is building a brand. My favourite part of anything I do is brand building and almost world building. And I think those early stages, if I could bottle that feeling and bottle that moment where ideas happen and it riffs and it goes from one thing to the next, I would because it's just the best feeling ever.

1:11So I want to talk about how you sort of build

1:16Rochelle: a world before the logo exists. So people rarely remember a logo by itself. They really remember sort of how they were made to feel and the feeling behind something, whether that's the colors, what kind of emotional reaction that you want to spark. It's not necessarily just the brand name and the logo. It's what I like to call, and what actually we refer to a lot now is that world building. Like who are you? What are you doing? What do you deliver? And do I understand that from the jump? Like you only, as they say in life, you only get one chance to make a first impression. And do I want in and what am I going to feel?

1:58Rochelle: So for me, I really do that a lot with color. I do that a lot with kind of words. I'm a big fan on copy and tone of voice and how that looks. But I also really want to tap into what else we're doing in our life and bring it together. So for instance, you know, if I look at Ladies Who Launch to give a sort of direct comparison, it's of course a podcast but when we launched 18 months two years ago we really launched in a vein where yes there were lots of podcasts but they weren't feeling so branded people were having conversations in a similar space but they wasn't necessarily delivering a whole feeling so for me it was like tapping into our concept is clear we are we are a space for female founders and female entrepreneurs, but what else are we doing?

2:53Rochelle: What else do we like? Are we into aesthetics? Are we into, you know, that the feeling of, of a brand, you know? So for me, it was very clear that I was going to launch a podcast as a brand. So we did a whole concept shoot for it. I was, I mean, as I am with everything, obsessed with the details and how people were going to see us show up and how we were going to sort of bring that to life and how we were going to create that in content. It was more than just the podcast itself. It was sort of getting on the radar of people that are perhaps interested in other things and then putting it in front of them.

3:32Rochelle: So I was sort of going around for a long time wearing a cap and being pictured in the cap that said Ladies Who Launched, which now we go on to sell at our live shows because you guys love them. Or, you know, I was trying to figure out what else it is that we love and position the podcast in that place. So I think for me, it's always thinking about that 360 approach and how you bring your brand to life through the world of the person that you think it is that's going to be your consumer. I think before thinking of colours and fonts and logos, it's really capturing that person deciding how you want them to feel in those first three seconds.

4:10Rochelle: Do you want it to feel aspirational? Do you want it to feel thoughtful? Do you want it to feel playful? You know, where are you going and what do you want? And then for me, that's really how I decide on colours and pantones. And also, obviously, we've always got to look at what else exists in that space and who's known for what colour and who is sort of speaking really loudly, who is speaking softly to us and deciding where you want to sit in that. But I think that is then, for me, what brings everything else to light. Like how do I want someone to feel? What sort of story do I want or journey do I want them to go on?

4:50Rochelle: And then everything else plays into that. And then for me, when you get there, consistency is so powerful. So it's the way that you then show up. So how do I recognize the brand? You know, if I'm setting the tone and I'm saying, OK, for us, Ladies Who Launch, we've really played into chocolate brown and baby pink. I really liked the fact that it's a harsh colour with a softer colour. And I think that really plays into what we're doing. We've got feminine energy, but we're really sort of being bold and we're dominating. And I like the way that they sort of sing together. I like our logo is quite bold, but we have a sort of soft cursive font, which feels feminine, but also sophisticated.

5:33Rochelle: and you know somewhat playful so I think it's really once you've decided and you've nailed what you want it's being consistent with that and how you show up and knowing that what we call brand guidelines that it sits within that and I think it's playing into that consistency and we do that on you know on site we do that we make sure that our sort of artwork reflects that and that's what you'll see on social. When we send someone an invitation to an event, it will all play in to those common threads because if you've decided what that feeling is and you've decided on that branding, the way for people to understand it and then for them to trust you is to always be consistent.

6:16Rochelle: I think one mistake that founders seem to make, particularly now in like a social media age, is becoming too distracted by trends and outside noise. I think once you know what you are and what your brand values are and how you're showing up and what your aesthetic is and what your branding should be, I think it's really easy to let sort of or to look left and right and to let outside noise seep in. so I one thing I would say is don't become focused on trends too much I would really stay clear with the original vision whilst sort of you know taking it a little bit and jumping on you know the odd social thing that might happen and but do it in a way that fills you because I think once you've as I said before you want that consistency and people then once they've established that they love you.

7:13Rochelle: They want to see more of you. I always think it's like, you know, when you go to your favorite artist and you go to a concert and you want them to sing all of your favorite songs, you know, when they become a little bit self-indulgent and they like change it and they like riff and they start doing all this stuff and you just want to sing along to your favorite tune. I really see branding as the same. So I think take trends of a pinch of salt and really say consistent to the original vision. I would say invest in good photography early on. It doesn't have to be a luxury shoot, but it means that again, you're showing up in the same way.

7:48Rochelle: You're establishing a feel and a look and feel and a brand identity quite early on. Once you've nailed that photography, again, it's staying consistent. So it's how it's being shot, how it's being lit, you know, what, where it is in the frame, how you operate. I think it doesn't, it can be iPhone content right it just needs to be consistent and feel like you like if I even think about influencers some of my favorite influencers I can tell instantly if people are sort of taking inspiration from them because it will be shot in a particular way that feels like them and I think really find what that is for you is it sort of really clear art direction is it sort of styling in a particular way however that looks I would really nail how you want your product to look and how you want it to show up I would I am such an avid avid fan of Pinterest and I think it's such an easy tool to pull inspiration from and my inspiration won't necessarily be in the same space or the same category as the brand I'm pulling for but I'll say, for example, I love how this brand has shot this food campaign and I want to bring that element to my children's campaign, you know, so I think it's really being open and seeing how other brands are showing up to know what route you might want to go down, but making sure it really feels like you.

