Meghan Coates Here at KickCharge Creative, we are approached by clients for a number of different reasons. Many home service businesses struggle with low brand awareness, which impacts their revenue and ability to grow. Others are starting a new venture and want to brand for disruption from the get-go. No matter what brings you to our KickCharged headquarters, we want to help you power up and make the most out of your business!
We call ourselves a branding agency because branding is our key differentiator (after all, you don’t see home service brands like these every day). As a branding agency, we create your brand, but we also nurture it and market it through the launch and beyond. Our work doesn’t stop after you pick your new name and logo (at least, it shouldn’t if you want to really do this right).
“Branding agency” isn’t a term you hear too often, unlike the more traditional marketing agency or advertising agency. So, what is a branding agency, exactly? Here’s how we define and distinguish ourselves from the other types of agencies that might sound more familiar.
A branding agency builds the brand and, therefore, understands your business in a way that other agencies can’t.
One of the most important things to know about branding is that logos do not live in a vacuum! For example, when it comes to the vehicle wrap, our illustrators and designers consider how every piece of the wrap, from the background to the foreground, works together to create something eye-catching and balanced. If you separate the logo on its own and paste it into a blank template to create business cards or yard signs, it will not “mesh” with the rest of your materials. A branding agency understands the intricate differences between each type of medium and is able to make everything feel seamless and interconnected, no matter where the brand lives.
By working with a branding agency that has mastered branding theory and application down the most minute detail, you get the best possible outcome. Your designs will be cohesive, and you’ll be connected with printing vendors that can honor the design in its entirety.
At KickCharge, we offer a number of different print pieces to market your brand and establish your brand voice. Our in-house content team will work with you to craft the words, and our designers will bring those words to life through stunning colors and visuals.
Brand launch letters and direct mailers are designed to announce your brand in a way that is extremely polished, organized, and exciting. Door hangers are another great way to grab people’s attention, introduce the new brand, outline your services, and entice customers with special offers.
A 4-page brochure offers more space to expand on the details of your services and share your company’s history, values, and what sets you apart. This is the place to tell your story and explain why you’re the team people can trust. If one of your goals is to increase your membership agreements, a trifold brochure is a great way to pass along that information while saving your technicians time. The main driver of all of these pieces is your brand. When you present a strong image and voice across every customer touchpoint, your professionalism and credibility will be so much more apparent!
Beyond customer-facing print pieces, a branding agency can help you develop your brand voice internally as well. A brand voice guide is a more comprehensive document that includes everything from your mission and vision statements to your values and guidelines for proper brand application and logo use.
Carefully designed uniforms, wall wraps, stationery, and other pieces will keep your team and office on brand, as well! As a branding agency, our job is to make sure every aspect of your business is branded rather than “blanded!”
Print pieces are important, but we know it’s a digital world out there. Therefore, your brand needs to match across all social and digital platforms, too.
Social media management is a full-time job (just ask our director of digital marketing!). One major advantage of working with a branding agency is that any ongoing work becomes much more seamless. We’ve already created your brand and now, it’s time to maximize it from the digital marketing side.
Here at KickCharge, we write, design, and schedule posts to provide valuable content and keep your business at the top of customers’ minds. We can also assist with audience targeting and ensuring we’re reaching the right people at the right time. And who better to entrust with reaching your audience than the folks who built your brand in the first place?
As far as the website, we partner with another digital agency to help our clients master their SEO game (hence, why we don’t refer to ourselves as an SEO agency). We do, however, write and design the homepage because this is where your brand voice needs to shine the most.
When customers visit your website, they should immediately know that they’re in the right place, and your messaging should match your other materials. In other words, your homepage should sound like it was written by branding experts instead of SEO experts.
Most digital marketing or website-building agencies that work specifically with numbers and optimization don’t prioritize the consistency and preservation of your brand voice. Keeping our branding agency involved ensures that the language on your website will resonate with your customers while maximizing your SEO efforts across those service pages.
The right branding agency will help you build a strong foundation for your business, set you on the path to success, and help you continue to grow. At KickCharge, we’re with our clients from Day One to help them present their personality, promise, and values in a way that makes them proud. It’s important to have people on your team that know your branding inside and out to help guide you moving forward—and who better than the team that created your brand?
Imagine for a moment that you’re hiking through the woods. You get lost, and you pull out your map to try and figure out where to go next. If you could ask someone for help, who would you rather turn to for guidance: someone who is new and trying to decipher the map with you, or the person who actually created the map? Every time, you’re going to want to work with the person who knows the map the best.
Hiring a traditional marketing agency means putting your trust in people who are learning about your brand and company as they go. A branding agency has been there since the beginning! We’ll set you on the right path and make sure you’re prepared for whatever lies ahead.
If you’re ready to see all the places your brand can take you, contact us online or call us at 908.835.9000 to get the conversation started!