9:19Rochelle: I think now founder identity is a real crucial part of branding. And I think we've really seen that I think we've learned a lot from people that have sort of led front and center. And I think even if that makes you feel uncomfortable, even if you're not the person that wants to sit in front of the camera or be sort of in front of the lens, let your story be told through your brand. So whether it's sort of always nodding our founder and, you know, she discovered this because of that. However it looks, I think the goal is that you kind of get comfortable with talking about and sharing your reason and your why and how that looks.

10:00Rochelle: But I think whether it's you wanting to be in front of the camera or not, I totally appreciate that isn't for everybody. So I think it's always making sure that the founder's why and the founder's reason for, you know, the brand launching is always visible in what the brand then does. And I think the art of storytelling is so incredibly important. But I think we always, as a consumer and as a customer, we always need to be reminded of as to why this product exists and why it was born and what the need and want was. It doesn't necessarily mean oversharing. It means having a recognizable presence.

10:38Rochelle: It means sort of showing your point of view from the founder and making sure that that's crystal clear because people really, people buy from people, right? And I think that's always incredibly important. So you don't have to get comfortable with being in front of the camera, but make sure that your story is always shown. When it comes to colors, I would say choose two to three consistent colors in your branding. I would lead with one and then I always have an accent in there. This is the way that I like to do things and then introduce maybe sort of a secondary pop from that. But I would really choose, as I said, two to three colors at max and stay there.

11:23Rochelle: Because I think, as we know, if we think of some of the most iconic brands of all time, Hermes, we see the orange, Tiffany, we see the blue. And I think colors really sort of help you distinguish a brand from another brand. You know, we think of some of the biggest skincare brands. When I think of Midnight Blue and that sort of rosy orange tint, I think of Augusta Nespada. I think people become so synonymous with color and I think it's really, really important. So I would stick to your one signature and, you know, one or two pops or accents from that, I think is perfect. Don't overwhelm yourself.

12:02I think sometimes we look at a palette in general and

12:05Rochelle: think that's nice and of course as it evolves you can always have a pop but I would have those two colors that you always come back to. I think also typography matters way more than people think. I think fonts are so so key. To me fonts really spark a feeling and I'll see something and I'll understand instantly where the brand is going to take me by color or by font. That's sort of the way that my brain is wired. I think next to font, as we all know, copy is so incredibly important. Even if I look at a capital or something that's written in lowercase, like it has a real different feeling for me.

12:45Rochelle: And I think sometimes it's really something that's overlooked. I think one key thing is make sure that your branding works everywhere. It needs to be like a real holistic approach to what you're doing. I would say you need to think of websites, web banners, mailers, you know, newsletters everything in between I think you need to think that's you know that's one side of it the social the Instagram how you're gonna show up if you're looking at sort of out of house advertising or your branding needs to be consistent everywhere but whatever you choose has to work for everything and that's you know you might have for instance I like to play with three fonts I like to play with a logo font.

13:29Rochelle: I like to have a secondary that sort of takes up all of my copy and I like a font that's really used for call outs. So I'm sort of in the three when it comes to colour and it comes to fonts too. But I would make sure that you've got a really good option for certain things. So if you're calling out a price that might be in one font or if you're calling out a claim or something that, you know, your brand stands for, but then you need sort of bulk text about that said claim. You might be dermatologically tested and that's what you want to shout about. And then you want to, you know, elaborate that in sort of some copy below.

14:07Rochelle: It all sort of needs to make sense for what you're pushing. So I would make sure that it works everywhere and that you've really been considered with the fonts for the right messaging. A lot of a part of business is, of course, retaining customers. But I would, when you think of branding, I would brand for the customer that you want from the start. I would brand for your customer of the future, someone that's going to walk past something, see you, identify with you and want in. And I would brand for that person because when we're starting out, we often talk on this podcast about sort of just pressing go and getting on with it.

14:49Rochelle: and I think it's really really important to think about the brand as a bigger picture and knowing that actually this is the girl that I'm trying to capture this is the guy that I'm trying to capture so I would brand for him or for her because it's really important that your visuals do attract your future audience so it's really honing in on who she is where you find her where else is she shopping what else does she love for instance if I'm launching a skincare brand what else does she do? Might she be health conscious? Might she be interested in wellness as a whole? Might she, what gym might she go to?

15:25Rochelle: You know, does she work out? How does she look? You know, I think it's really understanding who she is and speaking to her from the get-go. And then for me, I think emotional clarity wins. I think the brands that I gravitate to the most, the brands that I think you see over-performing time, time again, they have one clear objective. what is this? This is luxury. This is wellness. This is affordability. This is empowering. This is family focused. I think it's being crystal clear on where you're sat, having a clear concept. And one thing that I say all the time is if you're trying to be everything to everyone, you'll end up being nothing to everyone.

16:10Rochelle: Be crystal clear on where you sit. And I think that will always win because I think visually when something is confused those confused visuals really create weak brand identity and I'm so clear on everything that I do and the branding and the identity being so strong for me I think that is something that is incredibly important I mean I've got so much more that I could talk to you about when it comes to branding but we thought we would do a 15 to 20 minute masterclass on things that I think are incredibly crucial. So I hope that helps. And I like these kind of power moments. So if you want me to do any more, let me know what you think.

16:54Rochelle: And I'll do another little solo episode too.